Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins Out Indefinitely Due To Personal Matter

Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins is taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter, the team announced Wednesday. Wiggins did not travel with the team for a game against the Washington Wizards earlier this week and did not play against the Knicks on Thursday.

Wiggins missed the last 25 games of the regular season last year for personal reasons as well. Golden State never provided a reason for his absence, but The Athletic reported that his father was battling unspecified medical issues. Wiggins has again requested that the team keep the details of his personal matters private.

“We do expect him to be back but we just don’t exactly know when,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said during a local radio interview Wednesday. “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.”

The Warriors have struggled throughout the 2023-24 season, managing to earn a 30-27 record in the Western Conference, and Wiggins’ regression has been a factor in their backsliding. The 28-year-old forward is scoring just 12.7 points per game this year, far below his typical production. He is stepping away from a team currently in 10th place, just good enough to make the Play-In Tournament.

Despite his personal problems on the floor, Wiggins has been with Golden State since the 2019-20 season and has become an indispensable part of the team’s system. After stepping away from the team last year, he returned in the playoffs and played solidly until the team was eliminated in the conference semifinals.

In just his fifth start of the season, Warriors shooting guard Moses Moody filled in for Wiggins Tuesday and scored 12 points. The seldom-used bench player appeared to provide a spark in the team’s 123-112 victory over Washington and could continue to fill in for Wiggins going forward.