Andrew Wiggins is the Cam Newton of the NBA

With the amazing athleticism and understanding of the game, Andrew Wiggins is underachieving. We talk about one player in the NFL the same way: Cam Newton.

Athleticism can be both a blessing and a curse in the world of sports. A player being supremely athletic, especially in basketball and football, can put high expectations on someone who might not deserve it. On the other hand, athleticism can help a player who might not be good enough to be in the league and/or get drafted succeed.

For Andrew Wiggins, his athleticism brought him very high expectations, especially in high school. If you search “Andrew Wiggins High School” on Youtube, you will see exactly what I am talking about. They are about 90 percent amazing dunks and not a lot of shooting. I understand that the point of a mixtape is to get people hyped up and dunks do that, but they also give people a certain expectation of what to expect every time Wigs steps on the court. It’s those videos that helped the former number one overall pick earn the nickname “Maple Jordan”. Ask any player not named LeBron James to live up to a nickname like that.

It seems like a lot of high-level athletes have the same story. Specifically, Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers. Being a 5-star quarterback coming out of high school, Newton decided to go to play with Urban Meyer and the Florida Gators. While he was the second-best dual-threat quarterback in the nation, he spent his time as a backup for Tim Tebow. After being accused of stealing a laptop, he left Florida and played a year in junior college at Blinn College in Texas. He put up massive numbers in JUCO and transferred to Auburn, where he won a national championship.

After his massive success in college, he was selected with the number one overall pick by Carolina. Not only was he great in college, he has an amazing body (6-foot-5 and 245 lbs) and was able to crush people as a runner as well as kill them through the air. Combining his physical gifts with his immense skill and potential, it’s no wonder people started comparing him to LeBron James.

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Looking at both of their stories, one thing is clear: despite amazing physical tools and athleticism, they are both underachieving in their current roles.

Newton has been more successful this season, but still not where he should be given his skillset. He has been the definition of hot and cold.  A great indicator of how a QB does is QBR. It was created by ESPN and takes into effect more than just completions. It would take a whole article just to explain it, but thankfully, ESPN has one already written up.

Taking a look at the former Auburn Tiger’s QBR (rated on a scale from 1-100), he had four games where he posted a rating lower than 20, including an absolutely horrid 7.2 against New Orleans. Looking at the QBRs of Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger, none of those three posted a rating below 20 this season. On the flip side, Newton posted a rating of over 85 four times, which ties him with Brady and is more than Brees and Big Ben combined.

One of the closest things the NBA has to the QBR is effective field goal percentage. It only takes into account the offensive side of the ball and, considering a QB is strictly offense, that seems fair.

The former Kansas Jayhawk has had an effective field goal percentage of over 70 percent five times this season. For comparison, he is tied with James and Giannis Antetokounmpo and has one more than Paul George. While Wiggins does have very good games shooting the ball, he also has very bad games. Wigs has five games with an effective field goal percentage under 30. That’s more than PG13, King James, and the Greek Freak have combined. To put effective field goal percentage into perspective, the game LBJ had against the Wolves (the one they lost by 28 and James only scored 10 points), he had an eFG% of 56.3. Wiggins average on the season is 47.7.

Just watching Wiggins game can tell you he is underperforming. He seems to just be uninterested in some games and focused in others. Even when he’s having a very good game, it doesn’t seem like it by watching the whole game. When he put up 25 in the beatdown of the Cavs, you would have guessed he had 15 or 20.

Newton is the same way.There are some games where, even when they’re getting beat, he is joking around and laughing on the sideline. Yes, I understand football is way more scrutinized than basketball. It just seems like both of these guys have a very laid back personality on their field/court. While that doesn’t mean they are bad players, it makes them look disinterested to fans as compared to the best at their positions. Look at players like James, Brady, Kevin Durant and Brees. When on the field, they are laser-focused on the mission at hand. Again, I’m not saying Wiggins and Newton aren’t focused, but fans subconsciously might think that.   

The last comparison point between the two is fashion. Yes, we are gonna talk fashion. While neither of them is as fashion forward as Russell Westbrook, they both like to make their own style known. Take a look at Wiggins on at the slam dunk contest two years ago:

On the other side, here’s Newton at a post-game press conference. I’m not exactly sure what look he is trying to pull off, but he is definitely going for it:

Next: Andrew Wiggins has all the tools to become an elite cutter

Newton has had more individual success so far in his career with an MVP award and a trip to the Super Bowl. Wiggins is (hopefully) just scratching the surface. The current season for both has the same narrative: incredibly talented, but underachieving. Let’s all hope that Wiggins’ season doesn’t end like Newton’s did: a first-round playoff exit.