Wolves' Wiggins to play for Canada this summer

Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Andrew Wiggins said Wednesday that he will play for the Canadian national team during Olympic qualifying this summer.

Wiggins, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014, is from Toronto. There was some question about whether he would don his country's colors after he played significant minutes this season, but he told reporters following Wednesday's shootaround that he thought he could get enough rest before competition begins in August.

Andrew Wiggins told reporters following Wednesday's shootaround that he thought he could get enough rest before Olympic competition begins in August. Jordan Johnson/NBAE/Getty Images

The FIBA Americas Olympic qualifying tournament is Aug. 25 to Sept. 6 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Recently retired NBA legend Steve Nash, who is the general manager of Canada's national team, was unaware of Wiggins' statement, but said earlier Wednesday that there was no question the rising NBA star wants to play for Canada.

"I don't want to make any proclamations now but Andrew wants to play and I think is excited to play," Nash said. "As with all of our NBA players, they have a career to be careful of, a club that for the most part owns their rights and needs to protect its investment.

"But all of our guys want to play and I would expect most of them, if not all of them, to be there. ... I think we'll see [Wiggins] in red and white this summer."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Please Give Us Your 1 Minute In Sharing This Post!

SOCIALIZE IT →

Tweet

FOLLOW US →

SHARE IT →

Powered By: BloggerYard.Com