Anthony Edwards stood on the podium in Paris waiting for a gold medal to be placed around his neck. Redemption from the disappointing finish in the FIBA World Cup achieved. A remarkable climb from the Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center in one of the toughest parts of Atlanta to the Eiffel Tower in one of the most exotic cities in the world was complete.
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From Oakland City to the City of Lights. What could be better for a just-turned 23-year-old who had never really won on the court?
If Edwards’ experience this summer had been contained to geography and competitive triumph, that would have been more than enough. Playing an important role in perhaps the most challenging Olympic tournament since the Dream Team assembled in 1992, holding court in one of the crown jewels of Europe. Living the dream.
It was so much more not because of what he did, but with whom he did it. On that podium, Edwards stood in the middle of greatness. To his right was Steph Curry, the greatest shooter alive and the man who hit some of the biggest shots in Team USA’s “Winning Isn’t For Everyone” history. To his left was LeBron James, the ageless icon who wouldn’t let the gray in his beard slow his pursuit of more glory. And just on the other side of James stood Kevin Durant, the one player who has been able to crack Edwards’ bravado and turn him from fearless to fanboy.
They are three of the most important players of this era, and they showed in Paris that reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. Each one delivered when Team USA absolutely needed it.
Ant was right there to see it all. His experience in Paris can only serve to ratchet up the anticipation for the upcoming season, if that were even possible after the Timberwolves’ run to the Western Conference finals last season. Edwards has played four years in the league, enough for him to earn his undergraduate degree in NBA stardom. He started work on his master’s by studying abroad this summer.
The examples of players making leaps after playing in the Olympics are plentiful, from Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade to Durant himself. USA Basketball has proven to be an incubator for talent, offering the rare opportunity for the best of the best to observe how each other works and share little tricks each player has developed to help boost them into the league’s upper crust.
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If there is one thing that has been constant in Edwards’ pro career to this point, it has been his eagerness to be coached. It started with Ricky Rubio in Edwards’ rookie season. Then came Patrick Beverley and Mike Conley. All three veterans found a willing listener in their precocious young teammate. One of the most common scenes in a Timberwolves locker room after a game the past four years has been Edwards sitting next to a veteran guard, picking his brain and soaking up feedback on decisions he made and what needs to improve.
For as confident as he is in his own abilities, Edwards is uniquely humble when learning the game. He knows what he doesn’t know, and he knows who he has to listen to in the search for understanding. In Paris, he was surrounded by some of the smartest and most driven players ever.
Keep some old heads around you pic.twitter.com/GHWH9UtrEm
— Anthony Edwards (@theantedwards_) August 9, 2024
Curry seemed to take a liking to Edwards, unsurprising to anyone who has been around the charismatically authentic youngster. They shared many a laugh through the run in Paris, capped off in the celebration after beating France for gold.
"1,2,3 Gold!!"
Steph Curry was HYPED after Team USA's win over France for the Gold Medal 👨🍳
(via @StephenCurry30)pic.twitter.com/UhEmhxiy9z
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 10, 2024
Durant is Edwards’ personal GOAT, a reverence he doesn’t attempt to hide. Edwards followed KD everywhere during the Olympics, joining him in shooting drills after practice, sitting next to him on the bench when both were part of the second unit and delighting in the proximity.
Kevin Durant helping Anthony Edwards with his shot!
Passing the torch 🔥 pic.twitter.com/B4HyexgkEY
— Chris (@uhhchrxs) July 25, 2024
The lessons extended beyond the court. After winning gold, the team popped champagne on a set of steps that produced a viral photoearlier in the tournament. Edwards joined the fray, but it was clear that he was not as experienced in the art of spraying the bubbly as some of his championship-winning teammates.
We know champagne bottles hate to see us coming.
🇺🇸 #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/vG32E69drG
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 11, 2024
“C’mon, Ant,” James teased. “We know you ain’t been there, yet.”
That “yet” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the hearts of Timberwolves fans who believe they finally have the No. 1 option capable of bringing them a title. For two rounds in last season’s playoffs, the Wolves looked primed for a championship run. They swept Durant, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns out of the conference quarterfinals, then rallied from 20 points down in Game 7 to beat the Denver Nuggets to advance to their second conference finals in franchise history. They were summarily dispatched by the Dallas Mavericks there, showing that a team still light on deep playoff experience had more to learn before making the final step.
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Almost everyone is back for another run at it. The league is starting to take notice, having tabbed the Timberwolves to play in at least two major time slots next season — the season-opening nightcap against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 22 and in Dallas on Christmas Day. Many more national television games are expected to be announced with the rest of their schedule on Thursday.
Being a part of Team USA after such a stirring playoff run was perfect timing for Edwards. He scored 26 points against Puerto Rico in the final game of the group stage and filled the role of a primary scorer off the bench for much of the team’s stay in France. He played poorly against Serbia in the medal round in a game the Americans needed to climb out of a double-digit deficit hole in the second half to win.
In the spirited celebration after that win, hand-delivered by Curry’s lights-out shooting, Durant’s clutch scoring and James’ defense on Nikola Jokić, Edwards showed more of his growing on-court maturity. James and Curry met each other near the baseline to embrace and Edwards was closing in to join them. But he saw the television cameras zooming in on the two icons and quickly backed away from the scene, making sure that he didn’t intrude on a seminal moment in Team USA history.
Anthony Edwards remains in the background as LeBron James and Steph Curry embrace following Team USA’s comeback win over Serbia. (Aris Messins / AFP via Getty Images)
USA coach Steve Kerr rode the big three in the gold medal game, playing James, Curry and Durant more than 30 minutes each, leaving just nine for Edwards. But he played much better than he did against Serbia, scoring eight points and getting a steal in the 98-87 win that was highlighted by Curry’s 3-point explosion in the fourth quarter.
James gathered the victors in a huddle not long after the game ended and delivered some impassioned remarks about the mountain they were able to climb. Edwards was right there, smiling and nodding as he absorbed the energy of the moment.
The Timberwolves could not have asked for a better set of circ*mstances for their young star. He was in the rotation of one of the best teams ever assembled and he was up close and personal with three of the greatest players ever. It is exactly what he needed to continue his rise up the NBA star ladder.
There is a good chance this whole Team USA thing belongs to him one day, perhaps as soon as 2028 when the Olympics come back to home soil in Los Angeles. It seems unlikely that Durant, Curry and James will be in uniform for that one, which makes Edwards a prime candidate to lead the American team onto the court in search of a sixth straight gold medal.
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But Edwards has more pressing matters at hand. He will come back to a Minnesota team that believes it is ready to take the one step it did not last season. If the Timberwolves can go to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, Edwards will be the one to lead them there, with the lessons he learned in Paris in the back of his mind the whole way.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
Jon Krawczynski is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA and the Minnesota Vikings. Jon joined The Athletic after 16 years at The Associated Press, where he covered three Olympics, three NBA Finals, two Ryder Cups and the 2009 NFC Championship Game. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonKrawczynski
