Andrew Wiggins Takes Leave of Absence From Warriors
Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will be taking a break from the team this season due to an undisclosed personal matter, coach Steve Kerr revealed on Thursday.
Wiggins missed the Warriors’ Tuesday win over the Washington Wizards and was also ruled out of Thursday’s road matchup against the New York Knicks. Amid growing speculation over Wiggins’s season availability, Kerr said the team is unsure when the one-time All-Star will return as Wiggins is reportedly dealing with a personal matter.
“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,” Kerr said on Bay Area radio station 95.7 The Game. “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.”
Last season, Wiggins missed the final 25 games due to a family matter, the details of which were kept under wraps. The veteran forward returned for the start of the 2022–23 postseason and played in every Warriors playoff game, averaging 16.7 points per game during that stretch.
This year, Wiggins has averaged a career-low 12.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 51 games. He has, however, picked up some steam during the Warriors’ recent hot streak, scoring double-digit points in each of his last nine games.
The Warriors (30–27) currently sit in ninth place in the Western Conference with a four-game lead on the 11th-seeded Utah Jazz.
