Although Golden State Warriors small forward Andrew Wiggins has come under scrutiny for his All-Star nomination, his past few games merit recognition.
Andrew Wiggins made news for all the wrong reasons recently when he made the 2021-22 All-Star roster over players deemed more impressive by NBA players and media, such as Rudy Gobert and Draymond Green.
Even though Wiggins’ place on the roster due to fan popularity has come under scrutiny, as of late, Wiggins has gone off since being named to the team.
In the three games since being named to the team, Wiggins is averaging 22.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 2.0 blocks, shooting 56.8 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from beyond the arc.
As StatMuse surmises, the K Pop fans that helped Wiggins make the All-Star team were onto something.
Andrew Wiggins goes off after being named to the All-Star team
After their 122-108 win against the Houston Rockets, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr complimented his shooting guard’s impressive level of play.
“Wigs is… he’s a machine,” Kerr said.
While Wiggins may be playing like an All-Star since voting, he wasn’t regarded as one across the league before the votes became public. The Warriors social team actually enlisted the help of K-Pop star BamBam to encourage All-Star voting for Wiggins on Jan. 7, when the votes counted 2-for-1.
Each hashtag vote counted twice as much as usual, and Wiggins finished voting with 3.4 million votes, which is well over what Paul George, Draymond Green and Rudy Gobert received. Due to the way in which fan votes are weighted, Wiggins came away with the award.
While there are debates about who deserved it most, Wiggins remains highly esteemed among fellow players. He garnered 46 player votes and came away with a No. 5 ranking among players. And with the way he’s been playing recently, he seems determined to make the most of his elevated status.