Several former Olympic gold medalists made their return during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, but for 23-year-old Anthony Edwards, this was his first opportunity to display his explosiveness and skill on the international stage. The first-time Olympian put together an excellent stretch of basketball showing for Team USA. But what was also memorable from his stint in Paris was the laughs he brought to the squad.
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Edwards’ Team USA teammate, Jrue Holiday, shared his experience playing alongside the young Timberwolves star and recalling his completely natural sense of humor while sharing the court last summer.
Holiday explained Edwards’ unique personality to be that of someone who loves life and has a genuine approach to all things. Citing the guard’s Southern roots as a chief reason behind his happy-go-lucky outlook, Holiday admitted on Podcast P with Paul George, “He might be the funniest person that I know. And it’s genuine, he really loves life… His little country self, bro, he really is hilarious.”
The 34-year-old added that the fifth-year star also has a strong love for the sport and a hunger to gain knowledge from the veterans of the game. According to Holiday, Edwards was constantly picking his teammates’ brains, looking to improve both his individual play and contributions to their ultimate goal.
“But he loves basketball… Honestly, he was trying to get information on anybody, like ‘maybe I should come off this way, how should my foot placement be… when I get to my stepback, should I do it this way’, like he really is a student of the game. And for somebody that young to be that locked in, that was cool to see.”
Holiday wasn’t the only Olympic teammate to shower praise on the animated Edwards. LeBron James also eagerly spoke about Edward’s energy and hunger for competition throughout Team USA’s gold medal run.
Lebron loved Edwards’ energy and intensity during the Olympics
LeBron represented the United States for the fourth time in his illustrious career and mentioned Edwards’ intensity and never-ending competitive drive as a key reason this run was so fun for him.
“Just to see the excitement that Ant-Man played with, showed off the floor, you know he wanted to compete against everybody. You probably saw him wanting to compete versus Team USA ping-pong team. You know, he said he could beat people in swimming, you know he wanted to versus everybody…”
“Just to see that energy, you know, from the young guy, and for us, as the older guys, remembering at one point having all that energy… it was definitely a blessing to be around Ant.”
Edwards earned a gold medal with Team USA. But it seems his memorable personality and genuine spirit stuck with his teammates even more than his explosive performances this past summer.
