Kawhi Leonard won Canada it’s 1st NBA Championship, but Andrew Wiggins believes $115 Million star had a greater impact

NBA champion Andrew Wiggins believes that Vince Carter had the biggest impact on Canadian basketball, even bigger than the 2019 championship team.

Andrew Wiggins has had quite a journey in his eight years in the NBA. Drafted as the No. 1 pick by the Cavaliers in 2014, Wiggins was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves before the season even started. Wiggins had a stellar rookie campaign, earning Rookie of the Year honors.

Since then, he became the sixth youngest to reach the 6,000 point milestone. Wiggins was a consistent player, but not a superstar. He failed to lead a team into the playoffs and was often discredited for it. In 2020, the Warriors were called to trade for Wiggins.

However, Andrew Wiggins chose the 2021-22 season to shut up all the haters. The Canadian forward won his first All-Star and was a key part of the Championship roster. He was recently on the Vince Carter show. There he spoke with Carter about many things, including his impact on Canadian basketball.

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Andrew Wiggins Signifies How Important Vince Carter Is To Canadian Basketball

Wiggins, also known as Air Canada, grew up in Ontario before entering high school in West Virginia. Like any other kid in Canada, Wiggins was also a huge Raptors fan, with Vince Carter leading the team. VC played with the Raptors from 1998 through the 2004-05 season. During that time, Carter became a Canadian sensation and was a household name across the country.

Speaking of his impact, Wiggins said:

“I already told you what a fanatic I was and I still am. For what you did for basketball, for what you did for Canada. All little kids, not just kids, adults, everyone. You helped shape the Canada Basketball game, so I thank you. I never got a chance to go to any games or things like that, but just watching it, my whole family is a basketball fan and (Vince) was like the savior of basketball in Canada.”

“Everywhere you go, you see kids in his jersey, you see kids trying to dunk like him, you can even see some kids who have bald heads because he had a bald head (Wiggins laughs). That’s Vince! You I don’t understand bro. You don’t understand how impactful you were to the kids and everyone in Canada.

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Although Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors to their first NBA Championship, Wiggins still believes Carter’s impact was far more significant. Growing up during the peak of Vinsanity, one can imagine why Wigs feels this way.