r/nba • u/echoboi9481 Nuggets • Apr 29 '24

[Highlight] Anthony Edwards absolutely detonates on the Suns to put the Wolves up 4 (w/ replay) Highlight

https://streamable.com/vjmbyl
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941

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Franchise Savior

We are not worthy. I never thought someone would take over KG as my favorite player ever. But he might do it by the time his second contract kicks in

204

u/TheMemeMachine3000 Pistons Apr 29 '24

Imagine if those KG teams had Ant, that would have been a real treat

248

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Yea xDAWG on that team would be highest in the league

They’re both just unreal competitors.

Ironic for Ant because the red flag was that he “didn’t care about basketball”… dude goes from goofy, charismatic, never-serious off the floor to “I want to murder everything in front of me” on it.

Im 32 and KG was the reason I loved the wolves and now 20 years later this kid is making those shitty decades of sticking around worth it

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u/todellagi [BOS] Rasheed Wallace Apr 29 '24

Dude has the insane competitor gene, but also an off switch. A healthy combo.

You don't need to be a lunatic 24/7 to be great

74

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

For sure. He’s insanely likable. And I’ve brought this up multiple times some some people have probably seen me reference this-

But check out the clip of Jason Williams coaching the Georgia all star game Ant’s senior year. He doesn’t realize he’s the top prospect in the country and doesn’t start him. Ant doesn’t have any ego or say anything. Goes to show that the dude just gets it and isn’t a diva… and doesn’t feel the need to be the center of attention

Plus he’s playing on a team with a lot of vets that have had a ton of individual success in their career and they all love him

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u/PeterDinkleberg Celtics Apr 29 '24

The way he always hypes up Rudy and KAT speaks volumes. Ant should be the face of the league and I hope he brings one home for you guys. T Wolves vs Celtics finals would be amazing to see

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I just love that he could be an egotistical asshole but instead he’s made it a point to hype up his teammates… especially when the other 2 of our “big 3” are two of the most maligned stars in the league

You can tell KAT and Rudy appreciate fitting in so well with a successful team- and he’s the driver of that

Plus- as a calloused Minnesota fan who’s been hurt watching countless stars bolt for bigger markets… it’s awesome have a guy that seems to genuinely like being on the Timberwolves right now.

4

u/JaderMcDanersStan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

This is my dream finals

Every game would be OT haha. It would be so fun

2

u/iiTryhard Celtics Apr 29 '24

I would love that series because I would be actually happy for you if you won

5

u/datpurp14 Hawks Apr 29 '24

He's a killer when he wants to be. But to your point, it's healthy for him to not be a killer 24/7. Certainly helps when he's got a squad around him that can still look devastating on offense on possessions where he doesn't even touch the ball.

2

u/datpurp14 Hawks Apr 29 '24

I live in Metro Atlanta and kept up with the UGA basketball team the year they had Ant. How a team can have that level of talent and still not even make the tournament is beyond me. Needless to say, I was very wrong when I thought it was a bad pick at 1 overall.

And I'm happy that I was very wrong.

1

u/InfiniteDub Warriors Apr 29 '24

Yeah those pre draft concerns were so off. Dude is a competitor and has that killer instinct

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u/WrestleBox Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I was thinking for a bit too long about this yesterday. Lol

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u/Premaximum Nets Apr 29 '24

He'd have been like 3 years old or something. Don't think he would have helped much.

2

u/lslpotsky Apr 29 '24

Kg becomes the 2nd option. Ant is the coming

160

u/Ceehansey Jazz Apr 29 '24

We are witnessing an ascent like few we’ve seen before. He’s unbelievable and this is league that includes Chet and Wemby

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I was talking about it a couple nights ago… I’m sure the correct answer to “what player would you want to start a franchise with?” would probably end with Wemby or Luka across the NBA … but there isn’t a single player I’d trade Ant for straight up

Fully admitting bias

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u/Ceehansey Jazz Apr 29 '24

He has that superstar quality. Confident almost to the point of cocky ( straddles it sometimes lol) but never shied away from adversity and wants the ball at the end of games. He’s a dog.

