PHOENIX — Fresh from, arguably, the most important performance of his young career, Anthony Edwards sat in front of the world in a white tank top and an all-black Atlanta Braves fitted cap, hovering above his crisp hairline — doing it. He looks more like an addition to the NBA future in Outkast’s “Player Ball” video.
Who is Edwards? Stupid. favorite Smart. Country. He wears it all, loud and proud. He is also competitive. A trash talker. He wears all these things like a shout, like a pride.
Add all this up and you have a star. Add all of that to a 40-point performance in Sunday night’s 122-116 win over the Phoenix Suns, and you’re on your way to superstardom.
However, Edwards, one way or another, is afraid to go there. Loyal, brave and confident as he is and can be, there is something embarrassing about the 22-year-old talking about his status at the sport’s most prestigious club.
A year ago, before a first-round loss to the eventual champion Denver Nuggets, Edwards said he wouldn’t consider himself a young star until he had a “game-winning shot.”
A year later, he did. Not only did Edwards win the playoffs, but he also surpassed the likes of Devin Booker and his all-time favorite player, Kevin Durant. Edwards led the organization to a high point it had not seen in 20 years, the second round of the NBA playoffs. He made winding tracks on the rim. He did it with a sweet shot. He did them with arm-bird protection. He did it through leadership. What he did with WWE was “Wash It Up!” Extracurricular. He did it while paying attention to a player he had been watching since he was 5 years old.
These are the things that make stars. This is what stardom looks like.
“Nah, he’s not human yet,” Edwards said after reaching the benchmark he set for himself a year ago. “not yet.”
Edwards has unknowingly lost the right to decide what he is and isn’t in this league.
Kevin Durant congratulates Anthony Edwards after beating Minnesota Phoenix in the NBA first round. (Christian Peterson/Getty Images)
When you score 40 points in a row – on the road – you’re a star. You are a star when you play 79 regular season games and are one game away from the team with the best record in your conference. When you are one of 12 players selected to represent your country in the Olympics at the age of 22, you are a star. When you’re in front of a microphone and make everyone laugh, order McDonald’s from Uber immediately after a game, you’re a star like he was last season in Detroit.
“He’s the face of the league,” said the team, who sits next to Edwards, about his status in the NBA. “He hates it when I say it, but it’s true. Like I said, ‘Too bright in the future, I should wear sunglasses.’ “
Normal players don’t decide to dominate when they have the opportunity to finish their opponent for good. They don’t have that ability. Edwards trailed at halftime, as his team did on Sunday, shooting 11 of 15 in the second half to score 31 points. The Stars muster up their final energy to throw out “Night, Night!” at the end of the fourth quarter. DUNKS – As he did with just over two minutes to play, Bradley Bell crossed on the wing, took a rebound dribble, launched outside the paint and sent his childhood hero out of the way when he was punished for hitting the rim. His sister.
The Stars clash with their other All-Star teammate in the chaos that ensues as Towns commits another needless foul that puts the game in the balance, as does Edwards.
Edwards can no longer run. No matter how hard he tries. If he doesn’t want to be a star, stop playing like one.
“He rises to the occasion,” Wolves forward Kyle Anderson said. The athletics.
Stars also make their teammates better. Having a star is the point. One person’s gravity makes the existence of others more meaningful.
Edwards singled out the Suns’ defense as a playmaker. His 40 points will be the headlines, but in 41 minutes of the game, he made two turnovers and had six assists. He had 10 assists, but the Colts couldn’t get a bucket through the first 24 minutes of the game.
There were signs throughout the season, but it was this series where Edwards blossomed as a creator for others. There was a time early in his career that he felt he had to go through. There was nowhere else to go.
As the season progresses and this playoff series unfolds, Edwards will receive snaps and create advantages to pass to the open man to get his teammates involved in the flow of the game. The Timberwolves are the only team in the franchise’s 35-year history to go undefeated.
But, yes, Edwards is not a star.
“He’s a good guy,” said Minnesota assistant coach Micah Norrie, who joined coach Chris Finch after the collision on the sideline in the fourth quarter with a serious leg injury. “And what I mean by that is, they believe. He has some self jokes. You’ve seen all his interviews. Congratulations and he is the first to take all the credit to his teammates. Everyone loves it.
When he’s playing, you know he’s making the right play and not just thinking about himself, but about the team, and he’s done a great job of that.
Edwards can run from the label all he wants, but if he doesn’t want to embrace it for fear of being complacent, it will never go away. His thinking is correct. The intention is good. But for someone with two eyes and a pinched brain, it’s impossible not to see a star when looking at Edwards.
From this point on, there was no point in even asking Edwards about it. He said it – with his game and his personality. He never needed to say it out loud. We all speak for him.
“He’s my favorite player to watch,” Durant said of his star pupil after Sunday’s game. “He’s grown a lot since he came into the league. At the age of 22, his love for the game shines brightly. One of the reasons I like him so much is because he just loves basketball and is grateful to be in this position.
He will be someone I follow for the rest of his career.
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(Top photo: Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press)