Minnesota Timberwolves: What went wrong with Andrew Wiggins?
By Ethan Becker
At one point, Andrew Wiggins was the future of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Now, just five seasons later, almost every fan wants him gone. But, why?
An angry hoard of Minnesota Timberwolves fans storms through the streets in the final stretches of an all-too-short Minnesota summer, wearing the jersey that, at one point, belong to their favorite player. But it’s not Andrew Wiggins’ jersey, it’s Kevin Love’s.
"“Love just left us for Cleveland, and I’m *expletive*, and I’m going to burn his jersey, and I just need some angry Minnesotans to help,” the leader of the pack says. Then, the crowd pipes up with their response. “Ya know, I kinda feel for the guy. It’s cold here, the team sucks, I get it.” “Instead of burning his jersey, we should send him a thank you card.”"
Although the video this exchange is from is meant as satire, the sentiment was still the same. Although fans were upset at Love’s departure, most were upset at the front office who fumbled what they had with him, instead of Love himself.
Kevin Love saga in Minnesota would be a story in-and-of-itself, but the end of it is where the story of Andrew Wiggins begins. On Aug. 23, 2014, Love was part of a three-team trade that, in part, saw him go to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Wiggins come to Minnesota.
Since then, it’s seemed like a downward spiral for the relationship between Minnesota and Wiggins. Fans have soured on him, and it seems like he’s soured on them in return. But it’s not every day that someone goes from being Rookie of the Year to fans begging to have him off the team. So where exactly did the relationship go wrong? It’s time to go through each era of his career and try to find out exactly what happened.