“Motherf**king MVP”: Anthony Edwards’ Self Alley-Oop Has Kevin Garnett Advocating For The Wolves Guard To Receive Hardware This Year

On Thursday, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards delivered one of the best highlight plays of the NBA season, one that had Kevin Garnett bursting at the seams with excitement. Late in the third quarter of the Timberwolves’ games against the Memphis Grizzlies, Edwards was being guarded by forward Xavier Tillman.

He created some separation with his dribbling and faked a shot, which prompted the Grizzlies star to jump. While his path to the basket was clear, Edwards had already taken two steps, and another would have resulted in a travel and a turnover. So he threw the ball off the backboard, caught it, and dunked it viciously.

Garnett shared Edwards’ incredible highlight clip on his Instagram stories and captioned it,

“Yaaaaaaa… I called this! Motherf**king MVP!” 

Edwards was having a rough night against the Grizzlies and had scored only two points in the first half. However, he flipped a switch in the second half and scored 26 points to finish the game with 28. It was an MVP-calibre display from the Timberwolves’ young superstar.

As for the bigger picture here, Edwards is enjoying the best season of his career. He’s averaging a career-high 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and five assists, and has also led the Timberwolves to a 30-11 record, the best in the conference. The Boston Celtics are the only team with a better record (32-10) than Edwards and his team at the moment.

While Edwards has a case as an MVP candidate, it’s a long shot at best. His numbers are stellar but aren’t as good compared to Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, all of whom have also won the MVP award before. Edwards also shares the court with Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, who have had incredible campaigns themselves, making Edwards’ abundance of help somewhat of a deal-breaker in his case for MVP. However, he’ll likely be an All-Star again this season, and if he continues on this trajectory, an MVP nod is forthcoming.

Kevin Garnett is a fan of Anthony Edwards

Kevin Garnett is a hard man to impress. However, Anthony Edwards has turned him into a fan since his incredible performance against the Celtics in November 2023. In the Timberwolves 114-109 overtime win, the young star scored 38 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished seven assists.

Garnett gave Edwards his flowers for his incredible outing on the KG Certified podcast, saying,

“Man, Ant-Man was on some sh*t, yeah. Like, ‘Scoot over, let me up here.’ I love Ant-Man and how he competes. He’s got a yesteryear piece to him. He got a throwback, old soul to him. When he talks, he sounds like he has been here before. He has the personality. I’m looking forward to big things from the Timberwolves.”

Garnett hopped onto the Edwards hype train after his sensational performance at the FIBA World Cup last year for Team USA. He averaged 18.9 points and 4.6 rebounds during the team’s run to the semifinals. During an episode of the KG Certified before the season commenced, Garnett said,

“I loved what I saw out of Anthony Edwards. He on his way. He playing with that different energy, too. When we get into the season this year I’m looking for him to have a big year. Just off how he looked this summer.”

Garnett predicted that Edwards and the Timberwolves would have a massive season. He was correct on both accounts. The team is sitting pretty atop the Western Conference standings, while Anthony Edwards is playing at a near-MVP level. Minnesota is establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with, and Garnett couldn’t be more excited for his former team.