Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins was not with the team for their win over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, and it’s unclear when he’ll return to the court. The veteran forward is dealing with a “personal matter” according to head coach Steve Kerr.
During an appearance on local Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game on Wednesday, Kerr spoke about Wiggins’ absence but declined to go into detail.
“We do expect him to be back but we just don’t exactly know when,” Kerr said. “We’re in a position where Wiggs is a private person and he’s asked to keep it private and we’re gonna honor that. So it doesn’t help for me to sit here and try to explain any of that. The bottom line is we respect Wiggs, we need him and we fully expect him back, but we just don’t know when that will be.”
Wiggins missed the final 25 games of last regular season due to a “family matter.” While neither he nor the team ever disclosed what happened, Shams Charania reported that Wiggins’ father was “dealing with a serious medical situation.” Wiggins eventually returned for the start of the playoffs and appeared in all 13 games before the Warriors were eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.
It would be unfair to Wiggins to speculate on what he’s dealing with right now or when he’ll be back this season.
Overall, this has been a bit of a disappointing season for Wiggins, who briefly lost his starting role and is averaging 12.7 points and 4.3 rebounds on 45.5% shooting through 51 games. He had been playing better as of late, however, which coincided with the Warriors’ hot streak.
They are 11-3 in their last 14 games, which has pushed them back above .500 at 30-27 and into ninth place in the Western Conference. While they remain 3.5 games behind the Phoenix Suns for a top-six spot and a guaranteed playoff berth, they have a four-game lead on the 11th-place Utah Jazz and are in good shape for a Play-In Tournament berth.
Without Wiggins, they’ll need youngsters such as Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski to continue stepping up, as well as more consistent play from Klay Thompson, who is now coming off the bench. Thompson remained in a reserve role in Wiggins’ absence on Tuesday, which suggests he will not move back into the starting lineup.
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