The Golden State Warriors are still “hopeful” Andrew Wiggins soon returns to the floor. Even if his ongoing personal absence extends through the defending champions' entire postseason run, though, Wiggins can take solace from knowing he'll still have heartfelt support from his teammates and coaches.
After the Warriors earned their biggest win of the season on Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks, Steve Kerr reiterated that Golden State will stand behind Wiggins no matter when or if he returns to the team before 2022-23 comes to a close.
“We love Wiggs. He's a huge part of our team. He's a great player, but he's a great human being. He's just a great teammate. I love coaching him,” Kerr said. “So anytime you see one of your guys struggling, dealing with something, all you can do is just support that player and give him space, and that's what we've tried to do. But our players and our coaches, front office, we're all just thinking about Wiggs every day. If he comes back, great, and if he doesn't come back, that's fine too. We just want to make sure that he's in a good place, taking care of his family. We'll see how it plays out.”
Wiggins hasn't played since just before the All-Star break, sidelined due to personal reasons. The Warriors have been admirably tight-lipped about the family matter prompting his extended leave, which one anonymous teammate described as “some real s**t.”
On the most recent episode of his eponymous podcast, Draymond Green admonished rumor-mongers for spreading baseless gossip about the situation keeping Wiggins off the court.
“Sometimes people disgust me. You don’t know what someone is dealing with, and then you make them deal with that?” an incredulous Green said. “Stop it, it’s disgusting.”
The Warriors are 9-8 since Andrew Wiggins was first sidelined on February 14th, beginning a four-game home stand on Friday against the Philadelphia 76ers after winning their first consecutive road games of the season. Golden State is currently sixth in the Western Conference at 38-36, a half game back of the LA Clippers and one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder with eight left to play.
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