Andrew Wiggins won’t play for Team Canada in next month’s Paris Olympics, but the story as to why isn’t quite clear.
The 10-year NBA veteran and the Warriors reportedly made a “medical decision” to keep him out of the Olympics this summer, per The Athletic, something Team Canada disputes.
Canadian general manager Rowan Barrett told the outlet that the news of Wiggins’ withdrawal from the team came as a shock.
“Well, for us, Andrew was fine,” Barrett said. “We were talking to him consistently. He’s been training for weeks and weeks getting ready for this. And then I got a call from Golden State a day or two before camp saying that they’re holding him out. So, from what I see, this is not an Andrew decision. This is from the team.”
The former All-Star appeared in 71 games for Golden State last season but was hampered by an ankle injury late in the year.
The former All-Star’s career has suffered a precipitous decline since helping the Warriors win their fourth championship of the Steph Curry era in 2022.
He averaged a career-low 13.2 points and 27 minutes per game for the Warriors last season.
Wiggins’ decline in production has come with a few extended absences that have kept him from making an impact on the court for the Warriors.
During the 2022-23 season, Wiggins missed nearly two months due to a medical situation involving his father.
Then last season, Wiggins again left the team for a week while tending to a family matter.
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.”
Wiggins, who is entering the second year of a four-year contract worth $109 million, is currently being “aggressively dangled” in the trade market, according to the Ringer.
