Getty Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr argues a call during a bout with the New Orleans Pelicans.
While one might quibble over Andrew Wiggins’ status as an All-Star starter, there’s no doubting that the Golden State Warriors wing has earned a spot in the NBA‘s February classic. Ahead of Klay Thompson’s return, however, there was a level of concern about whether he would sustain his high level of play amid the comeback.
Wiggins’ teammates and coaches were determined to keep him on the right path, though.
“Klay’s got this very big… aura about him when he’s on the court and he just finds a way to make his presence felt,” Warriors forward Andre Iguodala said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “Wiggs is a little more shy. So we had to remind Wiggs we still need you to go out and be on attack. And he’s done a great job of doing that.”
More than anything, Steve Kerr didn’t want him deferring to Klay. And after some initial bumps in the road, the first-time All-Star looks to have solidified himself in the face of the changing team dynamic.
Kerr Has Been in Wiggins’ Ear for a While
Ahead of the team’s Saturday practice, Kerr echoed Iguodala’s comments on the matter. He noted that when Thompson returned for that much-ballyhooed first scrimmage in Denver, he implored Wiggins to keep his aggression up.
“I think a lot of us told him that,” Kerr said. “I told him that when we scrimmaged in Denver, when we had that game postponed and we had our first scrimmage with Klay. That was the first thing I told Andrew. I said ‘Don’t defer to Klay because Klay is going to find his own shot. You don’t ever have to worry about Klay, but we need your aggressiveness to be good.’
“And I know Steph [Curry] and Andre have reiterated that message to Andrew.”
That first game was a bit rough. In Thompson’s return, Wiggins finished with just 10 points on nine shot attempts. Since then, though, it has largely been business as usual for the former No. 1 overall pick.
“I thought there were maybe two games early on when Klay came back where Andrew was trying to figure it out a little bit and it didn’t take long,” Kerr added.
“He’s been great ever since and I really love the combination of Andrew, Steph and Klay as starters. There’s plenty of shots to go around and the more aggressive Andrew is, the better team we are.”
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Wiggins’ Performance Post-Return
Wiggins has appeared in 13 games following Thompson’s January 9 return against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Over that span, he has averaged 16.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per contest while shooting 48.6% from the floor and 41.6% from deep. Meanwhile, the Warriors have been 5.6 points per 100 possessions better when he’s on the floor.
However, the way in which Wiggins and Thompson have performed as a duo is equally good news.
In their 189 shared minutes this season, the Dubs are drubbing the opposition by 16.0 points/100 poss. And while the offense has been kicking, the team’s defense when they share the court warrants special mention. The tandem boasts a defensive rating of 99.3.
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