If you say before the season that Andrew Wiggins will be the second best player on the court in the NBA Finals, they might tell you to check your head. That sounded unlikely at the time, but it did become a reality as Wiggins shined on the sport's biggest stage.
In the Western Conference Finals, it was Wiggins who managed to interfere with Luka Doncic and establish himself as one of the best two-way players in the league. Wiggins is the Warriors' second-place scorer, and his scoring explosion in Game 5 was crucial to the team, while his impact on the defensive end earned him a lot of praise. Among those conquered by his performance was Charles Buckley, who had always been known for his poisonous tongue.
"He's doing well because he doesn't have to play well every night and I'll tell you he played the best defense I've ever seen. It was he who made Tatum so flustered, and I've never seen this guy make so many mistakes in the playoffs. ”
Wiggins put multiple defensive pressures on Jason Tatum in the Finals, leaving the Greens core player inefficient throughout the series, which caused a lot of damage to the Celtics.
Few players have achieved such a great reputation in a playoff game as Wiggins did in 2022, and now he just needs to build on that to become a superstar in the league in the coming years.