Andrew Wiggins has blossomed this season with the Golden State Warriors, but one of his former teammates thinks that he could still be so much more.
Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett, who was teammates with Wiggins on the Minnesota Timberwolves, spoke to ESPN’s Baxter Holmes this week for a feature on Wiggins. Garnett gave his thoughts on the ex-No. 1 overall pick and offered a criticism.
“He’s one of my favorite players to watch,” said Garnett. “And he pisses me off at the same time because he has the ability to be on another level. Wiggs’ question mark has always been consistency, not if he has the ability to be a superstar, but the consistency of being a superstar. 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 also admitted to wondering about Wiggins’ passion for the game when the two were teammates in Minnesota from 2015 to 2016, Wiggins’ first two seasons in the NBA and Garnett’s final two.
“I thought he liked basketball, but I don’t think he loved it,” Garnett said, via Holmes. “Like, Wiggs has other interests in life. He has other things that stimulate him, and I have to respect that.”
Garnett did add though that playing for the Warriors organization has really helped Wiggins become his best self.
“He’s playing with the Michael Jordan of his era [in Steph Curry],” Garnett said. “The knowledge he takes not just from Steve Kerr and that coaching staff but that pedigree of excellence that they push around there in Golden State — you can’t come in there and be less than. Those are champions in there. Those guys have won together. They’ve been in the grit. They’ve been in the foxhole together. I think it motivates him.”
You can read Holmes’ entire piece here.
Wiggins, the consensus top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, was one of the most hyped prospects of the decade coming out of college, even being nicknamed “Maple Jordan.” But he failed to meet expectations in Minnesota despite his physical gifts and two-way ability. In his second season with Golden State this year however, Wiggins has put a lot of it together. He is averaging 19.1 points a game on a career-high 49.0 percent from the field and 43.5 percent from deep. That makes Wiggins the second-leading scorer on a Warriors team that currently has the best record in the NBA.
It seems like Wiggins has finally found the perfect environment to maximize his talents. But this is not the first time that we have heard such a criticism about Wiggins from a former Wolves player.
Photo: February 23, 2020; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Andrew Wiggins (22) warms up before the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
