After leading his team to the Western Conference finals last season, no one was more confident than Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards.
Talking the talk has always come easy for Edwards. Prior to the 2024 playoffs, he shared a self-assessment that he reached just 40 percent of his full potential. He was also the self-proclaimed No. 1 option on Team USA at the Paris Olympics, putting himself over future Hall of Famers LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry.
And then there were his comments from “Starting 5,” Netflix’s 10-episode docuseries that came out this past October.
“When you’re in your prime, you’re like 26. The s— that I’m doing, I’m doing this s— at 22,” Edwards said. “Imagine when I’m 25, 26, when this s— is perfect, everything is perfected.”
Edwards was far from perfect on Thursday night, making only 5 of 16 shots from the field in 36 minutes of action to finish with 15 points in a 118-115 loss to the Boston Celtics on primetime television.
When Minnesota needed Edwards the most, he was nowhere to be found. The first overall selection of the 2020 draft went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line to prevent the Timberwolves from pulling within 110-105 with 4:36 remaining, then missed a wide-open layup with 1:50 to go and his team in an eight-point hole.
Still, Minnesota kept fighting to make it a one-possession game in the final seconds, but Edwards was way off the mark on a potential game-tying triple at the buzzer.
Thank goodness he’s only operating at 40 percent of his full potential, though, right?
Edwards is officially in a slump, with averages of 18.9 points (on 39.3 percent shooting overall and 35.4 percent shooting from long range), 6.3 rebounds and 4.5 assists over his past eight games. The Timberwolves have gone 3-5 during that span.
So, it might be time for Edwards to take his foot off the gas just a little bit when it comes to being cocky. All he really has under his belt is a pair of All-Star appearances and a strong playoff run. One strong playoff run, that is.
One.
Players far more decorated than Edwards haven’t run their mouths nearly as much, and Edwards can only draw more attention to his subpar performances if he continues to act like he’s already running the league at the age of 23.
This isn’t to say that Edwards isn’t one of the top young talents in the league. He is. And he’ll likely bounce back sooner rather than later. However, very rarely does modesty ever hurt anyone. Arrogance, on the other hand, does.
Edwards clearly still has some rawness to him, and he’ll only become more and more mature over time. Next time he goes off for 40 points or leads the Timberwolves to a statement win in the postseason, maybe he’ll remember to continue to simply let his play do the talking.
