Toronto, Ontario - March 18, 2015 -- ANDREW WIGGINS-- DeMar DeRozan (L) during the first half of their NBA basketball game in Toronto, Wednesday March 18, 2015.The Globe and Mail
For the first hometown game of his NBA career, Andrew Wiggins was met in Toronto by the biggest media gathering of the season at the Air Canada Centre, an ovation from the crowd, and a personal visit with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
The 20-year-old phenom is having a season that puts him in the conversation for NBA Rookie of the Year. He's the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise, despite his young age. But more obvious in Toronto Wednesday as his team lost 105-100 to the Toronto Raptors during the appropriately themed Canada Basketball Night, is that the excitement that Wiggins creates in this country is at a fever pitch.
The largest showing of media for a visiting team's morning shoot-around this season piled into the ACC, elbowing in around Wiggins as he stood courtside. Back row camera men had to elevate over the pack with stools. "Like we have to do in the NHL playoffs" one quipped.
Cameras recorded every possible second of the rare occasion this rookie phenom would spend on an NBA floor back home this year. No detail was too mundane to capture – the casual chatting with coaches, his slow saunter across the gym floor, or flopping into a courtside seat to check his phone.
The T'Wolves outspoken assistant coach Sam Mitchell swung his arm around the grinning youngster and offered some playful advice about the Toronto reporters he got to know during his stint as Raptors head coach. He loudly pointed out the wise-crackers, the hard-liners and those who "just dance for the man" and ushered Wiggins off the floor shortly after the seven minutes he spent with the scrum.
Mitchell said it in a "get used to them" kind of way, suggesting a long NBA career with many trips to T.O. But those gathered also imagined the possibility of Wiggins in a Raptors uniform a few years down the road, or playing for Team Canada as early as this summer's Pan Am Games in Toronto, something on which he said he hasn't yet decided.
"It's a long time away, I'm going to deal with all of that when the season is over," said Wiggins.
He later said he thinks the atmosphere and the idea of playing with many long-time Canadian teammates would be exciting. Asked if he sees Canada among the world's basketball elite in the coming years, he quickly spoke up: "definitely, that's the plan".
Hollers during O'Canada Wednesday and the ovation during Wiggins' introduction showed the affection for the the signature player in Canada's golden basketball moment. His presence this summer would elevate the Pan Am Games from just another tournament to a must-see event.
"For many reasons it would be important, starting with giving our team a focal point for other teams to be concerned about," said Rowan Barrett, assistant general manager of Canada's men's senior national team. "As he arrives, the expectation level is higher. He's one player, but he's enormously popular player. Your grandmother who might not know much about basketball might know that one name. Our kids start to say 'I'm Andrew Wiggins', and now all of a sudden they think in international competition, we should perform at the highest level. I think he has a very powerful effect."
It was game No. 67 for Wiggins on the year, and he hasn't missed one yet. He admitted he's tired and hitting a wall, especially as Minnesota had just eight healthy players Wednesday night. Playing all 82 games would be equivalent to nearly the three college seasons he missed after coming out of Kansas following his rookie season.
"It's my goal to play 82," said Wiggins after the game. "My coach told me that would be a big accomplishment in my rookie year, so I'm aiming for that.
The Canadian wasn't Minnesota's star on the night – that was Kevin Martin, who exploded for 35 points. Wiggins had a 15-point night in Toronto before many of his family members and friends, and also added three rebounds as his team kept it close with the Raptors all night, but eventually lost, dropping to 14-53, remaining last in the Western Conference.
"It's been a great trip from the moment I landed," said Wiggins. "I saw my grandma, my aunts, even met the Prime Minister. How many people can say they met the Prime Minister?"
The win improved the Raptors record to 41-27, earning their second consecutive win behind 21 points from DeMar DeRozan and 15 apiece from Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas -- the big man also contributing 15 boards. Kyle Lowry suffered a back contusion in the third quarter and did not return.
Rachel Brady