© Kim Klement | 2021 Feb 19
When Steve Kerr is annoyed, he takes a different tact than his mentor Greg Popovich. Where Popovich responds with an annoyed aggression, Kerr prefers sarcasm to get his point across.
That’s exactly what he did when asked by Rod Brooks on Thursday night about the improvement of Andrew Wiggins this season.
“Well I don’t know if you guys know this, but people actually change and evolve,” Kerr said on KNBR. “Guys get better, they put the work in, they learn.”
If it sounds like there’s some bite in that answer, it probably stems from the narrative that Wiggins was destined to be nothing more than the player he was in Minnesota when the Warriors traded for him last year. A guy who was skilled but never engaged enough to make an impact on a very good team.
Clearly, Wiggins has proved that to be a false narrative this season, playing like an All-Defensive selection all year, and shooting a career high 47 percent and 38 percent from 3-point range this year.
“Wigs is getting better,” Kerr continued. “He’s a fantastic defender. He’s aggressive offensively. He’s had his most efficient season. So the work pays off and when you’ve got a guy whose got a great commitment and spirit and dedication to his teammates like Wigs does, good things are going to happen.”
How dedicated has Wiggins been? Look at this sequence from Wednesday when he blocks LeBron James on one end, only to nail a three in front of him on the other end.
Wiggs blocks LeBron and then hits a three in his face ? pic.twitter.com/apzxdbgJN1
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) May 20, 2021
Wiggins hasn’t just improved his play, he’s done it in the biggest games this season.
Listen to the full interview below.