Leandro Barbosa joined the Golden State Warriors coaching staff last week as a player mentor coach, and he hasn't wasted any time stepping into his new role.
The "Brazilian Blur" appeared on the "Runnin' Plays" podcast and talked about one of his new projects: Andrew Wiggins.
Barbosa said he has been working out with Wiggins daily and that Wiggins revealed to him that his main goal is one day be a champion.
"I talked to him about his (main) goal, and he said that he wants to be a champion," Barbosa shared. "I said, ''You are in the right place.' It's a great place to be. You have the great players to be around."
Wiggins arrived in Golden State via a blockbuster move at this season's trade deadline. He appeared in only 12 games with the Warriors, averaging 19.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.4 blocks and 1.3 steals. The organization got a glimpse of what Wiggins could bring to the table, but with Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green all missing time with injuries, they'll have to wait until next season to see what the Canadian can truly provide in their system.
Throughout Wiggins' career, his defence has been called into question. The 25-year-old has all the physical tools to be a good defender but has yet to show it on a consistent basis in the NBA. Barbosa believes Wiggins can excel on that end of the floor, but only if he's willing to do it.
"To be honest it's on him. He's very talented on the offensive end — he can be on the defensive (end) also," Barbosa continued. "We have to work a little bit, but if he's willing to do that I'm sure he will be capable of doing it.
"You know, we have the right guys, the right coaches — you know, to kind of teach him what he has to do on defence. We know that we have Draymond (Green) and Klay (Thompson) that are good defensive players, that can help him out with that stuff.
"We don't have to wait so much on him from an offensive standpoint because we know he can score, he's talented. He's been doing it over and over for so many years in his career. So I think the addition to his game will be on defence and that's what probably Steve (Kerr) wants from him and I'm sure he will do well."
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