Andrew Wiggins: Warriors have a 'positive' culture

Andrew Wiggins didn't say Monday's 130-108 Warriors victory over the Timberwolves was just another game.

There was a little extra motivation, a little extra edge for Wiggins in facing his old team — and he had a pretty good night.

He played Robin to Stephen Curry's Batman in scoring 23 points to go with six rebounds, three blocks and three steals. He took turns guarding the Wolves' best offensive option in Malik Beasley while Curry took over late in scoring 36 points.

"It's all love for those guys," Wiggins said. "But I feel like it takes the competitiveness to the next level."

Wiggins then spent a significant portion of his postgame comments discussing the culture at Golden State and why he thinks the Warriors have been so successful in recent years.

"It's very positive over here, very positive," Wiggins said. "Everyone is getting along. No egos, nothing like that. Everyone just wants to win. Just a winning attitude, winning culture. We all want to get better. Everyone is lifting each other up, cheering for each other. So it's all love over here."

Wiggins never called out his old team specifically, but it was hard not to contrast the glowing words Wiggins spoke about the Warriors with his time in Minnesota, when he went through multiple head coaches and multiple regime changes in the front office.

Specifically Wiggins mentioned that the communication between the players and the organization or coaching staff is "perfect."

"You know where you stand," Wiggins said. "You know what you're getting yourself into. You're prepared for everything. They let you know ahead of time. You're not surprised or shocked by anything. Everything they do, there's a purpose behind it for the better good of everything."

Wiggins said there was a time where it was like that with the Wolves — when he played for Tom Thibodeau — and answer that might surprise some.

"Everything here is organized. You know what you're doing every night. You know what you're getting yourself into," Wiggins said. "You know the minutes you're going to play, you know your rotation. There was a couple years like that in Minnesota where everything, you know everything. That was with Coach Thibs. Thibs was very organized. Thibs was very clear, he was very straightforward. That's one thing they do here. They're very straightforward. They're not going to sugarcoat nothing. There's no trick questions, so it's good."

Wiggins in his comments didn't specify if there was a time when the communication was lacking with the Wolves and recently said he had no issues with current President Gersson Rosas trading him. Rosas has been striving to build the kind of culture the Warriors have since he came to Minnesota. Rosas has said repeatedly that takes time to build.

But Wiggins' comments still struck a chord given that he spent five-plus seasons with the Wolves and never played for another organization. He helped show the differences between his time in Golden State and the Wolves — and why one was recently at the summit and one is still trying to find its way to the playoffs, regardless of who is responsible for that current state of affairs.

At the end of his news conference, Wiggins was asked how he felt seeing former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns go through family tragedy as he lost multiple family members, including his mother Jacqueline, to COVID. Towns is currently out as he deals with his own positive COVID diagnosis.

"KAT is a tough guy, because a lot of people couldn't handle all that and take it in certain ways, but he's gotten stronger, it made him stronger," Wiggins said. "And I feel like he's going to get past this COVID stuff with him. I'm sure he's going to be healthy soon and get right back on the court and have a hell of a season."