Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins missed the start of Canada’s men’s basketball national team’s training camp on Friday. Wiggins, a native of the Toronto area, was named to Team Canada’s training camp roster in June but will miss the Olympics for medical reasons, according to The Athletic.
The reasons behind Wiggins’ absence, however, don’t seem so clear-cut for the Canadian team. During Friday’s media availability, Canadian general manager Rowan Barrett said the Warriors told him a few days before camp that Wiggins would not be available.
A Golden State spokesperson told The Athletic that it was a mutual decision between Wiggins and the team, based on medical reasons. But Barrett suggested that Golden State did not clarify a reason when he informed him of Wiggins’ unavailability and believes the Warriors prevented Wiggins from joining.
“Well, for us, Andrew was fine,” Barrett said, per The Athletic. “We talked to him consistently. He’s been training for weeks and weeks to get ready for this. And then I got a call from Golden State, a day or two before camp, saying they were going to sideline him. So, as far as I can tell, this is not Andrew’s decision. This is the team’s decision.”
Wiggins played the majority of the 2024 NBA season without any problems, appearing in 71 games and 59 starts, but suffered a season-ending ankle injury that may have lingered. The 29-year-old forward had a slow start to the season but finished with averages of 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
After stints with the Canadian U17 and U18 teams, Wiggins spent several years playing for the Canadian senior team, playing 20 games with the team. Wiggins’ last game with Team Canada was in 2021, in a tournament loss that meant the team failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, his inclusion on the Canadian roster caused some controversy. In 2022, Canada asked players to commit to a three-year summer training camp to qualify for the Olympics, but Wiggins was unable to fulfill the promise as the Warriors were in the middle of a run that would ultimately lead to another NBA championship . . Wiggins was also a year removed from unrestricted free agency and subsequently signed a four-year, $109 million extension with Golden State. Canada later eased commitment restrictions.
With or without Wiggins, this will be Canada’s first appearance in the Olympics since 2000 after a strong return.
