Andrew Wiggins didn’t have the best offseason of his life.
As the Warriors search for answers amid their slow start, which included choking away a five-point lead with 58 seconds left in Tuesday’s road loss to the Kings, Wiggins is coming under fire for his conditioning entering the season.
ESPN reported, citing sources, that “after missing two months last season over a still undisclosed personal matter, [Wiggins] didn’t take the time necessary during the summer to get back into shape ahead of this season” and “his lack of physical conditioning annoyed some within the organization.”
Despite his 29-point, 10-rebound effort Tuesday night, Wiggins is not meeting expectations through the early portion of the season.
His 12.8 points per game is a career low, and he entered Tuesday ranked last in effective field goal percentage on jumpers among players with at least 75 attempts, according to Second Spectrum stats cited by ESPN.
He also owns the worst free-throw percentage among qualified players at 56.3 percent.
His slump comes a little less than one year after he signed a four-year, $109 million extension with the Warriors last October.
He is now on their books through the 2026-27 season, and his salary rises in each of the next three seasons.
Last season also featured Wiggins missing nearly two months due to a medical situation involving his father. He returned for the Warriors’ two postseason series.
“When you are in a certain situation and your family needs you, it requires your attention and your love. That’s my first priority,” Wiggins said at the time. “My career, everything, family is always first for me, and it will always be that way. I felt like I was in a safe space to come back and I feel like we had everything settled, not fully settled but in a safe place where I could come back.”
The Warriors (8-10) have dropped eight of their past 10 games following Tuesday’s crushing home loss, which eliminated the team from the In-Season Tournament.
“We’re not in a freefall,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s the early part of the season and we’re losing a bunch of close games and we can see it on tape every game. Fouling and turnovers, I can only say it so many times. Those two things have to improve. When they do, we’re gonna be really good.”
They will aim to get to .500 in their upcoming home-and-home set with the Clippers.