They Forgot About Wiggs

I could have more honestly named this post "I Forgot About Wiggs", because even though I knew he would have an impact on the Finals, I never really expected him to represent like he did last night.  That was some true x-factor shit right there, and that's the reason why Wiggins is prospering these days, because finally, for the first time in his career, with Golden State he is in fact an x-factor.  Also it helps that this year, he isn't chucking like he was doing during last season's playoffs but rather playing closer to the basket.

Andrew Wiggins is a player who always intrigued me, ever since the Cavs drafted him number 1 and then immediately traded him to Minnesota.  At the time, I thought they were making a big mistake.  But they did win a championship with Kevin Love, who's still representing for Cleveland to this day.

And as for the Timberwolves, I'm not going to call them a toxic organization, but they do have a history of underachieving since like forever.  That really became evident when the team, to my remembrance, failed to make the Playoffs with Jimmy Butler or probably did make it but didn't perform well.  Granted, Butler + KAT + Wiggins isn't the most compatible big 3.  But still, it was one of those situations like damn, what else do you need before you can succeed?  And throughout it all, it was Wiggins who was really being the most harshly criticized.

Now the thing about Andrew Wiggins is this.  Ever since he came into the NBA, he's been overrated.  And I'm not saying that as a diss or like I can see his future type shit, but people were calling him "the next Lebron James", and it was obvious from pretty early on that he wasn't.  For instance, Team Canada is garbage.

So he was a number one pick with all of these unrealistic expectations placed on him.  So then when Minnesota doesn't win, it's like his fault.  That's one of the ways in which the Cavs doing him like that adversely affected perceptions of Andrew.  If he had played under Lebron and Kyrie, then he wouldn't have had to deal with that type of pressure instantly upon entering the NBA.

Then eventually, he ended up being traded to the Warriors.  I don't feel like digging through the archives right now, but I know that at the time I said somewhere in this blog he would make a good fit.  Why?  Because on top of being the type of athletic wing the Warriors needed, no one is going to expect him to be an alpha dog playing with the Splash Bros. + Draymond.  Maybe one day Curry, Thompson and Draymond will retire, and Wiggins will be the new face of the franchise.  But he's being afforded the opportunity to comfortably grow into that role instead of, unlike with the Timberwolves, being forced into it.

CONCLUSION

Also, let's not forget that earlier this season some people, including some prominent media organizations, were trying to diss Wiggins for making the All-Star Team (as a starter).  And that's what makes me happiest with what he's been doing of late, that maybe now those types of haters - you know, the types who also got Jeremy Lin snubbed from the All-Star Game some years back - will finally or at least hopefully STFU.