Mitchell Wiggins, a former NBA player who played for the Chicago Bulls, Houston Rockets and Philadelphia 76ers across six seasons and the father of Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, has died at the age of 64.
Wiggins’ daughter, Angey, confirmed Mitchell’s passing on her Instagram account.
The National Basketball Retired Players Association put out this message on its X account.
In addition to his six NBA seasons, Wiggins, who was drafted by the Indiana Pacers with the 23rd pick in 1983 out of Florida State and immediately traded to the Bulls for Sidney Lowe, played professionally in Europe and totaled 20 seasons as a pro.
His best NBA season came in 1989-90 when he averaged 15.0 PPG & 4.3 RPG on 49% shooting in 28.1 MPG. He played in the 1986 Finals with the Rockets, who lost to the Boston Celtics in six games.
The following year, Wiggins, along with teammate Lewis Lloyd, was suspended for two years after failing a drug test and electing not to volunteer for treatment, which would’ve negated the two-year ban. It makes it all the more impressive that Wiggins came back to have his best season after two full years away from the NBA.
Wiggins was a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, not quite as tall or athletic as his son Andrew, but he could stick the midrange jumper and get into the lane.
Over the past two seasons, Andrew Wiggins has taken multiple leaves of absence to deal with a personal matter. He took some criticism for it when he missed 25 games in 2023 and there wasn’t yet any reporting as to why.
It is clear now, and has been for some time, that Mitchell’s health was in decline and Andrew was with his family. The Warriors were fully supportive of Wiggins during his stints away from the team.
