Jayson Tatum’s Old Tweet About Andrew Wiggins Goes Viral After Game 5
Andrew Wiggins was the hero for the Warriors in a pivotal Game 5 NBA Finals victory over the Celtics Monday night. On both ends, the All-Star forward provided massive contributions, helping to fill the void left by an off-night from Golden State star Steph Curry.
Wiggins poured in 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Warriors’ 104–94 win over the Celtics at home in the Chase Center Monday. He also played stifling defense on Boston forward Jayson Tatum, even though the first-team All-NBA selection was still able to score 27 points in the loss.
After Wiggins delivered a strong performance for the second game in a row, a 2012 tweet from Tatum began to circulate on Twitter. In the tweet, the Celtics star, who would’ve been 14 years old at the time, said he thought Jabari Parker was better than Wiggins.
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Parker and Wiggins were still in high school at the time, but were among the highest touted recruits in the class of 2013. Parker went to Duke and became a consensus first-team All-American as a freshman, while Wiggins enrolled at Kansas and was named first-team All-Big 12.
The two forwards went on to become the top two picks in the 2014 NBA draft, with Wiggins going at No. 1 to the Timberwolves (via the Cavaliers) and Parker coming off the board at No. 2 to the Bucks. Both found individual success during the early parts of their professional careers but struggled to lead their teams to consistent winning.
Since the time of Tatum’s tweet, the careers of the two players have gone in different directions. While Parker has been left without a team for most of the last two seasons, Wiggins has re-invented himself on the Warriors and has become perhaps the second-most important player on an NBA Finals team.
It’s difficult to fault Tatum for a tweet from 10 years ago, especially when the evidence might have leaned in his favor at the time. But now that Wiggins is powering the Warriors to victories over the Celtics on basketball’s biggest stage, Tatum may be regretting his old words.
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