Golden State Warriors star forward Andrew Wiggins has missed the past 20 games due to personal reasons. The 2022 NBA Finals MVP hero has not disclosed why he’s been absent since last suiting up on Feb. 13.
As for the Warriors, they continue to be tight-lipped about Wiggins’ absence. It’s a clear indication that something serious happened in his personal life.
With the regular season concluding here soon, there’s now signs that Wiggins could return to the court in short order. Bay Area NBA insider Jason Dumas reported on Friday that Wiggins is back in the region after spending the past several weeks out of town.
This could be an indication that Wiggins is preparing to return to the Warriors at some point soon. At the very least, to work out with the team and get some practice sessions in.
As for the defending NBA champions, head coach Steve Kerr sounded optimistic following their win over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night. Kerr noted that “there’s hope” Wiggins returns and that shutting him down for the season “hasn’t even been discussed.”
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Andrew Wiggins and the Golden State Warriors championship aspirations
Heading into Friday night’s outing against the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State has posted a 21-19 record in games that Wiggins has missed. During his most-recent absence, the Warriors are a mere 11-9.
Golden State currently sits as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves in an attempt to avoid the NBA Play-In Tournament. It is also just 1.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns for the fourth seed. In what is a tight Western Conference Playoff race, there’s no real margin for error.
The Warriors’ struggles closing out games without Wiggins in the mix has added another layer to that recently.
As for Andrew Wiggins, he was the second-most important Warriors player during their run to a fourth NBA Championship in eight seasons. That included playing great defense against the likes of Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum while hitting clutch shots in last year’s playoffs.