Andrew Wiggins has taken several leaves over the past two years and all he said was, he had to deal with a “personal matter”. He even faced some criticism for it when he missed 25 games in 2023 and no reason was given out. In April, Shams Charania of The Athletic revealed that his absence was because of “a serious medical situation” of his father, Mitchell Wiggins, an ex-NBA guard. That battle against the physical ailments came to an end as the Wiggins household announced the heartbreaking news of Mitchell’s (64) death on September 13.

Andrew Wiggins’ sister, Angelica broke the news in her Instagram Story. Angey posted a childhood picture with her father with the caption, “Rest easy. You’ll forever be missed. I love you forever Daddy.” Andrew or the franchise did not issue any statement regarding that yet but the Dubs nation is mourning the loss with the family since then.

It would be safe to assume that Andrew inherited his impeccable basketball skills from his father, who had a successful NBA career from 1983 to 1992. He was selected by the Indiana Pacers as the 23rd overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. But ultimately he was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Sidney Lowe. Mitchell played one season with the Bulls before being traded to the Houston Rockets for Caldwell Jones. He played three seasons for the Rockets before his career took a dramatic turn.

The league suspended him and former Rocket Lloyd Lewis for two years after testing positive for cocaine. Mitchell came back in 1989, which was his last year with the Rockets. After that, he moved ahead with the Philadelphia 76ers, only after sitting out the 1990 season after refusing to take a physical and drug test for the Sixers.

His career averages stand at 10.0 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steals with splits of 46 percent shooting from the field, 19.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 75.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He reached the peak of his NBA career during his last season with the Rockets in 1989-90.

During that season, He averaged a career-high 15.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 81 percent from the free-throw line. It is nothing short of remarkable that he attained all those after staying away from basketball for two years. In 1992, Wiggins played for Team USA in the FIBA World Cup, helping the U.S. men’s national team win silver. But he did not bid goodbye to basketball yet.

After his stint with the NBA, Wiggins Sr. played for Greek side Sporting BC from 1994 to 1996 and won two Greek League Top Scorer awards in 1994 and 1996. A 6-foot-4 shooting guard, Mitchell was not as tall or athletic as his son Andrew, but he could stick the midrange jumper and get into the lane.

The National Basketball Retired Players Association mourned the death of the former player on its X account. “The basketball community has lost a Legend. Our hearts are with the family, friends and fans of Mitchell Wiggins.#LegendsForever,” the post read.

Mitchell is survived by his six children, including Andrew, Nick Wiggins, Mitchell Wiggins Jr., Stephanie Wiggins, Angelica Wiggins, Taya Wiggins, and wife Marita Payne-Wiggins. Marita is a 2x silver medalist in 4x100m and 4x400m relays in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. After the news broke out, Warriors fans joined in large numbers to console the family.

Rumors about Andrew Wiggins may finally stop, fans say while mourning

Andrew Wiggins missed 22 games and only played 37 games in the regular season. This prolonged absence stirred up rumors like anything, up to the extent of infidelity. His girlfriend and mother of his two daughters, Mychal Johnson had to take a stance. She tweeted in March that “the internet is really a sick place.” “The farthest thing from the truth. It’s sad y’all even doing this.” she had further written. She was joined by Draymond Green who spoke out on his Volume podcast.

“I want to let you all know about how absolutely ridiculous most of you people are at life. The fact that a rumor about Andrew Wiggins — I don’t know if it’s true. I’m not here to confirm whether it’s true or not. I really don’t care, like it ain’t got nothing to do with me. You hear stuff like that and you care for like him and her, like and their children. So I care from that perspective. But whether what y’all said is true or not really has no bearing on my life nor does it have any bearing on your life,” Green had said.

Recalling out those critics who took shots at Wiggins not knowing his predicament, this fan took a jab at the haters.

Wiggins was recently supposed to visit China, but his trip was canceled. As the reason became clear, a fan took to social media to console the family for all they had been going through for all these years.

Earlier this year, the Warriors announced that Wiggins would miss time on the court for an unspecified timeline. Shams Charania dug deeper into it and disclosed, “I’m told Andrew Wiggins is dealing and tending to a serious family matter right now, and the Warriors are giving him his space, they’re giving him his time,”

Charania further added, “The expectation is, Steve Kerr spoke about this, Andrew Wiggins will be returning at some point of this season. They’re optimistic about that. But they also understand he’s going through this process. We certainly wish him, and his family, the best as he deals with it.” 

Andrew, selected 1st overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, made sure that he continued the legacy of his father built on the court. With that, he turned out to be the best player on the floor in the Warriors’ win over the Celtics in 2022 NBA finals. On way to his first NBA title, he led the Golden State to a Game 5 win over Boston with 26 points and 13 rebounds, all while playing stellar defense on All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum. Here he had a coincidental connection to Mitchell.

36 years back, Mitchell helped the Rockets stave off elimination with a 16-point, seven-rebound performance in Game 5 of the 1986 NBA Finals against the same team, the Celtics! Although the Rockets eventually lost the game, the connection looks intriguing and probably indicates the divine connection the two share. The Warriors will start their camp soon and there is now a high probability that Wiggins might be unavailable initially. Just like the fans, we can only offer our condolences and prayers to the Wiggins family.