Life in the NBA has never been better for Andrew Wiggins.
After starting last year’s All-Star game and then breaking out as the Warriors’ second-best player throughout the entire postseason when he blossomed as a two-way, rebounding dynamo, the former No. 1 overall pick inked a new four-year, $109 million dollar contract that extends through the 2026-27 season.
Yes, he’s had bigger deals — he signed a five-year, $147 million extension with Minnesota — but for the first time in his entire NBA career, Wiggins is right where he belongs.
After initially arriving in Golden State as part of a multi-step process triggered by Kevin Durant’s departure and sign-and-trade with Brooklyn that netted D’Angelo Russell, Wiggins always felt like the next domino to fall — a key Warriors’ trade piece dangling in the wind, even as everyone from Steve Kerr to Steph Curry to Bob Myers said all the right things.
Then it clicked. Everything fell into place and Wiggins suddenly became a foundational cornerstone — part anchor of the present, part bridge to the future.
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Free from the burdens of trying to be someone he’s not and now stable for the foreseeable future, Wiggins can confidently focus on his basketball identity and continued evolution. He is once more dreaming big.
“I want to be a legend here.”
That’s what Wiggins recently said in a story published in The Athletic in which he discussed a desire for making his first All-Defensive team, earning another All-Star appearance and, of course, adding more championships to his name.
He expanded upon those aforementioned ambitions in a Q&A with NBA.com. “Andre [Iguodala], Draymond [Green], Klay, Steph [Curry] — those are Warriors legends and Bay legends. Hopefully by the time I’m done, people will look at me like that. I just have to keep putting in the work and accomplish what they have accomplished. That is a lot of motivation. They have accomplished so much while they’ve been here with all of their titles and dominating the league. I’m trying to follow what they did.”
![Andrew Wiggins celebrates 2022 NBA championship with Canadian flag](https://library.sportingnews.com/styles/crop_style_16_9_mobile_2x/s3/2022-10/nba-plain--6e2580da-db1a-41ea-a598-a04e2b97c906.png?itok=Ffl9Y7HL)
It’s early but four games into his ninth season, the now seasoned veteran is well on his way and off to the best start of his career. Yes, he’s scoring over 20 points per game for the first time since arriving in the Bay Area. But it’s everything else that matters far more.
Wiggins finds himself early on averaging career highs in rebounds, blocks, steals and field goal percentage and has turned it over just once in 130 minutes. The scoring? He’s been down that road before. But once thought of as an empty calories scorer in Minnesota who didn’t bring much else to the table, Wiggins is fully delivering upon the hope and promise that once made him the No. 1 overall pick in a draft that featured now MVP candidate (and former college teammate) Joel Embiid.
Wiggins lights up when speaking on the opportunity to become Golden State’s defensive ace on the wing, a title long held by Thompson and Iguodala. “I love playing defense. It’s a special part of my game, and I enjoy it. There’s nothing better than stopping your opponent. I have the best feeling in the world after getting a stop. Scoring is icing on the cake. But getting a stop? I think that’s what people feed off of. When you get stops, it makes things easier on the other side of the floor.”
It will take far more than one championship to become a legend in Stephen Curry’s city. But as Wiggins continues to assume a larger role and extends the championship window for the two-time MVP, there’s no denying the immense opportunity.