Who is Andrew Wiggins?

Golden State Warriors‘ Andrew Wiggins gave his team the required push against Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday. He has added 16 points by halftime, the most by any player in the game.

Golden State Warriors entered the third quarter with a 51-39 lead.

Also Read: With NBA Finals tied at 2-2, Celtics try to stop Warriors’ Stephen Curry

Who is Andrew Wiggins?

Born on February 23, 1995, in Toronto, Canada, to American former professional basketball player Mitchell Wiggins and Marita Payne-Wiggins, Andrew Wiggins was at Vaughan Secondary School and was part of their basketball program.

He began attending Huntington Prep School in West Virginia in 2011 and two years later, he was included in the First-team Parade All-American and McDonald’s All-American games. Wiggins enrolled in the University of Kansas in June 2013 and scored 17.1 points per game in average in his first year. His performance that year earned him a position among the top 25 finalists for the John R. Wooden Men’s Player of the Year award.

Also Read: NBA Finals: Gold-Blooded Stephen Curry steals the show in Game 4

Wiggins became available for the NBA draft in 2014 and was selected by Cleveland Cavaliers. Two months after the draft, he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In October that year, he made his NBA debut against the Memphis Grizzlies. 

In his second and third NBA seasons, he played 81 matches and 82 matches each. He won the NBA Rookie of the Year award for the 2014-15 season Looking at his performance, Timberwolves re-signed Wiggins with a five-year, $148 million contract extension.

Also Read: NBA finals: How Game 4 proves Warriors still most resilient team

Despite an injury, he played a crucial role in the Timberwolves’ 2018 playoffs appearance, scoring 15.8 points per game.

On January 18, 2020, he achieved his first career triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 11 assists.

In February that year, Wiggins was traded to the Golden State Warriors. He went on to score 24 points and had five steals in his debut for the team. On December 6, 2021, he scored 28 points in a 126–95 win over the Orlando Magic.