The father of Andrew Wiggins, Mitchell Wiggins, is the reason the Golden State Warriors forward hasn’t been with the squad since February with his struggles with cocaine revisited
Mitchell has reportedly had significant medical issues, according to Shams Charania.
Andrew Wiggins is well-known among basketball enthusiasts. He was not only selected first overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, but he is also a member of the Warriors, who have been the most successful team in recent memory. Many supporters are unaware, though, that Andrew Wiggins’ father was an NBA player as well. Mitchell Wiggins played in the elite basketball league for six seasons, but his career was cut short by his cocaine habit.
Did Mitchell Wiggins the father of Andrew Wiggins have a cocaine abuse problem and what illness is he suffering from
The reason for Andrew Wiggins’s absence was that his father, Mitchell, was dealing with a serious medical situation, via @ShamsCharania.
Hopefully, all is good with the Wiggins’ family 🙏 pic.twitter.com/stAzkeNIb1
— Guru (@DrGuru_) April 3, 2023
Golden State's Andrew Wiggins plans to attend Warriors-Thunder on Tuesday. The reason for Wiggins' leave of absence since mid-February is that his father, Mitchell Wiggins, has been dealing with a serious medical situation, sources close to the situation say. 🙏🏽
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 3, 2023
The Father of Andrew Wiggins, Mitchell Wiggins, received a two-year suspension for using cocaine.
Mitchell Wiggins was the 23rd choice in the 1983 NBA draught. Clyde Drexler, Byron Scott, and Doc Rivers were just a few of the players selected in the draught who went on to have long and fruitful careers. Wiggins’ career was, however, relatively brief. Andrew Wiggins’ father was a shooting guard who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall. During his rookie season, in which he participated in all 82 of, he averaged 12.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG for the Chicago Bulls.
The shooting guard joined the Houston Rockets after spending just one season in the Windy City. Wiggins participated in the NBA Finals during his second season with the organisation, but the Rockets were defeated in six games.
Yet soon after, he was expelled from the league. Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins were each given a two-year suspension for taking cocaine. Wiggins played in 32 games during the 1986–87 season because he was only able to play in the first few weeks of January 1987 due to the suspension.
By coming forward freely, Wiggins and Lloyd were able to avoid punishment. They were suspended for two years by the league because they insisted on doing otherwise. After missing the remainder of the 1986–87 campaign, both players were reactivated at the start of the 1989–90 campaign.
It’s interesting to note that after returning to play, Andrew Wiggins’ father had his best season ever. Despite serving a two-and-a-half-year suspension, Mitchell Wiggins averaged a career-high 15.5 points per game on 48.8% shooting. In 66 games, he took the field and started 52 of them.
While Mitchell is currently suffering from a severe illness, details of what has happened to him aren’t known.