Andrew Wiggins has not been with the Golden State Warriors for over 20 games now and the reason for why this is the case is unknown to both the general media and NBA fans alike. What is known is that he’s taken time away from the team due to a family issue, with his teammates even saying that it’s ‘bigger than basketball’.
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Wiggins taking time off from the Warriors and the NBA has brought many such stories like this from the past to the fore. Shaquille O’Neal is one such superstar who had ‘disappeared’ for a short period of time from the NBA before returning. Though, he was ruled out for close to a week, which isn’t much compared to the Wiggins situation.
The one similarity between what Shaq had gone through and what the Canadian star is currently going through is the fact that they both revolve around family.
Shaquille O’Neal missed games due to a death in the family
Shaquille O’Neal was raised by a litany of caring family members who he was all close to. His grandmother, Odessa Chamblis, was someone who ‘The Big Aristotle’ held near and dear to his heart. However, in April of 1996, he would learn of her deteriorating health.
This caused him to miss multiple games to be with his family and eventually mourn the loss of his grandmother. He was granted a leave from the Magic and it was relatively unknown at the time to the public why the eventual 4x NBA champion was not present over the course of 5 days.
He would unexpectedly return to play against the Chicago Bulls where he would come off the bench in a 90-86 loss. He would however, drop 21 points on 10-16 shooting while also grabbing 9 rebounds in limited minutes.
When talking about the loss of his grandmother, Shaq said, “I was going to take another week off. I didn’t feel like playing. I didn’t feel like moving.”
Where is Andrew Wiggins?
As mentioned earlier, Andrew Wiggins and his camp have not yet revealed anything regarding his disappearance. Some have hypothesized that regardless of how far the Golden State Warriors go in the Playoffs, he’s likely not to return.
One theory that was floating around social media was that his partner, Mychal Johnson, had cheated on him with his best friend. However, Johnson herself took to social media to debunk their outlandish theory.
