According to a report in The Athletic, Andrew Wiggins found ex Minnesota Timberwolves President Gersson Rosas’ behavior highly hypocritical. Wiggins was disappointed with the environment Rosas had created in the Wolves organization.
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The Golden State Warriors marched to victory in last night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. One of the biggest highlights in the game was Andrew Wiggins’ performance against his former team.
The former rookie of the year torched a 35-points performance against his former team that included two poster dunks on Karl-Anthony Towns. Wiggins was 14 of 19 from the field, shooting an impeccable 73.7% from the field.
Many believed it was Wiggins’ revenge game against his former team, who had traded him overnight. Wolves head coach Chris Finch termed Wiggins’ 35-points monster performance a vendetta against his former team. However, the Warriors forward denied all the allegations, calling it a fun game.
Wiggins’ tenure in Minnesota ended on a bitter note. As per reports, the 26-year old didn’t like the way things ended with his former team and was taken aback by the double standards former team president Gersson Rosas exhibited.
Andrew Wiggins had a turbulent relationship with ex-Wolves President Gersson Rosas.
Wiggins was drafted, as the first overall pick, by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6″7′ forward played eight seasons in Minnesota but underperformed according to expectations. However, the Canadian averaged 19.5 PPG on a 44.6% shooting from the field during his tenure.
In a shocking turn of events, he was traded overnight to the Warriors. Though the trade was a blessing in disguise for him, Wiggins’ initial reaction to it was of astonishment.
According to a report in The Athletic,
“What really bothered Wiggins, according to players who have kept in touch with him since he joined Golden State, was the perceived hypocrisy of it all. One thing that Wiggins has always valued is family. It is everything to him. So when Rosas arrived and started to preach the importance of family to Wiggins, organized a trip to the Bahamas, met with Wiggins’ family, it resonated with him. At a Twins game during Rosas’ first summer on the job, he cradled Wiggins’ daughter in his arms and promised to build a relationship not just with Wiggins the player, but Wiggins the person.”
Below are some other excerpts from the report.
“Rosas preached the importance of staying together, of bonding, and fighting even when they were undermanned. So when Rosas traded him, Wiggins didn’t flip out, because he never flips out. But he did find it funny, all that talk about family and togetherness only to see Rosas trade all but two of the players that took that Bahamas trip before Rosas’ tenure was even a year old. Then came Rosas’ unceremonious exit just before training camp, and it did not go unnoticed.”
“That man held my daughter,” Wiggins said with disdain to anyone who asked him about both his trade and his reaction to the firing of Rosas.”
Earlier this year, Rosas was fired from the Timberwolves organization for allegedly developing a toxic environment in the locker room.
Though Wiggins might deny his performances against his former team as a vendetta, the statistics say something else. The Warriors forward has averaged 26.0 PPG on a 60.6% shooting from the field and 40.0% from the field against his former team so far.
