Mitchell Wiggins

Mitchell Lee Wiggins (September 28, 1959 – September 9, 2024) was an American professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Mitchell Wiggins

Personal information
Born	(1959-09-28)September 28, 1959 Kinston, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	September 9, 2024(2024-09-09) (aged 64)
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High school	North Lenoir (LaGrange, North Carolina)
College	Truett-McConnell CC (1978–1979) Clemson (1979–1980) Florida State (1981–1983)
NBA draft	1983: 1st round, 23rd overall pick
Selected by the Indiana Pacers
Playing career	1983–2003
Position	Shooting guard
Number	15, 10
Career history
1983–1984	Chicago Bulls
1984–1987	Houston Rockets
1987	Tampa Bay Stars
1987–1988	Mississippi Jets
1987–1988	Quad City Thunder
1988	Jacksonville Hooters
1989–1990	Houston Rockets
1991–1992	Philadelphia 76ers
1992	Fort Wayne Fury
1992–1993	Oklahoma City Cavalry
1993	Aurora Desio
1993–1994	Milon
1994	Tondeña 65 Rhummasters
1994–1996	Sporting
1996–1997	Panionios
1997–1998	Sporting
1998–1999	Limoges CSP
2002	Hickory Nutz
2002–2003	Spearfish Black Hills Heat
Career highlights and awards
2× Greek League Top Scorer (1994, 1996) 3× Greek League All-Star (1994 I, 1994 II, 1996 I) 2× First-team All-Metro Conference (1982, 1983)
Career statistics
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference
Medals Representing  United States FIBA World Cup 1982 Colombia

College career

He played collegiately at Truett-McConnell College, Clemson University and Florida State University.

Wiggins averaged 23 points and nine rebounds per game during his two seasons at Florida State.

Professional career

Chicago Bulls (1983–1984)

Wiggins was selected by the Indiana Pacers as the 23rd overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and traded to the Chicago Bulls for Sidney Lowe and a 2nd round pick. In his rookie year, Wiggins played in all 82 regular season games while averaging twelve points, four rebounds and two assists per game.^[1]

Houston Rockets (1984–1987, 1989–1990)

In the 1984 off-season, the Bulls traded Wiggins with draft picks to the Houston Rockets for Caldwell Jones.^[1] He mostly came off the bench behind John Lucas and Lewis Lloyd.^[2] In 1987, Lloyd and Wiggins tested positive for cocaine, incurring a two-and-a-half-year suspension from the league.^[3]

Both Wiggins and Lloyd were reinstated for the 1989–90 season.^[4] Wiggins appeared in 66 games and averaged 15.5 points per game but was criticized by his coach, Don Chaney, for his defense.^[5] His playing time decreased after Houston traded for Vernon Maxwell.^[6]

Philadelphia 76ers (1991–1992)

After Wiggins became a free agent, no team expressed an interest in Wiggins outside the Philadelphia 76ers.^[7] They had intended to sign Wiggins to their roster in November 1990, but backed out when he refused to take a complete physical including a drug test.^[7][8] Wiggins did not play the 1990–91 season, but the 76ers kept in touch with him and signed him to a one-year contract the following year.^[9]

The 1991–92 season was Wiggins' last in the NBA. He scored 3,877 points in his NBA career.

Greek League, CSP Limoges, Tondeña 65 Rhummasters, and minor leagues (1993–2003)

Wiggins then went to Europe and had a notable career in the Greek League playing for Milon Nea Smyrni, Sporting Athens, and Panionios Nea Smyrni. He also appeared for CSP Limoges in the French League, the Tondeña 65 Rhummasters in the Philippine Basketball Association, and several minor league teams in the United States.^[10]

National team career

Wiggins played for the US national basketball team at the 1982 FIBA World Championship, winning the silver medal.^[11]

Coaching career

In the 2000s Wiggins tried coaching in the lower leagues.^[12][13]

