Nothing exciting about Andrew Wiggins except his game

Andrew Wiggins was speaking to the media recently when he noticed fellow Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Zach LaVine eavesdropping. One reporter took the opportunity to ask Wiggins what he thought about LaVine as a player.

"I'm not sure about that kid," Wiggins said.

It was a joke – actually a comedic outburst by Wiggins' standards. Wiggins typically prefers to keep his responses guarded, short and spoken quietly. He was the No. 1 pick in the 2014 NBA draft and is the leading candidate to win this season's Rookie of the Year award, but keeps a small, close group of family, friends and teammates around him that he doesn't expect to expand anytime soon.

"I just keep to myself," Wiggins said. "I matured at a young age. If someone wasn't in my life before, they don't need to be in my life now. …I am cool with people around me, but I am not open to new friends."

Wiggins, who highlights a group of first- and second-year NBA players taking part in the Rising Stars Challenge in New York on Friday night, knew fame at an early age growing up in Toronto. His dad is ex-NBA player Mitchell Wiggins and his mother is former Canadian track and field star Marita Payne-Wiggins.

Mitchell Wiggins played with the Chicago Bulls and Houston Rockets from 1983-87 before being suspended 2½ years for testing positive for cocaine. He was later reinstated to the NBA and played for the Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers before finishing his career in the minors and overseas.

"He told me [basketball] was a business, first hand," Andrew Wiggins said of his father. "…He just told me to work hard for people to respect me."

In 2013, Wiggins was probably the biggest prep prospect since LeBron James left high school for the NBA 10 years earlier. He was named the 2013 Naismith Prep Player of the Year becoming the first Canadian to win the honor, earning him congratulations from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Wiggins averaged 17.1 points and 5.9 rebounds during his lone college season at Kansas. But there were also questions about his work ethic and whether he played hard, too. The Cleveland Cavaliers, however, liked what they saw, drafting Wiggins with the top pick in last year before eventually trading his rights to Minnesota in a deal for Kevin Love.

"He's a serious kid," T'wolves president and coach Flip Saunders said. "He is trying to take everything in. A lot of people say, 'He's guarded.' I think that is part of the environment he has come up in. He is a kid who since 12 years old has always been in the spotlight.

"Until he really knows you, he is not going to really open up."

Wiggins has so far lived up to his standing as the No. 1 pick, winning all three Western Conference Rookie of the Month awards. He led all rookies in scoring (15.4), 3-point percentage (37.0) and minutes per game (34.3) entering Wednesday's game against the Golden State Warriors. In his past 26 games, Wiggins has averaged 18.7 points.

The NBA is also taking notice. After seeing Wiggins scored a season-high 31 points against his Cavaliers on Jan. 31, James said: "He's a great talent. …They got a great piece."

Said guard Mo Williams, who played with Wiggins until Williams was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday: "He has a chance to be something special. He gets better every week."

The T'wolves can only hope Wiggins develops as well as Kevin Garnett, who they drafted out of high school with the fifth pick in the 1995 NBA draft. Garnett played in 10 All-Star Games and had eight playoff appearances for the T'wolves from 1995-2007 before being traded to the Boston Celtics. Minnesota has not been to the playoffs since.

Saunders said Wiggins and Garnett are similar in "some ways," but wonders if his prized rookie – who is nicknamed "Sleepy" by his teammates – will one day gain the same on-court intensity Garnett showed immediately.

"Kevin was a lot more enthusiastic," Saunders said. "Before we played the Cleveland game [the first time], someone said Wiggins said he was very excited about the game. And I asked him, 'How could you tell?' He's very even keel. He never gets too excited, but he also never gets too down.

"To have that personality is probably a positive. He doesn't beat himself up. He plays. He learns."

The T'wolves want Wiggins to grow into a star like Garnett and Love. Critics want more intensity and enthusiasm from him. The media would love for the rookie to open up more.

Wiggins' plan is to stay true to himself.

"People love you or people hate you," Wiggins said. "That's just the way the game goes."

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