Andrew Wiggins’ 2022 NBA Finals should be Jonathan Kuminga’s study

Wiggins’ Finals vs. Celtics should serve as JK’s study guide originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

SAN FRANCISCO — The presentation was a long time coming. His teammates enjoyed the moment every bit as much as him. Finally holding the trophy had to be a sigh of relief, at least a little.

There was no doubt who the 2022 NBA Finals MVP was going to be. Steph Curry earned his unanimous honor, checking another box off his Hall of Fame career.

However, there were whispers of another candidate. Outlets needed headlines and producer were begging for an ounce of debate. If it weren’t for Curry’s historic series and season-saving Game 4 performance, Andrew Wiggins would have gone from once being tagged a letdown as a former No. 1 overall draft pick to an eventual Finals MVP.

In a world where a silver second place trophy that reads “Damn, He’s Good” was handed out, Wiggins would have hoisted that up, along with the Larry O’Brien Trophy. What Wiggins did do, though, was prove who the player Wiggins now can be and how important he is for the Warriors’ futute.

“100 percent,” Draymond Green said Friday at Chase Center after Warriors practice. “I think you really just saw him really affect the game in so many different ways. He’s always affected the game offensively, whether it was here or Minnesota. But to see him affect the game the way he did defensively, to see him affect the game with the offensive rebounding and defensive rebounding the way he did — it definitely showed what everyone thought he could become.

“He’s put that work in and built that confidence to become that and committed himself through the process of doing that. It was huge.”

Wiggins in his second full season with the Warriors was named to his first All-Star team. He averaged 17.2 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range and becoming a defensive for Golden State. Throughout his career, Wiggins proved he can put up numbers. This time, he was able to show he also is playoff…