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NEW YORK — NEW YORK — For the second-straight season, Andrew Wiggins is leaving the Warriors. Head coach Steve Kerr revealed on Thursday that the forward is taking a leave of absence due to an undisclosed personal matter.
Kerr said the team is uncertain when he will return:
“We do expect him to be back but we just don’t exactly know when,” said Kerr, per CBS Sports. “We’re in a position where Wiggs is a private person and he’s asked to keep it private and we’re gonna honor that. So it doesn’t help for me to sit here and try to explain any of that. The bottom line is we respect Wiggs, we need him and we fully expect him back, but we just don’t know when that will be.”
Kerr added both himself and Rick Celebrini (Warriors Director of Sports Medicine) are in contract with Wiggins. The 29-year-old missed the final 25 games last season to a personal matter from mid-February to early April. He returned right before the postseason and appeared in all 13 playoff games. While the reason for his absence was unclear at the time, it was later reported that Wiggins’ father, Mitchell, was dealing with a serious medical situation.
NBA Insider Shams Charanai told the “Run It Back” podcast on Friday that it’s a similar situation this time around.
“I’m told Andrew Wiggins is dealing and tending to a serious family matter right now, and the Warriors are giving him his space, there giving him time.”
Wiggins has averaged a career-low 12.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in 51 games this season. In late November, sources told ESPN that Wiggins “didn’t take the time necessary during the summer to get back into shape ahead of this season. His lack of physical conditioning annoyed some within the organization.”
The Warriors are currently 30-27 and are in 10th place in the Western Conference, the final spot for the play-in games.