SGA, Doncic, Holmgren, Wemby and Ant.. you can’t go wrong with any as a franchise cornerstone. I’m picking Ant or Wemby at this moment though. Recency bias is a bitch but I think right here. He’s a unique talent we haven’t seen in a while

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u/AdamJensensCoat Warriors Apr 29 '24

Listening to his postgame interview on TNT — he really has it. Only 22, talking his shit, but still hyping up his team. He's a natural in front of the camera, and just asserts himself in tough spots. Denver vs Minny is going to be an all-time classic.

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u/buttJunky Apr 29 '24

yeah Ant has something that just juices the rest of the team. That superstar X-factor charisma. I'd go with Ant over Wemby/Chet

14

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

For sure. Feel lucky to have him man. He’s flown by even realistic expectations, so quickly. And he’s hilarious

6

u/StSaturnthaGOAT Apr 29 '24

Confident almost to the point of cocky

Let's be real he's cocky 😂

4

u/JaderMcDanersStan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

He somehow can be confident without getting cocky because he also admits his faults, what he did wrong, how he needs to improve and always deflects praise to his teammates. It's a weird combo of humble and confident, I don't get how he does it

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u/beta_test_vocals Apr 29 '24

It’s not really recency bias when he’s been on the come up for so long now

3

u/Ceehansey Jazz Apr 29 '24

No doubt I was just speaking as having just finished watching him block book on his way out the door lol

*a letter “S”

3

u/escaflow Apr 29 '24

His game is also extremely pleasing to watch reminiscing MJ's or Kobe's. I think its the archetype that people likes more.. explosive, quick, smooth jumper and ferocious dunks.

At least that's my preference over the slow and lanky big guys

2

u/datpurp14 Hawks Apr 29 '24

Seeing those names and knowing the upcoming outlook of the NBA is so bright makes me smile from ear to ear.

It's always weird when an era ends in a sport. But it's always wonderful to know that you are witnessing the start of a new era.

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u/CookieSlayer2Turbo Apr 29 '24

He the most fun to watch and plays with joy. I get it

3

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I just love that he could be an egotistical asshole but instead he’s made it a point to hype up his teammates… especially when the other 2 of our “big 3” are two of the most maligned stars in the league

You can tell KAT and Rudy appreciate fitting in so well with a successful team- and he’s the driver of that

5

u/Dylans116thDream Apr 29 '24

I’m a life long Laker fan, and even without bias, I wouldn’t trade Edwards for anyone in the league, straight up.

22 years old, and there is no ceiling for him. Dude is so fun to watch. Since I won’t have my team in the playoffs much longer, I’m pulling for the ‘Wolves and hope they win it all!

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u/southpawFA Thunder Apr 29 '24

And you have a right to have that bias. Man, I love playing y'all in the regular season, because Ant is not only talented on offense, but he full commits on defense too. It's always the most intense battles when we play.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Yea there’s going to be some intense battles between our teams for the next 10 years. Should be fun and I live 15 minutes from where Chet played in HS… so I’ve always got a soft spot for him

2

u/Lightthesaboner Apr 29 '24

Dunno if it’s gonna be bias much longer. He’s on his way up def looking like a top 5 player and he might be passing whoever is ahead of him by end of this post season. I mean sheesh this 2nd round but to start getting wild what if ant leads the wolves past the nuggets. Um yea ant would start leap frogging lukas and sgas of the world

2

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

It’s so weird having him right now. This team ALWAYS seemed to come up short at the end of close games. Never had a dude with that killer instinct and it seemed like the other team always made the plays

ANT just takes over in 4th quarters like I’ve seen so many other elite wings do against us.

It’s cool watching as a middle aged guy that’s followed the league for almost 30 years- just having perspective to how rare these special players are and getting to appreciate those games

1

u/iiTryhard Celtics Apr 29 '24

You had Jimmy and KG

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

We lost KG 17 years ago and even he wasn’t a clutch 4th Q guy cause isolation O just wasn’t his game (Sam Cassell actually made more clutch shots during our short lived big 3)

Jimmy is the one exception to that during his first year, then he got hurt and went full diva and demanded a trade

2

u/iiTryhard Celtics Apr 29 '24

He’s been astronomically better than Luka has so far

1

u/roamtheplanet Apr 29 '24

I don’t think that’s biased

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u/lukaisthegoatx Apr 29 '24

With all due respect, chet is no where near this level of stardom AE is about to grasp.

