KU’s Bill Self, others praise former Jayhawk Andrew Wiggins, star of NBA Finals Game 5
Bill Self has watched former University of Kansas wing Andrew Wiggins emerge as a bonafide star in the 2022 NBA Finals.
“You can make a case he’s been Golden State’s second-best player in the playoffs.” Self, KU’s 20th-year men’s basketball coach, said before tipoff of the Wiggins-led Warriors’ 104-94 victory over the Boston Celtics in Monday’s Game 5 in San Francisco.
The victory, sparked by Wiggins 26 points and 13 rebounds, gave Golden State a 3-2 lead in the championship series heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Boston (8 p.m. Central time on ABC).
“No doubt who No. 1 is and he’s been a distant second but you can make a case he has been that. I’m really happy for him,” Self said.
Wiggins likely gained some support — but in all likelihood did not surpass — NBA superstar teammate Steph Curry as leading candidate for MVP in the 2022 Finals on Monday night. One thing is certain, however. Wiggins emerged as the home team’s star of this particular game.
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound, 27-year-old Wiggins, who played for Self one season at KU, averaging 17.1 points, 5.9 rebounds in 2013-14 before turning pro, hit 12 of 23 shots to go with his 13 boards, two assists, two steals and a block in the pivotal Game 5 win.
It’s one that has Golden State a victory away from its fourth NBA crown in the last eight years. It would be Wiggins’ first NBA championship with the team and first in his career.
Wiggins’ 26-point explosion — it included a spectacular dunk after a drive down the lane with two minutes to play — followed a Game 4 win Friday in Boston in which he scored 17 points and secured a career high 16 rebounds.
Curry — the man Self and others have deemed the best player in the playoffs so far — followed Friday’s remarkable 43-point outing in Boston with 16 points and eight assists on Monday in Game 5. Curry missed all nine of his three-point attempts Monday after hitting seven threes in Game 4. Wiggins was 0 for 6 from three on Monday. Curry on Monday failed to hit a three in a game for the first time since November 2018. It was Curry’s first postseason game without a made three.
The Warriors’ Klay Thompson hit five threes and contributed 21 points. As a team, the Warriors were 9 of 40 from beyond the arc against Boston.
Wiggins, who has been credited for his work defensively on Boston star wing Jayson Tatum in the series, again on Monday guarded Tatum who scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed 10 boards.
“He (Wiggins) was an All-Star starter for a reason,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said after the game as quoted by the AP. Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, made his first All-Star game appearance earlier this season. He was elected a starter by the fans.
“The bigger the challenge has been that we’ve thrown in front of him, the bigger he’s responded. You want a guy like that. When the stage gets big, they respond and play their best basketball, and that’s what he’s been doing,” Green added.
Of Wiggins, Warriors coach Steve Kerr said in the interview room after the game: “He’s just been fantastic, not just in this series but throughout the playoffs.”
That was the point KU’s Self was making from his basketball camp at Allen Fieldhouse prior to Game 5.
“People forget ‘Wiggs’ has averaged 19 (points a game) for his career. He’s had a great — not an All-Star multiple times type career — but a great career,” Self said.
Wiggins has career averages of 19.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in eight NBA seasons.
“There’d be a lot of people love to have a guy that averages 19 a game that you could pencil in,” Self stated Monday.
Others’ praise of Wiggins included his former Minnesota Timberwolves teammate, Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls, who wrote on Twitter, ”Keep killing @22 wiggins.”
Of his own performance, Wiggins, a native of Toronto, said after the game: “I’m just trying to do every little thing to win, That’s it. Whether I got to score rebound or defend. Anything I’m asked to do on the court to help win I’m going to do.”
Asked by ESPN about perhaps wrapping up the title Thursday, Wiggins said: “I”m excited. It’s an opportunity of a lifetime. It’s something I worked hard for and the team worked hard for. So I’m excited.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 9:19 AM.
