Wiggins’ chance meetup with old T’wolves’ coach
Thibodeau just happened to be visiting Warriors’ facility
After Warriors practice Tuesday afternoon, forward Andrew Wiggins stopped at a table next to the weight room and visited with former Minnesota head coach Tom Thibodeau.
For more than 10 minutes, the two chatted in excited tones, reminiscing about their three seasons together in Minnesota and discussing Wiggins’ move to Golden State. Little more than a year after the Timberwolves fired Thibodeau, Wiggins was pleased to see a familiar face.
This speaks to how far their relationship has come. Though he often got frustrated with Thibodeau’s domineering ways when he played for Thibodeau, Wiggins has come to view him as a friend and mentor.
“I respect him as a coach, as a person,” Wiggins said. “He’s the most consistent person I’ve been around, whether we’re just talking or it’s the gameday routine leading up to the game. It was always the same no matter what.”
Wiggins’ arrival last week in San Francisco happened to coincide with Thibodeau’s planned visit to the Warriors’ facilities. To pass the doldrums of his first year away from coaching in nearly four decades, Thibodeau is shadowing teams throughout the NBA.
Over the past couple of days, he has sat in on the Warriors’ workouts, peppered Golden State head coach Steve Kerr with questions and served as a sounding board for Wiggins. This is a routine the Warriors have accommodated for many outofwork NBA coaches.
“It’s always great to get a fresh set of eyes and another perspective from coaches who maybe have coached against us and against our players, or in this case, have coached some of our guys,” Kerr said. “It’s just been a really good set of events where I get to pick Tom’s brain.”
Thibodeau and Wiggins had an upanddown relationship during their time together in Minnesota. After averaging a careerhigh 23.6 points per game in 201617, Wiggins struggled to play alongside Jimmy Butler. At times, Wiggins was a nonfactor for long stretches, floating along the perimeter as he waited to shoot.
In October, he told reporters, “I feel like I was on the rise my first three years and then some changes were made.” Wiggins went on to remark that “yelling and screaming isn’t necessarily coaching” — a notsosubtle jab at the volatile Thibodeau.
But judging by their genial interaction Tuesday, Wiggins and Thibodeau seem to be on good terms.
“I kept walking past him and didn’t really see his face, just the back of him,” Wiggins said. “Then when I realized it was him, I went up and talked to him for a while. It was good catching up and good seeing him.”