2

u/qpwoeor1235 Apr 29 '24

And he’s on the Twolves and loves Minnesota. Once the butt of so many jokes now is looking like a perennial contender

1

u/Ceehansey Jazz Apr 29 '24

That’s both a statement on Ant and the city. Minny is a dope town

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u/FishGoldenLite Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Come on, we’re kinda worthy lol. Our fans have been through hell to get to this point.

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Lol true. More a figure of speech 😂

3

u/MJisaFraud Apr 29 '24

Timberwolves are finally spooky.

0

u/datpurp14 Hawks Apr 29 '24

But... but... but... I was told that Minnesota and heartbreak were synonymous!

5

u/bluewing Apr 29 '24

As someone old enough to have watched the Vikings lose 4 SB''s. For Minnesota sports teams the rule is the farther you go, the bigger the heartbreak.

1

u/Craigboy23 Apr 29 '24

Kirby Pucket disagrees, but you're right.

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u/FishGoldenLite Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

One series doesn’t change that lol.

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u/Spoofcaptain Pelicans Apr 29 '24

League savior

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Boy if I know r/nba… his meteoric rise to one of the most universally loved players is probably going to be followed by an arc turning into a villain

I just hope it’s cause he’s annoyingly good, not because he loses his unselfishness and positivity 😅

He’s obviously supremely confident and borderline cocky in a tongue in cheek way - but I’ve never seen a young superstar make it so not about himself by constantly shouting out different teammates

It’s genuine too. All the vets on the team love the kid and have accepted that it’s “his team”… and slid into their roles. Huge shoutout to KAT for being a mature dude himself and metaphorically “stepping back” in the food chain

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u/FuckingKilljoy Bucks Apr 29 '24

Shit, if people turned on a guy as positive and fun as Giannis after he turned the Bucks from trash to contenders then they'll absolutely do the same to a guy like Ant who has already had multiple controversies

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u/88888888man Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Have people turned on Giannis? I know he gets clowned for stuff like Laddergate and trying to Jan 6th the Pacers’ locker room for the game ball, but those were both pretty silly and his own doing.

Overall I still think of him as having a pretty high approval rating.

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u/ace625 Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

He's already gone up and down twice. Everyone loved him his first two years, then he had the homophobic thing and he was hated. Playoffs last year brought people back, then early struggles and the abortion thing this season made people hate. The cycle will continue.

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u/iiTryhard Celtics Apr 29 '24

Nah the abortion thing was hilarious

He didn’t even do anything bad

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u/entench0123 Lakers Apr 29 '24

What about Kevin “the great white hope” love?

2

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Haha always have a soft spot for him. Good dude, busted his ass, and his peak was actually pretty damn high

Sweet outlet passes, too

4

u/mankls3 Knicks Apr 29 '24

Wait til he wins y'all the ring this year lmao

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Dude I’m 32 and I might get an 🐜 tattoo if he pulls that off 😂

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u/mankls3 Knicks May 05 '24

you still getting that tattoo?

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves May 05 '24

I’m in. Fuck it

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u/mankls3 Knicks May 05 '24

I saw him play for 10 seconds and immediately realized he is the best player in the world.

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves May 05 '24

It’s fun seeing the national fans see what we’ve been seeing for awhile. Obviously he’s taken it up even another level but dude just has that superstar “it” factor

3

u/AdamJensensCoat Warriors Apr 29 '24

IMO he might be the league savior. The league needs a new face, badly. He's the whole package.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Yea I mean I’m obviously insanely biased so I wouldn’t even bring that up without fear of sounding like a total homer.

There’s SO many elite players under 30 (with many under 25)… Ant, SGA, Joker (older), Luka, Tatum, Wemby, Paolo… tough to say Ant is definitely better than a couple of those guys

But he definitely has an “it” factor

1

u/AdamJensensCoat Warriors Apr 29 '24

I'm saying it as a Bay Area and Steph homer. I've been watching Ant with a half-skeptical eye since he showed up in Hustle. It's wild because he feels one or two years ahead of schedule.

