Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors. Photo by Alex Goodlett via Getty Images
The Golden State Warriors initiated a four-game road trip earlier this week, and they were missing a notable piece of the rotation: Andrew Wiggins. Now, it has been revealed that he will be out indefinitely due to personal reasons.
On Wednesday, Warriors Coach Steve Kerr appeared on Willard & Dibs, a radio show on 95.7 The Game, a Bay Area radio station. The future Hall of Fame coach spoke about the “personal matter” that is causing Wiggins to miss time, without going into detail.
“We do expect him to be back, but we just don’t exactly know when,” Kerr said. “We’re in a position where Wiggs is a private person and he’s asked to keep it private and we’re gonna honor that. So it doesn’t help for me to sit here and try to explain any of that. The bottom line is we respect Wiggs. We need him and we fully expect him back, but we just don’t know when that will be.”
In Wiggins’ absence, the Warriors have relied on young talent such as Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski. Additionally, Klay Thompson will also see more playing time during this stretch.
Repeating Issue
It is understandable that Kerr would not want to reveal the personal details of Wiggins to the public. This is actually not the first time that Wiggins has missed time due to personal issues. He missed the final 25 games of last NBA season due to a “family matter.”
While it was never directly revealed what that was, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Wiggins’ father was “dealing with a serious medical situation.” Wiggins would return for the playoffs, playing 13 games before Golden State was eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers.
Wiggins is having a down year this year, which has contributed to the Warriors’ overall lack of success (though they have been better recently). He is averaging 12.7 points per game, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists this season. Those numbers are below his career average of 18.7, 4.5, and 2.3, respectively.
Uphill Battle
Through 51 games, Wiggins is only shooting 45.5%, though it has been better recently as mentioned. This caused him to briefly lose his starting role earlier in the season, though it has been regained. While the Warriors have been under .500 for most of the season, they are 12-3 in their last 15 games. This has propelled them to 31-27.
Despite this, the Warriors are only in 11th place due to a stacked Western Conference. All that can be done now is hope that Wiggins gets through the situation he is currently dealing with, and that he returns for a potential playoff run for Golden State’s sake.
