With the Paris Olympics are two months away, the Canadian men’s national basketball team looks like they’ll be getting their first Olympic medal since 1936. A number of NBA veterans will be on Team Canada’s roster, namely Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets), and Dillon Brooks (Houston Rockets). A blockade of defenders —Thunder wing Lu Dort, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard —will play for the team as well. Now, Golden State Warriors wing Andrew Wiggins is teasing his commitment.
Andrew Wiggins Would ‘Be Honored’ to Play For Team Canada
“They had a great summer last year when they had qualified for the Olympics, all those guys did their thing and really put on [a show] for the country, and I’d be honored to play for our country,” Wiggins says, per Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
“We’ll see what happens…,” he continues. “…You guys just stay tuned and, you know, we’ll see what the road brings.”
Focusing On His Bounce Back
Wiggins didn’t have his best season in 2023-24, averaging career-lows of 13.2 points and 0.6 steals per game. He shot 45.3 percent from the field, but 35.8 percent from 3, his lowest mark since 2019-20. Because he played just 37 games in 2022-23, the refinement he showed in his first two seasons with the Warriors is now a distant memory.
Wiggins, who may be traded this offseason, is well aware of this:
“That was some of the some of the best basketball I’ve ever played… Impacting the game in a lot of different ways and defensively,” muses Wiggins.
“I was really locked in and did a lot of things to change the game… Once you get that feeling of winning, being on top, being the best team in the world …You want to feel that again, knowing what it takes to get there, how hard it is to get there. You know the sacrifices. You just want that again, you want that feeling.”
Without missing the forest for the trees, Wiggins has generally played quite well. Even going back to his days with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Indeed, he’s averaged 18.5 points and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 45.0 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3 over the last eight seasons.
Furthermore, Wiggins’ decline on the court coincided with his father’s declining health. In fact, he missed the final 25 games of 2022-23 because of those family matters. When Wiggins returned for 2023-24, his physical preparation was behind the curve. He very well may not have been focused on offseason conditioning if his dad was in poor health. It’s not an excuse for underperforming, it’s understandable.
From Wiggins’s comments though, he sounds ready to put his best foot forward this summer. If he attacks his workouts, the former No. 1 pick could have a bounce back year in 2024-25. That said, playing in the Summer Olympics might aid him in that endeavor. Players who take part in FIBA-organized events typically play well in the following season.
The post Former No. 1 Pick Would ‘Be Honored’ To Represent Country appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.