Warriors Superstar Andrew Wiggins Opens up About His 22-Game Absence

After playing a pivotal role in the Golden State Warriors' race for the 2021–2022 NBA title, Andrew Wiggins was out of the lineup for quite some time. The small forward missed 20 of the defending champion's first 49 games to start the 2022–2023 season due to an adductor strain, a foot injury, and a non-COVID illness.

Then, the 28-year-old athlete hadn't been on the basketball court since the Warriors' game against the Washington Wizards on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2023. He's since returned from his two-month absence, but what happened to Andrew Wiggins? Here's everything we know.

On Feb. 23, Anthony Slater — a senior writer for The Athletic — reported that Andrew has been dealing with a family matter, and his return to the Warriors lineup was unknown. Details were sparse at the time, with neither the Warriors nor Andrew publicly commenting on the situation.

Andrew attended the Warriors-Thunder game on Tuesday, April 3, and sources close to him told Shams Charania, NBA Insider for The Athletic, the reason for his absence is because his father, former NBA player Mitchell Wiggins, has been dealing with a "serious medical situation."

He spoke with reporters on April 3, saying, "When you're in a certain situation, and your family needs you and requires your attention and your love, that's my first priority… Family is always first for me."

Regarding the situation that kept him away from the team, Andrew said he would "rather just keep that private, for me and my family, and the people close to the family that need to know." He then thanks the Warriors community for all the love and support: "You guys are the best fans in the world," he concluded.

In mid-March, rumors about Andrew's absence started to seriously impact those close to him — in particular, his girlfriend, Mychal Johnson. Since information about his absence was slim to none, folks online started to concoct various tales to support the small forward being MIA.

Unfortunately, Mychal caught some serious heat for allegedly cheating on Andrew with his best friend. Even worse, the rumor mill claimed that the two children Mychal and Andrew share aren't fathered by the NBA player, but by his best friend.

As expected, Mychal clapped back about the rumors on social media. Despite Mychal sharing how "sad" it was that people were stooping to low levels and spreading lies, many people took the narrative and ran with it.

Andrew's teammate, four-time NBA champion Draymond Green, also scolded folks on his self-titled podcast, The Draymond Green Show, over the disrespect.

"The fact that a rumor about Andrew Wiggins ... whether what y'all saying is true or not, really has no bearing on my life or does it have any bearing on y'all life," Draymond said. "Y'all are so thirsty to know what's going on in someone's life that this becomes the thing? Sometimes people disgust me."

Draymond continued, "You don't know what someone is dealing with and then you make them deal with that? What if that's not what the person is dealing with? Stop it. It's disgusting."