Andrew Wiggins has left the Warriors again.
The one-time NBA Finals hero is taking an excused absence from the team for a second straight season, head coach Steve Kerr said on Wednesday night.
“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,” Kerr told 95.7 The Game.
“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.”
Wiggins missed the final 25 games of the regular season a year ago before returning for the playoffs.
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.
Wiggins averaged 16.7 points and 5.6 rebounds a game in the playoffs as the Warriors fell to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals after taking out the Kings in seven games in the first round.
These numbers were similar to what Wiggins put up when he was a key figure in the team’s NBA championship run in 2022, particularly during the NBA Finals when he helped Golden State take down the Celtics in six games.
Wiggins, though, was battling through a career-worst season this year, averaging 12.7 points per game.
In late November, sources told ESPN that after missing games last year, 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, 29, had missed Tuesday’s game against the Wizards and was also ruled out for Thursday night’s game against the Knicks.
The Warriors are currently 30-27 and are in 10th place in the Western Conference, the final spot for the play-in games.