Even with the departure of four-time NBA Champion and Bay Area icon Klay Thompson, the Golden State Warriors enter the 2024-25 season with renewed hopes that this franchise that has won four of the last ten NBA Titles can once again contend for the sport's biggest prize. Reasons for hope range from Stephen Curry's continued brilliance, to Draymond Green's Defensive Player of the Year aspirations, to a young crop of talent that could soon be ready to pop. And then there's Andrew Wiggins.
Andrew Wiggins may be a bit of a sore spot for Warriors fans, but there's no way around the fact that in a very small sample size this season, the 11-year veteran looks like the guy he was the last time the Dubs had serious championship aspirations. In four games, Wiggins is averaging 18.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He's shooting 51 percent from the field and a scalding hot 57 percent on six three-pointers per game.
Shooting splits like these won't last, but at the very least, it's a sign that Andrew Wiggins has brushed off two difficult years — both on and off the court — and is ready for a significant bounce-back in the 2024-25 season.
“I think he's in a place where he knows the last couple years have been tough for a lot of reasons,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.com. “I think he's primed to get back to where he was a couple years ago. It looks like he's primed to have a hell of a season.”
Wiggins missed the final 25 games of the 2022-23 season, and then saw his play suffer throughout the 2023-24 campaign as he was attempting to balance life in the NBA with caring for his ailing father, former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins, who fell ill in early 2023. Throughout Wiggins' absence, the Warriors remained tight-lipped about this private personal matter, respecting Wiggins, who Kerr called, “a very private person.”
It wasn't until after Mitchell Wiggins passed away in July of this year that it became clear that his son had understandably been having a hard time with one of the most heart-wrenching challenges one needs to go through in this experience we call life. Fortunately for Andrew Wiggins, he plays for a coach in Steve Kerr who not only tragically lost his father when he was in college, but also understands that human events should always take precedent over what's happening on the hardwood.
“It's been a tough two-year stretch. He got off to such an amazing start in 2022, he was an All-Star the year before, a champion and then when his dad got sick it really derailed him,” Kerr said. “I think it's important to let him know that we care about him and then give him his space. He's a guy who needed his space.”
Andrew Wiggins could be the key to unlock Warriors championship chase
Wiggins took his time and space, and now he's back with the Warriors with hopes that a summer of hard work with Golden State's coaching staff will allow him to return where he was back in June 2022.
History will paint the 2022 NBA Finals as the final crowning achievement of the Warriors Big Three of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, and in some regard, it was. But it was Andrew Wiggins who was Golden State's second-best player in that Finals series. Wiggins made life hell for Jayson Tatum, who shot just 37 percent in six Finals games. On the other end of the floor, Wiggs was Golden State's second leading scorer and their leading rebounder.
While it may seem far-fetched to think that an Andrew Wiggins leap — or rather, a return to peak form — could be coming, it's important to remember that he's still only 29 years old and will be given every opportunity to succeed in Golden State. Their championship hopes may depend on it.
Follow Us
Subscribe
