| |
| Wiggins during a Timberwolves game in Oct. 2018. | |
| No. 22 — Golden State Warriors | |
|---|---|
| Position: | Small Forward |
| League: | NBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | February 23, 1995 |
| Toronto, Ontario, Canda | |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 197 lb (90 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Vaughn |
| (Vaughan, Ontario) | |
| Huntington Prep | |
| (Huntington, West Virginia) | |
| College | Kansas (2013–2014) |
| NBA Draft | 2014 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1st |
| Selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers | |
| Playing career | 2014–present (10 years) |
| Career history | |
| |
| Roster status: active | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| stats at nba.com stats at basketball-reference | |
Andrew Christian Wiggins (February 23, 1995) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Wiggins played one year of college basketball at Kansas before deciding to leave to enter the 2014 NBA Draft where he was drafted first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers. As a college player, Wiggins was one of the most hyped draft prospects ever, and frequently drew comparisons to all time great players like Michael Jordan and James Harden. After a preseason trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wiggins earned NBA Rookie of the Year honors for the 2014–15 season. After five and a half seasons with Minnesota, he was traded to Golden State in 2020. In 2022, Wiggins won his first NBA championship and was selected for his first NBA All-Star game, and was named a Western Conference starter. He has also been a member of the Canadian national team.
College Career[]
Wiggins committed to Kansas on May 14, 2013. On January 13, 2014, Wiggins scored 17 points and collected 19 rebounds in a 77–70 victory over Iowa State, becoming only the second freshman in the last 15 years (along with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) to amass those numbers in a win against a ranked opponent.
Wiggins would average 17.1 points per game (ppg), 5.9 rebounds per game (rpg), and made 34.1% of his three-pointers in his freshman year at Kansas.
NBA career[]
Minnesota Timberwolves (2014–2020)[]
Wiggins declared for the 2014 NBA Draft on March 31, 2014. He was selected first overall in the draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. On November 4, 2014, Cleveland Cavaliers traded Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins to Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Love and a 2015 second-round draft pick.
Although Wiggins would consistently average around 20 points a game and won Rookie of the Year in the 2014-15 season, he would be considered a disappointment due to his poor efficiency and not living up to his draft hype. Wiggins would set a career high with 47 points in a 125–99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in November 13 2016, becoming the first Canadian-born player to score 40-plus points in an NBA game.
Golden State Warriors (2020–present)[]
On February 6, 2020, Wiggins and two draft picks were traded to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Jacob Evans, D'Angelo Russell and Omari Spellman. Wiggins scored 24 points and had five steals in his debut for the Warriors, in a 125–120 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Warriors failed to qualify for the playoffs and finished with a 15–50 record, the worst in the league.
On March 19, 2021, Wiggins scored a season-high 40 points, alongside eight rebounds, four assists and four steals, in a 116–103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors qualified for the newly implemented play-in tournament; however, they suffered two straight losses to the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies, failing to reach the postseason for the second straight season despite a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double from Wiggins in their loss to the Grizzlies.
On December 6, 2021, Wiggins scored 28 points on a career-high eight threes made, in a 126–95 win over the Orlando Magic. On January 27, 2022, he was named a Western Conference starter for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, his first All-Star selection. He was the third first-time All-Star to be voted a starter in his eighth season or later. Wiggins also became the first No. 1 overall draft pick in the modern draft era (since 1966) to earn their first All-Star selection in their eighth season or later. On May 22, 2022 during Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Wiggins scored a playoff career-high 27 points and tied his then playoff career-high with 11 rebounds in a 109–100 Game 3 win over the Dallas Mavericks. In the conference finals, Wiggins was noted for his excellent defensive play on Mavericks star Luka Dončić, playing a vital role in the Warriors victory.
In Game 4 of the Finals, Wiggins posted a 17-point, 16-rebound (playoff career-high) double-double in a 107–97 win over the Boston Celtics. In Game 5, he logged a 26-point, 13-rebound double-double in a 104–94 win. Wiggins won his first NBA championship after the Warriors defeated the Celtics in six games.