Imagine this: you are 18 years old, incredibly athletic, so athletic that many people say you draw comparisons to LeBron James. You are 6 foot 7 inches, 205 pounds, a good student, born and raised in Canada and played high school basketball in the USA. Sounds pretty good right? Based off of those facts, it doesn't give anyone the right to hate your guts, wish death upon you, or curse you out. Welcome to the world of Andrew Wiggins.
Andrew Wiggins is the top rated high school basketball senior in the country according to ESPN and several other websites. Wiggins could have gone anywhere in the country to play college basketball. However, recently he decided to announce that he will play his college career at Kansas University. Wiggins picked Kansas over other finalists such as North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida State.
Many high school athletes try to draw attention to themselves when they make their college decision. They hold press conferences, go on national television to make their choice, or waver between schools for a lengthy time to simply maintain attention. This was not the case with Wiggins. He made the decision at his high school, Huntington Prep with his family, teammates, close friends, and only one reporter. Wiggins did not want to bask in a spotlight.
In what seemed to be an unusually humble decision from a young man who is well known throughout the basketball world, Wiggins received extreme criticism. Within seconds of Andrew Wiggins decision hitting the social media world, he was called horrific names on Twitter. These are just a few of the eye-opening, jaw-dropping tweets:
Aye I hope you tear yo ACL @22wiggins..
— (@M_Koontz54)
Ryan Krejci
Hey fuck you @22wiggins
@AlexTheGreat7_
Have fun losing you piece of shit @22wiggins
@TrentonChristy
@22wiggins you are fucking retarded! I hate you!!! I had a nickname picked out for you and everything:'( now its fuck face
For more tweets directed to Andrew Wiggins, visit http://www.bloguin.com/runthefloor/2013-articles/may/douchebags-of-twitter-vs-andrew-wiggins.html
Pretty amazing right? What words do you use to describe someone that directs these phrases to an 18 year old kid? Disgraceful? Embarrassing? Shameful? Disgusting? Those are just a few that come to mind. In a world where all fans want is to be closer, and interact more with athletes, examples like this are exactly why some athletes want nothing to do with fans. It is mind-blowing that fans can say such hateful, hurtful things to a young person simply because he decides to attend a college, and play basketball at that college that would not be your choice. 24 hours after making his decision, Andrew Wiggins had not tweeted. What would he say? If I was in that situation, having death threats towards me, I would probably delete my twitter. There are no words that he can say that would take back other peoples actions. With that, I hope Andrew Wiggins continues to develop his below the radar career, humble attitude, and calm demeanor and proceeds to avoid all of the media hype, whether it is positive, or negative. Incredibly negative.
Andrew Wiggins is the top rated high school basketball senior in the country according to ESPN and several other websites. Wiggins could have gone anywhere in the country to play college basketball. However, recently he decided to announce that he will play his college career at Kansas University. Wiggins picked Kansas over other finalists such as North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida State.
Many high school athletes try to draw attention to themselves when they make their college decision. They hold press conferences, go on national television to make their choice, or waver between schools for a lengthy time to simply maintain attention. This was not the case with Wiggins. He made the decision at his high school, Huntington Prep with his family, teammates, close friends, and only one reporter. Wiggins did not want to bask in a spotlight.
In what seemed to be an unusually humble decision from a young man who is well known throughout the basketball world, Wiggins received extreme criticism. Within seconds of Andrew Wiggins decision hitting the social media world, he was called horrific names on Twitter. These are just a few of the eye-opening, jaw-dropping tweets:
Aye I hope you tear yo ACL @22wiggins..
— (@M_Koontz54)
Ryan Krejci
Hey fuck you @22wiggins
@AlexTheGreat7_
Have fun losing you piece of shit @22wiggins
@TrentonChristy
@22wiggins you are fucking retarded! I hate you!!! I had a nickname picked out for you and everything:'( now its fuck face
For more tweets directed to Andrew Wiggins, visit http://www.bloguin.com/runthefloor/2013-articles/may/douchebags-of-twitter-vs-andrew-wiggins.html
Pretty amazing right? What words do you use to describe someone that directs these phrases to an 18 year old kid? Disgraceful? Embarrassing? Shameful? Disgusting? Those are just a few that come to mind. In a world where all fans want is to be closer, and interact more with athletes, examples like this are exactly why some athletes want nothing to do with fans. It is mind-blowing that fans can say such hateful, hurtful things to a young person simply because he decides to attend a college, and play basketball at that college that would not be your choice. 24 hours after making his decision, Andrew Wiggins had not tweeted. What would he say? If I was in that situation, having death threats towards me, I would probably delete my twitter. There are no words that he can say that would take back other peoples actions. With that, I hope Andrew Wiggins continues to develop his below the radar career, humble attitude, and calm demeanor and proceeds to avoid all of the media hype, whether it is positive, or negative. Incredibly negative.