If you log on to Twitter these days and are tapped into Dub Nation, it’s hard not to be flooded by the #NBAAllStar hashtag as fans try to send their favorite players to basketball’s midseason showcase.
#StephenCurry and #DraymondGreen seem to have a legit shot at making the All-Star Game in Cleveland, but what about #AndrewWiggins?
Wiggins will likely return to the Warriors’ lineup Tuesday night against the Denver Nuggets after missing the past four games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols. While speaking with reporters Monday evening, Wiggins admitted he has seen his name attached to All-Star hype this season.
“You hear it, you see it,” Wiggins said. “Still a long way from it. I just gotta keep working. We just gotta keep winning, keep working and playing hard.”
For the season, Wiggins is averaging 18.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game while shooting a career-best 49.1 percent from the floor. On a team that prides itself on outside shooting, Wiggins totes the top 3-point shooting percentage (42.2). He often also guards the opposing team’s top scoring threat on the perimeter and has shown flashes of crazy athleticism – like his posterizing dunk on former teammate Karl Anthony-Towns in November.
In 19 games since that 35-point outburst against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wiggins has been putting up impressive splits – averaging 20.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.5 made 3-pointers per game – with a scorching 46.6 percent clip from 3-point distance. A combination of factors led to a slow start for Wiggins, as he dealt with a knee injury that slowed him and coach Steve Kerr admitted he did utilize Wiggins effectively.
Wiggins arrived in The Bay following the February 2020 D’Angelo Russell trade with question marks about his defensive effort and consistency, but those have washed away during his parts of three seasons with the Dubs. The eight-year NBA veteran is also playing with fun energy this year, flashing big smiles on the court and in press conferences.
Leave it to sage Warriors veteran Andre Iguodala to sum up Wiggins’ career best.
“Wiggins ain’t been good the last month, Wiggs has been good like the last six years in the NBA,” Iguodala said on Dec. 17. “The league is the league. You get in certain situations and your talent is seen more in certain situations. We had a common teammate – Jimmy Butler. And Jimmy Butler had nothing but amazing things to say about Wiggs, that he liked playing with Wiggs. That was all I needed to hear, to be honest. Because Jimmy doesn’t like anybody.”
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Wiggins could also benefit from the dearth of quality wings in the Western Conference. While the East has stars like Kevin Durant, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the West features Paul George in a class of his own this year, as teammate Kawhi Leonard is out with an ACL injury. After George, Wiggins finds himself in a second tier of Western Conference wings trying to make their All-Star push, along with others like Brandon Ingram, Anthony Edwards and Mikal Bridges. Not to mention, George recently tore a ligament in his elbow and is expected to miss the next month.
All the stars could be aligning for Wiggins to join Curry (and maybe Draymond) in Cleveland on Feb. 20.
“As an NBA player, that’s a goal for everybody,” Wiggins said. “Obviously, that comes with winning. You win and you get recognized more. Like I said, I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing. Hopefully I put myself in position to where I’m in that conversation.”
