On October 29, 2015, the Timberwolves challenged the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant. Kevin Garnett sits in the corner of the away locker room next to him is Andrew Wiggins.
It was the final season of Garnett's career, and as if eager to pass the torch to Wiggins, who was in the second season of his career, Garnett put his arm around Wiggins and repeatedly said to reporters: "He's next." ”
Garnett's "next" refers to the next special player, the next goalkeeper who can make a splash in the league, the next rising young superstar.
Wiggins smiled and turned around without saying a word.
Over the years, many people, including Garnett, believed that Wiggins should be the cornerstone of the team, a superstar, he had all the conditions to become an MVP-level star, and not reaching that level was a waste of talent. Today, Wiggins has performed well in the Warriors, but there are still many people who believe that with Wiggins's talent, he should have been the boss of a team, not a role player in the Warriors. When Wiggins' "depravity" is mentioned, they are always distressed and express disappointment.
But after all these years, who has asked Wiggins what he really thinks? Who has actually walked into Wiggins' heart and read his thoughts? Is becoming a superstar what Wiggins wants?
Super talent leads to super high expectations
It is no exaggeration to say that Wiggins was born with a golden key, and his parents not only provided him with a favorable environment for growth, but also a strong sports gene.
Wiggins' father, Mitchell Wiggins, played in the NBA from 1984 to 1992, leaving his mark on the Bulls, Rockets and 76ers. Wiggins' mother, Marita Payne Wiggins, won silver medals in the women's 4×100 and 4×400 relays at the 1984 Olympics. Wiggins not only inherited his father's humor and mother's gentleness, but also inherited their super athletic talent.
In 2009, a video titled "America's Strongest 13-Year-Old Player" went viral on YouTube, and the protagonist of the video was Wiggins (in fact, Wiggins was 14 years old at the time). At that time, Wiggins was already 1.90 meters tall, and he staged a variety of breakthrough dunks, dunks under the basket, and small hookers with no difference between left and right hands, looking like a perverted athletic talent and delicate technique. The video received nearly 5 million views, and since then Wiggins has been seen as a future NBA superstar.
A year later, at the U17 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany, the 15-year-old Wiggins represented his native Canada. Wiggins was 2.01 meters tall and had an arm span of 2.11 meters, and in the semifinals, Facing the United States team with Bradley Beale and Andre Drummond, Wiggins scored 20 points on the offensive side.
"He looked effortless on the pitch, incredible," said former Canadian coach Leo Laudins.
Whether in high school or after joining the University of Kansas, Wiggins gave the impression of lifting weights, as if he could harvest the game with all his might. In the final regular season game at the University of Kansas, facing West Virginia University, Wiggins blasted 41 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals. Kansas star Bill Selfo said Wiggins was the best athlete he'd ever coached. With super performance support and the endorsement of a famous coach, Wiggins has long been regarded as the 2014 quasi-champion.
Wiggins said confidently: "I knew I would be selected in the top three, if not the first pick. ”
In the spring of 2014, ahead of the draft, Wiggins visited the prestigious P3 Sports Science Lab, a cutting-edge laboratory that specializes in evaluating athletes, and thousands of professional athletes walked through the door, including more than 800 NBA players.
In the evaluation, Wiggins stood out. Wiggins has a vertical jump height of 43 inches on both feet, 41.5 inches on one foot on the left foot and 40 inches on the single foot on the right foot. Wiggins was only 19 years old at the time, but his stats were already in the top 10.
"It looks like Wiggins is going to jump out of outer space," trainer Hanlon said.
"When he accelerates, the ratio of the force he exerts on the ground to his weight is unmatched by any athlete we have evaluated." Lab founder Dr. Marcus Elliott said.
In the 2014 draft, the Cavaliers selected Wiggins with a big pick. But with LeBron James announcing his return home, Wiggins quickly became a bargaining chip for the Cavaliers to trade Kevin Love and was sent to the Timberwolves. Suddenly, Wiggins went from being "Irving's second boss" to "the cornerstone of the Timberwolves' team", and people expected him to become "Maple Leaf Jordan" to save the Timberwolves.
Who ever asked Wiggins what he really thought?
The social media era has bred a number of Internet celebrity players, and Wiggins in high school and college has also eaten the dividends of the times, but with the dividends comes higher expectations and pressure. No one cares about Wiggins' goals, in their opinion, young and famous, physically talented Wiggins should become a superstar, should attack in the way of a superstar, and take over the strongest player on the defensive end.
In the 2014-15 season, Wiggins averaged 36.2 minutes of playing time per game in his rookie season, and the use of the ball was more than 22%. That season, Wiggins used the most proportion of offense as a low-post single, accounting for 20.8%. In addition, Wiggins' face basket singles ratio was 16.3%.
In the 2016-17 season, Wiggins's playing style was adjusted, and he changed from a traditional low-post and basket-facing singles player to a more block-and-break ball-holding wing. That season, Wiggins' ball usage soared to nearly 30 percent, with a blocking percentage of 32.1 percent and a low-post singles and a basket singles combined to 21.3 percent.
