Last year, the Golden State Warriors had to deal with forward Andrew Wiggins being away from the team for personal reasons for quite some time, as he played in only 37 regular-season games before returning to the squad for the NBA playoffs.
Some believe that Wiggins was never the same when he came back from this excused absence, and that seems to be pretty on point, as he has struggled throughout the 2023-24 NBA regular season, leading to another absence ahead of the postseason.
Wiggins is currently away from the team once again for personal reasons, which has obviously caused quite a stir among the fans and the media, especially with him averaging five points less than he did last year with a career-low 12.7 points per game.
During a press conference with head coach Steve Kerr, Wiggins’ absence from the team was addressed, with the veteran head coach making it clear that this is an excused absence for the 29-year-old, via Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Steve Kerr said it is an excused absence for Andrew Wiggins: “Oh yeah. Yeah.”
He said both him and Rick Celebrini are in contract with Wiggins. Still no firm timetable on return, but: “We expect him back.” pic.twitter.com/aqgAgqZFJ6
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) February 29, 2024
With the Warriors struggling all season long and only recently getting things pointed in the right direction, losing Wiggins for an unknown period of time is a devastating blow, even though he’s having arguably the worst season of his career in the NBA.
Only time will tell when Wiggins will return and what impact he may have on the team once he is back in the fold, but his future in San Francisco may be in serious jeopardy, as Golden State will almost certainly move on from him if given the opportunity during the NBA offseason.
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