Personal life

Wiggins' wife, Marita Payne-Wiggins, competed for Canada in track and field at the 1984 Summer Olympics, winning two silver medals.^[14] Since 2002, their family has resided in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.^[15] Wiggins' youngest son, Andrew, was selected first overall in the 2014 NBA draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.^[16] Wiggins' oldest son, Mitchell Jr., played for Southeastern University and his middle son Nicholas Wiggins plays professionally. Both Mitchell Jr. and Nick were drafted by the Harlem Globetrotters in 2014.^[17] Wiggins also has three daughters: Stephanie, Angelica, and Taya.^[18]

Wiggins died on September 9, 2024, at the age of 64.^[2]

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high
*	Led the league

NBA

Source^[1]

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1983–84	Chicago	82*	40	25.9	.448	.241	.742	4.0	2.3	1.3	.1	12.4
1984–85	Houston	82*	24	19.2	.484	.261	.733	2.9	1.5	1.0	.2	9.0
1985–86	Houston	78	0	15.4	.454	.083	.729	2.0	1.3	.8	.1	6.8
1986–87	Houston	32	19	24.6	.437	.000	.754	4.2	2.4	1.4	.1	11.1
1989–90	Houston	66	52	28.1	.488	.000	.810	4.3	1.6	1.3	.0	15.5
1991–92	Philadelphia	49	0	11.6	.384	.000	.686	1.9	.4	.4	.0	4.3
Career		389	135	20.8	.460	.192	.755	3.2	1.6	1.0	.1	10.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1985	Houston	5	0	9.0	.500	–	–	.8	.2	.8	.0	3.6
1986	Houston	20*	0	22.2	.497	.000	.750	3.8	1.6	.7	.2	10.0
1990	Houston	4	0	12.8	.467	–	.667	3.3	.5	.3	.0	4.0
Career		29	0	18.6	.495	.000	.742	3.2	1.2	.7	.1	8.0

See also

• List of second-generation National Basketball Association players

References

1. "Mitchell Wiggins NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
2. Feigen, Jonathan (September 13, 2024). "Mitchell Wiggins, a key player on 1986 Rockets' NBA Finals team, dies". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 14, 2024. Mitchell Wiggins, a key guard on the Houston Rockets' 1986 NBA Finals team and the father of Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins, died Monday surrounded by loved ones, his family announced.
3. Lloyd and Wiggins of Rockets banned for drug use; The New York Times, 14 January 1987
4. Lloyd reinstated; The New York Times, 9 September 1989
5. Sefko, Eddie. "Chaney rips guard play". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
6. Sefko, Eddie (June 16, 1990). "Free agent Wiggins not likely to return". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
7. Sefko, Eddie (November 15, 1990). "Wiggins nixes test". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
8. Ford, Bob (November 15, 1990). "Physical a factor for club, Wiggins". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 46.
9. Jasner, Phil (July 20, 1991). "Wiggins signs 1-year contract". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 51.
10. Basketpedya career data
11. 1982 USA Basketball Archived 2007-06-08 at the Wayback Machine
12. Area scene: Ex-Rocket Wiggins to coach Spearfish XBA; Rapid City Journal, 29 November 2002
13. "Spearfish Black Hills Heat basketball, News, Roster, Rumors, Stats, Awards, Transactions, Details-usbasket".
14. Medcalf, Myron (July 9, 2012). "From Canada to college basketball". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
15. Dodd, Rustin. KU's Andrew Wiggins followed Naismith's path to Lawrence The Kansas City Star. Accessed on March 22, 2014.
16. "Dad's hard life lessons helped Andrew Wiggins on road to NBA". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
17. "Southeastern Forward Mitchell Wiggins Jr. Selected By Globetrotters". The Lakeland Ledger. June 25, 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
18. "Nick Wiggins Bio". Wichita State University. Retrieved March 23, 2014.

External links

• Career statistics from NBA.com  and Basketball Reference