Anthony Edwards has developed into one of the brightest stars in the league. An elite shooting guard, Edwards has been consistently improving different aspects of his game, year after year. Already in Year 3, Ant has established himself as the go-to guy for the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6ft 4” youngster has been provided with a solid roster, headlined by two All-Star big men – Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert. During the course of the FIBA World Cup, Ant was inappropriately asked to choose to trade either one of them. Giving a heartwarming response, Edwards revealed that he would want the Wolves franchise to continue paying Rudy’s and KAT’s salary for the upcoming season – $41,000,000 and $36,000,000, respectively.
Advertisement
During the 2022-2023 campaign, Anthony Edwards took a massive leap, receiving his first All-Star selection. Being among the top guards in the league, Ant-Man was visibly more confident and carried the same mentality forward to Team USA’s campaign at the FIBA World Cup. The 22-year-old was undeniably the leader of the star-studded American roster. However, prior to the tournament commencing Steve Kerr had envisioned a different role for him – a sixth man. Instead, displaying self-confidence, the athletic slasher used a Kobe Bryant-Dwyane Wade analogy to establish himself as a starter on the lineup.
Anthony Edwards gave a heartwarming answer to an inappropriate question
Following Team USA’s 110-64 win over Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s Jordan, Anthony Edwards entered the tunnel that led to the locker rooms. Having scored 22 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, and dished out 4 assists, Ant had an impressive performance. Recording his best showing of the tournament statistically (box plus-minus of +30), Edwards was quite happy.
However, a question asked by a European reporter caught the former Georgia Bulldog by surprise. Edwards was asked to trade one of two big men off of the Timberwolves – Karl-Anthony Towns or Rudy Gobert. Initially, Edwards ignored the illogical question. But, he soon replied with a rather wholesome answer.
“Neither one, man. I like all my teammates. I love them. They my brothers. I wouldn’t trade neither one of them,” Edwards claimed.
Rudy had one of his worst campaigns this past season (13.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 1.2 assists). Much like him, an injury-riddled Towns also lodged subpar numbers – 20.8 points and 8.1 rebounds (worst since rookie year). Indeed, it is difficult to perform well with two centers in the same lineup in this era.
However, despite his teammates’ inadequacies, Edwards chose to give a mature response.
Ant is being compared to Michael Jordan
Ever since Team USA’s six-game stint before the World Cup concluded, fans have been spotting the uncanny resemblance between Michael Jordan and Anthony Edwards. Apart from a few facial traits being similar, their athletic ability is also eerily identical.
Amid the comparisons to MJ, Shaquille O’Neal took things up a notch and bestowed the youngster with huge praise. Sharing a graphic on his Instagram Story, the caption of the post read “The [Michael Jordan] of our generation is here”.
Clearly, Anthony Edwards has very big shoes to fill. Fans will be expecting the guard to take yet another massive leap and lead the Timberwolves to a deep playoff run.
