As NBA fans have learned over the last four seasons, Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards is not a player who lacks confidence … even when he probably should dial it back a little bit.
The latest example? Edwards proclaiming himself the “No. 1 option” on the Team USA roster headed into the 2024 Olympics in Paris despite a roster that features LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant and on which the 22-year-old Edwards is the youngest player.
“I’m still the No. 1 option,” Edwards said when asked about his role on Team USA. “Y’all might look at it differently, but I don’t. I just go out there and be myself. … Shoot my shots, play defense. They’ve got to fit in to play around me. That’s how I feel.”
Edwards is coming off his first All-NBA Team selection in 2024 and signed a 5-year, $244.1 million contract extension with the Timberwolves in July 2023.
In 2023-24, Edwards averaged 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists as Minnesota advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
Edwards Ascended to NBA Elite in 2024
Edwards was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft out of Georgia after one abbreviated season of college basketball because of the pandemic.
Edwards has been a scoring machine since he stepped foot in the NBA and has averaged 22.9 points over his first four seasons, including back-to-back All-Star appearances the last two years. He’s also taken on the role of Minnesota’s de facto leader, snatching it away from 2015 No. 1 overall pick in forward Karl-Anthony Towns.
In the process, the Timberwolves have become one of the NBA’s top teams in the Western Conference, pulling off an upset of the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the 2024 playoffs before getting beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, 4-1.
Before 2024, the Timberwolves hadn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since making the Western Conference Finals in 2004 — the same year Kevin Garnett was named NBA Most Valuable Player — and included a 13-year stretch with no playoff appearances from 2005 to 2018.
Edwards One of Several Playing First Olympics
While players like James and Durant are longtime Olympic veterans, Edwards is one of several Team USA players making their Olympic debuts alongside Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Joel Embiid and Tyrese Haliburton.
Durant and James are actually attempting to win a fourth Olympic gold medal.
Curry, a four-time NBA champion and two-time NBA MVP, could have been on the Olympic roster in 2016 and 2020 but declined because of wear and tear from the NBA season.
Team USA is coached by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr with Gonzaga head coach Mark Few, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra and Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue as his assistants.
Only five players rerturn to Team USA from the team that won a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics, which were actually played in 2021 because of the pandemic; Heat center Bam Adebayo, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, Durant, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum and Celtics guard Jrue Holiday.
Team USA opened practice in Las Vegas the first week of July with scrimmages against a USA Select Team that featured potential 2025 NBA draft No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and opens Olympic play on July 28 against Serbia.
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