Before forward Andrew Wiggins began his stint with the Miami Heat, he spent several seasons playing alongside guard Stephen Curry on the Golden State Warriors. During that time, he helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA title.
The Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in six games in that year’s championship series, and Wiggins played great basketball on both ends of the floor.
On offense, he averaged 18.3 points per game in the series while shooting 44.6 percent from the floor. He was Golden State’s second-leading scorer behind Curry. Wiggins also put the clamps on Celtics forward Jayson Tatum. Tatum had a woeful NBA Finals with Wiggins spending ample time checking him, as he shot just 36.7 percent from the field in the six games.
Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem recently referenced Wiggins’ importance to that Warriors squad in the 2022 championship series.
“You got rid of a guy like Andrew Wiggins, a guy who we can say in 2022 was probably your best player in that Finals,” Haslem said as he argued that the Warriors are facing some pressure in the upcoming playoffs.
While there’s a real argument that Wiggins outplayed Tatum in that series, which is an impressive feat on its own, labeling Wiggins as the Warriors’ best player in the NBA Finals perhaps makes light of Curry’s impact.
Curry dominated throughout the series, as he averaged 31.2 points per contest while shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 43.7 percent from deep. He also put together a heroic playoff performance against Boston that was key to Golden State coming out on top in the matchup.
In Game 4 of the series with the team facing the possibility of falling into a 3-1 series deficit with a loss, Curry had one of the best NBA Finals games of his pro career. He went off for a whopping 43 points and converted seven 3s, and Golden State won the game by 10 points.
While Wiggins’ contributions to that Warriors title team were invaluable, the timing of Haslem’s comments are interesting since Wiggins was traded to the Heat earlier this season.
Maybe Haslem is hoping that Wiggins can emulate the production he gave the Warriors in the 2022 NBA Playoffs in the 2025 NBA Playoffs if Miami manages to qualify. The Heat will have to fight their way to a playoff spot in the upcoming play-in tournament.