The Wiggins' Hate Continues

First of all let me say that I wouldn't necessarily consider myself an Andrew Wiggins' fan.  Under his era as the best player from Canada, the Canadians, despite having one of best teams in the world on paper, have absolutely faltered in international play.  If I remember correctly, the team he played for in college also fell a bit short.  But it ain't like I'm trying to diss dude, since he's like the first real basketball star from Canada anyway.

What I did always appreciate about Andrew though is the way he would just out of nowhere bang it somebody.  He would do the types of dunks that if you actually attended the game, you'd be going home with a smile on your face like 'yeah, the ticket was worth it'.

Wiggins proved talented enough to also go on to co-lead the Timberwolves alongside KAT.  That experiment too proved to be a disappointment, especially since for a time they also had Jimmy Butler on the squad.  And then, people started trying to diss Air Canada like he was garbage or something.  And I kinda liked seeing D'Angelo Russell on the Warriors in Klay Thompson's absence.  But despite remaining a dangerously-unpredictable hot head, Wiggins has been a better fit.  And even though Andrew has aged a bit, he still performs exciting dunks every now and then.

So it seems that he's been voted an All-Star starter, and a lot of media heads or cheesed.  I heard mention of Zaza Pachulia in relation to all of this and how he was almost voted into the All-Star Game due to social popular, until the NBA intervened or something.  But who I personally started thinking of as far as the current Wiggins' hate goes is Jeremy Lin, the most media-hated on player in NBA history.  But now as the years progress, I'm now starting to realize that decision to snub him out of the All-Star Game probably had like geopolitical implications or some crazy sh*t.

So we even have websites like Yahoo! Sports making statements like "do fans deserve 50% of (the All-Star) vote?"  I mean, look at the hubris.  Or who do they think it is that financially powers the NBA?  But after all, this is the COVID age we live in.  And speaking of COVID, let's not forget that earlier in the season that Andrew Wiggins was also one of the most-trending anti-vaxxers.

The hubris.

Sometimes I think the Wiggins hate dates back to how he was treated by Lebron.  No, there isn't any actual evidence that LBJ forced the Cavs to trade him for Kevin Love.  But it was obvious that Lebron, despite already being an elder statesman by that time, was more interested in instant superteaming than developing one.  So now this All-Star Game when they both start, that'll be the first time they play actually play together.

And one thing the Warriors never really get credit for is excellent team construction at its core.  Players like Shaun Livingston, Harrison Barnes, Kevin Durant, Andrew Bogut and especially Andre Igoudala fit wonderfully in the Warriors' system.  To me, Andrew Igoudala is what should be termed a quintessential 'positionless player'.  And that's because it's like you kinda forget he's even on the court until he's making some type of timely play.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the day, it isn't well-written articles or compelling analysis that sells the NBA.  Rather, it's phat dunks and players that fans can relate to.  One benefit the NBA has over other popular leagues is that in basketball there isn't really that many dudes on the squad.  So it becomes easier to 'get to know' players.

So if it's Zaza Pachulia, Jeremy Lin, let every MFer in.  Throughout the Lebron era, we've had some of the most boring All-Star games in history.  So yes, let's see some more young dudes and players who everyone slept on.  And I hope this year someone bangs it on Lebron.