Andrew Wiggins silenced a lot of his naysayers this past season as he played a big role in the Golden State Warriors becoming NBA champions once again. Looked down upon at one point as somewhat of a disappointment of a number 1 pick from the 2014 draft, Wiggins was written off by many during his time with the Timberwolves as a guy who doesn’t contribute to winning.
There was that infamous incident in practice back in 2018 when Jimmy Butler led a group of third-stringers and beat down the rest of the starters which included Wiggins, in a scrimmage. Butler reportedly called both Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns soft, with that label sticking with the two of them in the years that followed. While KAT hasn’t done much to shed that tag, it is safe to say that Wiggins has ended that talk around him and he sent a message to his haters on Twitter.
Holding a grudge and I’m taking it far 😤 pic.twitter.com/Bxi4aNot6J
— andrew wiggins (@22wiggins) June 25, 2022
To the victor go the spoils and Wiggins has every right to feel pretty good about himself right now. He played very well in these playoffs for Golden State and saved his best for last, as he was outstanding in the Finals. He was clearly their second-best player after Stephen Curry as he averaged 18.3 points per game while playing excellent defense on Celtics star Jayson Tatum. He even stepped up offensively on a rare off-night for Curry in Game 5 and led the Warriors to a crucial win as they went up 3-2 in the series.
Wiggins is now heralded as one of the best two-way players in basketball and he could be in line for a big payday. The Warriors can give him an extension this summer but if both sides can’t agree on a deal, then he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer and a lot of teams would be interested in his services.
