Andrew Wiggins is the No. 2 scoring option on the Golden State Warriors, and he is definitely a good player. After all, he defends the No. 1 perimeter player on the opposing team, while still providing supplementary scoring for the team.
With that being said, Andrew Wiggins hasn’t fulfilled the superstar expectations that many had when he was drafted. Many have thought that he could be that caliber player if he harnessed his talent. When speaking to Baxter Holmes of ESPN, Kevin Garnett claimed that Wiggins is one of his “favorite players”, but pisses him off “because he has the ability to be on another level”. Garnett also added that while Andrew Wiggins may like basketball, he hasn’t necessarily loved it.
The narrative, as explained by former teammate Kevin Garnett: “He’s one of my favorite players to watch. And he pisses me off at the same time because he has the ability to be on another level.“
There have always been flashes — games like this one in downtown San Francisco — but they’ve been rare.
“Wiggs’ question mark has always been consistency,” Garnett says, “not if he has the ability to be a superstar, but the consistency of being a superstar.“
Garnett wanted more, he says, wanted to “light a fire” under Wiggins. But nothing worked.
“Listen, the one thing I learned about Andrew was that nothing’s going to get done to Andrew until Wiggs says it’s going to happen,“ Garnett says.
Garnett shares something else — a point posited by scouts throughout Wiggins’ basketball life. Early on, frustrated by the perceived gap between his talent and performance, Garnett wondered about Wiggins’ passion for the game itself.
“I thought he liked basketball, but I don’t think he loved it,” Garnett says. “Like, Wiggs has other interests in life. He has other things that stimulate him, and I have to respect that.”
“I can’t really tell someone the order to love something in,” Wiggins says, in response. “I love basketball, sure, but it’s temporary. I can only play basketball for so long.”
During his time with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Andrew Wiggins’ passion for the game was often put into question. However, Wiggins clearly has improved and is having more fun in a winning culture. According to Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins has become one of the best two-way players in the game.
Superstar or not, what’s clear is that the Warriors would not be the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference without contributions from Andrew Wiggins. At the end of the day, winning is what matters, and Andrew Wiggins has certainly become a winning player.
