Minnesota Timberwolves' Andrew Wiggins, left, is pressured by Houston Rockets' James Harden in the first half of an NBA game Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, in Houston.Pat Sullivan/The Associated Press
Two winters ago, Andrew Wiggins came home.
Wiggins was in Grade 12 and his West Virginia prep school played a mid-February game at a packed gym in Hamilton. The stands heaved with fans yearning to see the next big thing. To see the chrysalis before it is a butterfly. To be able to say they were there.
Afterward, a reporter asked what Wiggins wished people should know to better understand the person behind the player. "That I'm only 17," was his quick response.
Wiggins turned 20 on Monday. He had relished his teenage years, but amid all the attention, from prodigy to No. 1 NBA draft pick, his hesitance to embrace the superstar-in-the-making hype provided fodder for critics: He did not have the fire, such as Kobe Bryant, to turn his remarkable athleticism into domination on NBA courts.
In 54 games as a rare teenaged starter in the NBA, Wiggins has done much to dismantle the argument. The words of one unnamed NBA source in an ESPN article in late 2013 begin to look flat-out wrong: "He's got zero aura about him." Wiggins's performance has him as the favourite for rookie of the year, and he has delivered under a constant spotlight.
In two games against Cleveland, the team that drafted then traded him, Wiggins scored 27 and then 33 points, much of it directly against LeBron James. At the rising stars game during NBA all-star weekend, he poured in 22 points and was named MVP. In his first game after the break, and last as a teenager, he helped the woeful Minnesota Timberwolves defeat the favoured Phoenix Suns.
He did it with force. In the third quarter against the Suns with the game tied, he drove to the hoop and threw down a dunk with a defender's hand in his face. Then, with 20 seconds left in the game and Minnesota up by a point, he corralled a bounce pass with his left hand and long reach, and again went to the hoop, colliding with a defender and draining the hoop to secure the win.
Wiggins play hasn't yet fully answered his detractors – his numbers do not compare with the teenage successes of James or Kevin Durant – but his improvement has been rapid. Since the start of 2015, he has scored an average of 18 points in 24 games with a shooting percentage of 46.5 per cent.
Last season as a collegian at Kansas, Wiggins would sometimes drift on the court. In Minnesota as a pro, he's been forced to lead. It has attracted notice. In December, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers played the Timberwolves, and Bryant passed Michael Jordan for third on the NBA's all-timing scoring list. "I remember being Andrew Wiggins," said Bryant. "I remember playing against Michael my first year. It was like looking at a reflection of myself 19 years ago."
David Ebner