Miami Heat's Andrew Wiggins Draws Raves For Particular Component Of Game

After the Heat's 112-86 win over the Warriors, current and former teammates, as well as coaches complimented Andrew Wiggins.

Miami Heat forward Andrew Wiggins (22) being defended by Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (4) / nytimes.com/athletic/6231658/2025/03/26/andrew-wiggins-heat-jimmy-butler-warriors-nba/

After the Miami Heat's 112-86 win over the Golden State Warriors, Andrew Wiggins' current and former teammates, as well as coaches, showed love to the one-time All-Star and NBA champ.

"Yeah, it's really important. When he's out there, he just makes us totally different," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I mean, this is what we've wanted to see and, you know, it was just one of those things that, he missed nine games, so we never really got into the the kind of flow that we wanted to right out of the gate. But, yeah, you can see how he complements everything we do on both sides of the floor. He's a weapon and you can throw him the ball. He's been a number one option before. He's been a great championship level number three option."

Teammate Tyler Herro brought up Wiggins' biggest value.

"Yeah, I mean, that's his versatility," Heat guard Tyler Herro said. "You know, that's why we've been praising Wiggins. He can impact the game on both sides of the ball. The other night he scored 40 and then tonight he was impacting the game on defense getting steals, rebounds, deflections, and just making it tough."

"It felt good," Wiggins said, about playing his former team. "Some friendly family competition at the highest level. I spent a lot of years there with the organization, great organization. I loved it there. So, you know, it felt good, you know. Felt even better getting the win."

With his former coach, Steve Kerr, calling him an "incredible human being a couple of days ago, Wiggins showed mutual admiration. "I mean, Coach Kerr is a great guy. Great guy," Wiggins said. "He's a great coach and he just, he put me in position to be successful. I had some great years there, won a championship, was an All-Star, you know, and he helped put me in position to do that, and even off the court, he's a great guy."

Wiggins was asked about being tasked with more playmaking in his role with the Heat. "Yeah, I mean, just trying to take what the defense gives you," Wiggins said. "They were packing the paint. You know, I got in the paint a couple of times and tried to go up and I couldn't, I couldn't finish. The paint was packed. They did a good job of that. But if the shot's not there, just trying to find the open man and help create and every game they'll give me a big scoring night or something like that. It's just, you go out there and you do what you can do to help your team win."

When asked about the environment at the Kaseya Center, Wiggins responded: "The energy was great. You know, the fans were great. It was a great atmosphere. It was a great arena to play in tonight."

Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at toledoalexander22@gmail.com. Twitter: @tropicalblanket