Kurtenbach: Mum on details and short on time, Andrew Wiggins returns to
the Warriors
Golden State Warriors: Andrew Wiggins and the Dubs want to move forward,
but no one can say when the wing will rejoin the team.

>Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins (22) smiles while listening to a
question from the media during a press conference before their game
against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Chase Center in San Francisco,
Calif., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: April 4, 2023 at 8:28 p.m. | UPDATED: April 5, 2023 at 10:52 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/04/kurtenbach-mum-on-details-and-short-on-time-andrew-wiggins-returns-to-the-warriors/

SAN FRANCISCO — The reasons behind Andrew Wiggins’ absence from the
Warriors for the last seven weeks remain murky.

The issue is that Wiggins’ immediate future with the team is just as murky.

Wiggins and Warriors president of basketball operations Bob Myers shared
the Chase Center dais before Tuesday’s game with the Thunder, and
neither wanted to talk about why Wiggins has been away from the team.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr was also vague about Wiggins’ family “situation.”

The way the Warriors and Wiggins view it, that’s all the past. It’s
ancient history. There’s no reason to look back at it.

However, they are keen to move forward with Wiggins back with the team.

The problem: no one knows when Wiggins will return to the court.

Wiggins needed time to deal with his situation — whatever it might have
been. We can all relate to that.

And it’s undoubtedly cool that his employer had his back during that
process, not only providing him that time, but also affording him a
level of privacy that still persists.

But now the Warriors need time to figure out how to bring Wiggins back
into the fold.

And time is the one thing this team doesn’t have.

For those with the cynical view that believe no good deed goes
unpunished, the Warriors’ handling of Wiggins’ family issue might be a
case in point.

The Warriors did the right thing. They have no regrets.

Myers and Kerr — the spokesmen for the organization — referred to
granting Wiggins’ request for time away as a “no-brainer” decision.

“In this case, Andrew needed to be away,” Myers said. “Whatever he
needed, we wanted to support.”

And I don’t get the sense that was merely something said for the cameras
on Tuesday. There was an authenticity to the concern that Myers and Kerr
both expressed.

>Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins (22) smiles next to Golden State
Warriors’ Donte DiVincenzo (0) while on the bench during their game
against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first quarter at the Chase
Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. (Nhat V.
Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Meanwhile, Wiggins is as guarded as any player in the league, but his
appreciation for how the Dubs handled “the situation” seemed genuine too.

But this was no win-win. The Warriors felt the cost of Wiggins’ absence.

They still are. Even with him back with the team and looking slim, the
Warriors need time to evaluate Wiggins’ fitness level after his long
stretch away.

Wiggins is mentally ready to return to the court, but is he days or
weeks away from being physically ready to return?

“Taking it day-by-day,” Wiggins said.

In an ideal world, Wiggins would spend the next week or so building up
to the proverbial “NBA shape.” Then he and the team would take all of
next week to mentally prepare for a first-round playoff series.

But in the Warriors’ world, their season could be over in a week or so.

Having Wiggins on the court could help stave off that grim future.

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The Dubs have two regular-season games remaining following Tuesday’s
victory over Oklahoma City. Given the logjam around the Warriors in the
standings, both games could be crucial for Golden State to avoid next
week’s play-in tournament — the only postseason this team is currently
guaranteed.

Those would be great games to have a two-way wing — the kind of player
who wins games this time of year — in the lineup.

But the Warriors don’t know if Wiggins can play Friday in Sacramento or
Sunday in Portland.

“We’ll just kind of see,” Kerr said. “I think we’ll have a better idea
in the next couple of days.”

Yes, the Warriors need some good karma to come into play for them.

Because while Wiggins did work out during his absence, he did so alone —
eschewing the Warriors’ offer to have a coach visit him.

“He preferred to work on his own, which was fine,” Kerr said.

And even if he had been with a Dubs coach, it’s hard to imagine those
workouts would have maintained Wiggins’ NBA readiness. That’s a high bar.

Still, there is a sense that the Warriors are nearing completeness. The
team is generally healthy, and Gary Payton II is back in the fold after
his sojourn in Portland and abdominal injury. Now that Wiggins — the
team’s second-best player in last year’s postseason — is back with the
team, it’s easier to see the 2022 champions repeating.

They certainly weren’t going to win a title without Two-Way Wiggs.

But will he be back on the court soon enough for the Warriors to mount a
serious defense?

>Golden State Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins (22) celebrates a 3-point basket
from the bench against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first quarter at
the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
(Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

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Dieter Kurtenbach | Sports Columnist
Sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach analyzes the amazing and roasts the
absurd in the world of sports for the Bay Area News Group. He was
previously a national sports columnist for Fox Sports and a staff writer
at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can also be heard on KNBR
(104.5-FM, 680-AM). He graduated from the University of Missouri in
Columbia, Mo., with a BA degree in journalism.