Drawing All-Star attention, Andrew Wiggins needs no extra motivation in return to Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS — By all accounts, Steph Curry hasn’t kept up his pledge to text Andrew Wiggins that photo of him soaring over former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns. He hasn’t had to; Wiggins has needed no extra motivation to keep up the aggressive play on display against his former team in their first meeting this season.

On Sunday, Wiggins returned to Target Center, where he spent the first 5½ years of his NBA career, along with his Warriors teammates for only the second time, and the first time in front of more than a smattering of fans. Wiggins has always performed well against his former teams, but their last meeting brought something different out of him.

Wiggins has shot better than 50% from the field, better than 45% from 3 and averaged nearly 20 points per game since he exploded for 35 points — and a posterization of Towns — in a November win, enough for him to generate 1.8 million All-Star votes at last count, more than all Western Conference players not named Steph, LeBron or Jokic. He has said that game was the catalyst for his newfound confidence on offense.

With Klay Thomson back in the fold, Wiggins has been challenged — personally and by coach Steve Kerr — to continue to find his spots, even while the gravity of the offense shifts elsewhere. With Steph Curry and Draymond Green out Sunday, Golden State was going to be reliant on the duo of Thompson and Wiggins to generate points against the Timberwolves.

“We’re gonna be dangerous,” Wiggins said. “Everything we’re doing now is preparing for the playoffs. … Just continue to be aggressive. Be aggressive on offense and on defense. That’s what I’ve been trying to do – just find different ways to help the team.”

When he was with the Timberwolves, it became a trope that Wiggins’ best games would come against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team that drafted him first overall and immediately traded him to Minnesota. Since the Warriors swapped D’Angelo Russell for Wiggins and a first-round pick (which turned into Jonathan Kuminga), the trend has continued against Minnesota.

Wiggins’ career scoring average in 15 games against Cleveland (22.1) is outdone only by his 26.0 points per game in four meetings with Minnesota since joining the Warriors.

“You always like playing against your former teams,” Kerr said. “In an 82-game season, sometimes you need energy from a different source because your body gets tired. I’m sure Wiggs gets up for Minnesota, but most players in the league are just like that.”

Now, as he makes his first proper return in front of his former fanbase, Wiggins is mounting an All-Star campaign — recognition he never got in his five full seasons with the Timberwolves. But Wiggins said he doesn’t feel the need to prove anything to anyone. The biggest difference with the Warriors, he said, was the winning basketball and the culture it breeds.

“It was a good chapter in my life. I learned a lot. I had some good memories here with some good people, and now I’m on to the next chapter, that’s all it is,” Wiggins said. “It’s been fun basketball. Golden State plays fun basketball. Most importantly we’re winning. When you’re winning, you’re having fun and life’s good.”

The last time the Warriors visited Minnesota — Wiggins’ only other experience as an opposing player at Target Center — came in front of fewer than 2,000 fans with attendance restricted by public health rules amid the pandemic.

That wasn’t the case Sunday, as thousands of fans were due to stream into the arena (which doubled as shelter from the sub-freezing temperatures outside) to witness Wiggins’ proper return.

With the interruptions caused by the pandemic, Wiggins said it feels like it’s been longer than two years since he was traded. Towns is one of the few players remaining from the last time Wiggins was in Minnesota.

“Hopefully he doesn’t try to get me back,” Wiggins said of Towns, the victim of his ferocious dunk in their last meeting. “It’s always fun coming back. … I feel like I’ve been gone for a long time.”

Curry, who wasn’t with the team in Minnesota after injuring his hand in their previous game, said after Wiggins’ 35-point outing against his former team that he would text Wiggins a photo of the ultimate highlight from that game — his posterization of Towns — to bring that out of him every night. The texts haven’t come, but Wiggins’ best stretch since joining the Warriors has, anyway.