However, having anti-natural physical talent and offensive efficiency are not equal, Wiggins does have perverted talents, and also uses these talents in the ball-holding offense, but his efficiency is extremely low, the real shooting rate has been below 55% for a long time, and even the league average cannot be reached. With Wiggins' offensive level of possession, he is actually not suitable to play the team's number one attack point on the outside, and weak sidehands and shooting flaws are his fatal problems. However, the Timberwolves have never changed the role of Wiggins, who is depressed in the icy minnesota.
"You can score high points on a team that can't win, but nobody cares," Wiggins said.
Only those who really know Wiggins know that such a role positioning is not what Wiggins wants, he is forcibly given the role of "single hand", and is forcibly pushed forward by public opinion.
Wiggins' high school teammate, Roshane Roberts, said: "He's a player who puts the team first, he's not the kind of guy who would say' give me the ball, I'll take over, he's the kind of player who puts passing first, and he didn't realise how talented he really was. ”
Triano, who coached Wiggins on the Canadian national team, also said: "He doesn't want to be different, he wants to play the right way. ”
For Wiggins, the right way to play is obviously not a kind of single-handedness, and the correct role is not to play the number one offensive point on the outside. Whether in terms of personality or ability, Wiggins is not suitable to play the first core of the team.
A scout who evaluated Wiggins' abilities in 2014 has long seen this, and he once said: "You can't force him to be the next Jordan, Kobe, maybe he wasn't born that material." His talent is indeed very strong, but he may not be able to be the big boss, the second boss, the third boss, maybe he will be very good as the fourth boss. ”
A player with an annual salary of more than $30 million to do four bosses? It's certainly ridiculous to say that, and most teams don't have the luxury.
Fortunately, the wealth is thick and the warriors who urgently need a flanking gate have it.
The most real mouth brother became an All-Star starter
In the middle of the 2019-20 season, the Warriors acquired Wiggins on a trade. At the time, few people were optimistic about the deal because Wiggins didn't have a good reputation as a Timberwolf, and "selfishness," "laziness," and "loser" were all negative labels attached to him. Taylor, the Timberwolves boss at the time, even publicly said that Wiggins' previous deals were worth zero, and they simply couldn't give it away.
Your arsenic, my honey.
Wiggins is a gem in the eyes of the Warriors, and after losing Iguodala, Durant, and Livingston, the Warriors urgently need a wing with sufficient height and athletic ability. Cole said: "Wiggins is 6'8 tall and can defend multiple positions, and the first thing we told him after we got Wiggins was that we needed him to defend and that was what he was up to. ”
This season, Wiggins has kept his opponents shooting at 41.8 percent, while opponents' season averages have reached 46 percent. Wiggins is the number one contributor to Curry's defensive pressure, as he has spent 56.4 percent of his time this season against his opponent's core defenders and has kept his opponent's shooting percentage at 35 percent. In terms of defending stars such as Morant and Garland, Wiggins has done a very good job.
"I feel like he can be a player at the best defensive squad level," Green said, "and that's one of the goals I've set for him." As the leader of this team, getting him to improve his defense is one aspect of what I want to push him on. He has all the conditions, he has the conditions, he has the athleticism, and on the defensive end he reminds me of Durant in many ways, both of them are tall and arm-length players, skinny but flexible. And although they are very thin, they are not badly opposed. From that perspective, he reminds me of Durant, who is a good defender. ”
On the offensive end, Wiggins averaged just 18.1 points per game this season, but his shooting percentage of 48.1% and 40.4% of his three-point shooting are career highs. After cutting low singles, face-to-basket singles, and reducing mid-range shots, Wiggins has become a top 3D player.
There are still many people who say that Wiggins is a waste of talent by being a third or even a four-boss, but in the eyes of the Warriors, Wiggins, who plays a role player, can still be described as "dominant".
"Of course we can bring in a player who's eager to play gorgeous stats, who wants to take over the game, but that kind of person is not for our style," warrior assistant coach Frazer said. ”
Kerr said: "To be successful you need five people on the field to be compatible, and Wiggins is a perfect fit for us. ”
Returning to the real Wiggins data is indeed not as good as in the past, but in the Warriors, he has gained the success of the team and the recognition of the outside world. On January 28, 2022, Wiggins was named an All-Star for the first time in his career and was elected as a starter. The result was surprising because looking at the other inductees, they were all the team stars. Only Wiggins, like Korver of the year, was named an All-Star as an All-Star among role players. At the same time, Wiggins did what most role players couldn't do — to be a starter.
Admittedly, Wiggins became the reason why all-Star starters George, Leonard, and Davis were injured. But even if these players are not injured, Wiggins can compete for a substitute position this season by performance and record. He may not deserve the starter, but he deserves an All-Star spot.
epilogue
Wiggins, 26, is an 8-year veteran and may never live to be what the outside world imagines to be the so-called "Maple Leaf Jordan." Over the years, many players have always followed the trajectory drawn by others, but they have lost themselves, and Wiggins has experienced this confusion. Until joining the Warriors, Wiggins found his true self.
Playing low-key, living low-key, that's all Wiggins wanted.
"I just want to keep a low profile and stay on my own course without deviating, that's my style."
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