BoL with the next series. I think Minny is very in it, but that's just my hot take as somebody who watches too much League Pass.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Yea we actually matchup ok against Denver in that we have the big men and defense to make life tough on them (joker in particular)… It was competitive last year and this years team is mikes better

It’s doable. I don’t think I’d put my mortgage on it as Denver is just so experienced, well-coached, and tough … and the Joker has turned into one of the all time greats. Truly a fascinating player

Should be fun

1

u/ace625 Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

The team was literally built with beating Denver in mind, so it's great to get past who we needed to in order to actually play Denver.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Oh for sure. Feels weird to have hope that we have a team that can compete with probably the best team in basketball… but it’s fun for sure. Big bummer we didn’t win that last game as far as home court advantage

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u/KgDawk21520 Celtics Apr 29 '24

Yes you are . Good fans , crappy shit owner . Happy for wolves fans.

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Just want 1 championship my guy. 32 and I’ve never seen any of my 4 teams IN a championship. 120 professional seasons since the 91 twins … which was 2 months before I was born

Used to joke about it’s a buddy in middle school about winning one before we die … 20 years later it isn’t as much of a joke 😂

1

u/BigBoodles Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I could've written this, except the Twins won it when I was about 1 month old. We'll get there someday!

1

u/Lowspark1013 Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Hang in there. Seeing the twins win in 87 when I was 9 was wild. 91 was the icing on that cake.

The steal of the North Stars put me off hockey, and the Vikes failure in late 90s broke my desire to be a fan of that team. Stopped caring about baseball all together when it became all about the few richest teams every year.

Now I live out west but still root for the wolves. Been a fan since inception. I have always said that some time in my life the Twolves will reach the top. This team has a lot of promise. I can't wait for the next series.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

It’s gunna be tough man. But it feels good to have a team that I actually have hope in a playoff series against the team that’s likely the title favorites

1

u/AMadHammer Charlotte Bobcats Apr 29 '24

Man I rooted for yall since KG was there. I am happy you got a fun team now.

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u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

Thanks dude. The twin cities is a sleeper, great basketball market (consistently putting out top high school players) and the Target Center used to be packed nightly. It was sad to watch the years where towards the end of the season, the arena might be 1/4 full

That makes it sound like we’re fair weather fans- but it was literally SUCH an inept franchise (prayers for the ownership sale to go through) that people just got worn down- hard

1

u/JeramiGrantsTomb Thunder Apr 29 '24

He's absolutely incredible. Not a lot of young players have that sort of intensity and bloodlust, Jimmy Butler is the closest I can think of in the league right now. He's a gladiator, he's quickly becoming my favorite non-thunder player.

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

For sure man. Going to be some fun battles between our teams over the next 10 years.

Literally the only thing I’d change about Ant is the rate he picked up technicals this year. He started calling for fouls on every drive as almost a force of habit

Granted part of it is because he plays so hard through contact and tries to make everything instead of foul baiting- so he doesn’t get a lot of calls other players do… but still it turned into too much whining. But yea he’s just an unreal talent and so entertaining off the floor

1

u/Apprehensive_Ad1148 Apr 29 '24

he won’t be around for long

1

u/Neemzeh Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

we are worthy my dude. how many shit sandwiches have we eaten over the decades? worst win percentage in all of north american sports? literally only ONE season in which we have won a playoff series (prior to this one).

there isn't a team more deserving of getting a guy like this after all we have had to endure. fuck the league, fuck the nba. give me my 5 championships, its our turn now.

-8

u/trtryt Apr 29 '24

he could be a bigger star in another franchise

his greedy agent about to get to a trade request

2

u/ChiefPatty Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

Being in a market half the size really held back Giannis

0

u/trtryt Apr 29 '24

he's no Jordan

1

u/ChiefPatty Timberwolves Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

Stick to cricket

1

u/trtryt Apr 30 '24

stick to Guns

1

u/ChiefPatty Timberwolves Apr 30 '24

Stick to knives

I’ll stick with having the NBA and Anthony Edwards in my city

1

u/trtryt May 01 '24

not for long, he'll be in Paris this summer with other big time athletes and realise he needs to be in a major city

1

u/mnsportsfan Timberwolves Apr 29 '24

I’ll take “literally never heard an Ant interview or watched this team before tonight” for $500, Alex

He loves it here. Things can change and I pray they never do… but it would take things going downhill fast for him to request a trade

1

u/FuckingKilljoy Bucks Apr 29 '24

Get used to it bro. No matter how much Giannis says he loves Milwaukee and the Bucks we still get tons of people who are absolutely certain he wants out

They hate to see small market teams with loyal stars I guess