PHOENIX — Fresh off perhaps the most important performance of his young career, Anthony Edwards sat before the world wearing a white tank top and an all-black cap that matched his Atlanta Braves, and that cap was his It was floating loosely just above my crisp hairline. He looks more like an extra in Outkast's “Players Ball” video than the future face of the NBA.
Edwards is who he is. That's stupid. Adorable. intellectual. Country. He wears it all loud and proud. He's also a competitor. Garbage talker. He wears them all with equal gaudiness and with equal pride.
Add all these up and you get a star. Add to all of this his 40-point performance in Sunday night's blowout playoff win over the Phoenix Suns, and you start to build into superstar status.
However, Edwards is afraid to go there for some reason. He's a naturally honest, cocky and confident 22-year-old, but when it comes to talking about his stature within the sport's most prestigious club, there's a hint of shame inside him.
A year ago, before losing in the first round to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, Edwards said he didn't consider himself a young star until he “won the playoffs.”
A year later, he did it. Not only did Edwards win the playoffs, he was also the alpha in a series that featured the likes of Devin Booker and his all-time favorite player, Kevin Durant. Edwards led the organization to its highest point in 20 years in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. He accomplished it with a rim-twisting dunk. He did it with a sweet shooting stroke. He did it with a defense that gnawed at his arm. He did it with leadership. He did it in WWE's “Suck It!” Extracurricular activities. He had been listening to the players he admired since he was 5 years old.
These are the things that make stars. This is what stardom looks like.
“No, not yet,” Edwards said Sunday after reaching the standard he set for himself a year ago. “still.”
Without even realizing it, Edwards had lost the privilege of deciding what he was and wasn't in this league.
Kevin Durant congratulates Anthony Edwards after Minnesota's stunning victory over Phoenix in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
When you score 40 points in a series-clinching victory, along the way, you're a star. You're a star when you play in 79 regular season games and are the Most Valuable Player on a team that was one game shy of the top of the conference. When, at the age of 22, he becomes one of 12 athletes selected to represent his country in the Olympics, you are a star. If you make people laugh every time you get in front of the microphone, if you can order a McDonald's on Uber Eats right after the game like you did in Detroit last season, you're a star.
“He's the face of the league,” teammate Karl-Anthony Towns said. Sitting next to Edwards, the modest team took center stage and talked about his status in the NBA. “He hates it when I say it, but it's true. Like I said, 'The future is so bright that you have to wear sunglasses.'”
Normal players don't try to dominate their opponents when they have a chance to finish them off for good. they don't have that ability. As Edwards did Sunday, when his team trailed at halftime, the star scored 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor in the second half. Late in the fourth quarter, the Stars mustered up their last bit of energy and chanted, “Night, night!” Dunk — Just over two minutes into the play, he crosses up Bradley Beal on the wing, takes a gathered dribble, takes a shot from outside the paint, and punishes it so that it hits the rim, putting his childhood hero in the way. Like when I tried not to. younger sister.
Star players take offense to other star teammates in the chaos, much like Edwards did when Towns committed another unnecessary foul with the game in the balance.
Edwards can no longer escape. No matter how hard he tries. If he doesn't want to be a star, he should stop playing like a star.
“He rises to the occasion,” Wolves forward Kyle Anderson said. The Athletic.
Stars make their teammates better. That's the point of having a star. The weight of one person makes the presence of another more meaningful.
Edwards sliced through the Suns' defense as a playmaker. His 40 points would grab the headlines, but he had six assists with only two turnovers in 41 minutes of play. He was supposed to record more than 10 assists, but the Wolves couldn't buy a bucket in the first 24 minutes of the game.
There were signs of that throughout the season, but it was on this series that Edwards blossomed as a different creator. There was a time early in his career where he felt like he passed because he had to. He had nowhere else to go.
As the season progressed and this playoff series progressed, Edwards was able to welcome blitzes, create an advantage passing to the open man, and get his teammates involved in the flow of the game. This Timberwolves team has the potential to accomplish what only one team has ever accomplished in the franchise's 35-year history.
But yeah, Edwards is not a star.
“He's a good guy,” said Minnesota assistant coach Mika Nori, who replaced coach Chris Finch after he suffered a serious leg injury in a collision on the sideline in the fourth quarter. “And what I mean is, they trust him. There's a self-deprecation about him. You've seen all his interviews. He's the first to congratulate and self-deprecating. He's the one who transferred all the glory to his teammates. They all love him.
“When he plays, when he makes the right plays, and they know he cares about the team and not just himself. He's done a good job of stepping up in that regard.”
Edwards can keep running away from the label for as long as he wants, but if he doesn't want to embrace it for fear of being complacent, the label will never go away. His thinking is correct. His intentions are good. But for anyone with two eyes and a modicum of sense, it's impossible not to see stars when you look at Edwards.
There's no point in asking Edwards from this point on. He let his play and his personality speak for itself. He never has to say it out loud. We all keep saying it for him.
“He's the player I look to most,” Durant said of his star protégé after Sunday's game. “He's grown so much since he came to the league. At 22 years old, his love for the game shines through so much. That's one of the reasons I like him the most. He loves basketball and this Because I'm grateful to be in this position.
“He's going to be someone I follow for the rest of my career.”
Related books
Kraczynski: Timberwolves fans deserve to celebrate a rare trip to Game 2
(Top photo: Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)
