Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins. John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Warriors star could be nearing return

Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Vincent Frank | Last updated 3/31/23

Golden State Warriors star forward Andrew Wiggins has missed the past 20 games due to personal reasons. The 2022 NBA Finals hero has not disclosed why he’s been absent since last suiting up on Feb. 13.

As for the Warriors, they continue to be tight-lipped about Wiggins’ absence. With the regular season concluding soon, there are signs that Wiggins could return to the court in short order. Bay Area NBA insider Jason Dumas reported on Friday that Wiggins is back in the region after spending the past several weeks out of town.

This could be an indication that Wiggins is preparing to return to the Warriors at soon. As for the defending NBA champions, head coach Steve Kerr sounded optimistic following their win over the New Orleans Pelicans Tuesday night. Kerr noted that “there’s hope” Wiggins returns and that shutting him down for the season “hasn’t even been discussed.”

Heading into Friday night’s outing against the San Antonio Spurs, Golden State has posted a 21-19 record in games that Wiggins has missed. During his most recent absence, the Warriors are a mere 11-9.

Golden State sits as the sixth seed in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves in an attempt to avoid the NBA play-in tournament. It is also just 1.5 games behind the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns. In what is a tight Western Conference Playoff race, there’s no real margin for error.

The Warriors’ struggles closing out games without Wiggins in the mix has added another layer to that recently.

As for Wiggins, he was the second-most important Warriors player during their run to a fourth NBA championship in eight seasons. That included playing great defense against the likes of Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum while hitting clutch shots in last year’s playoffs.

This article first appeared on Sportsnaut and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: