Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards loves watching film.
Perhaps that wouldn’t typically qualify as significant news, but considering that the burgeoning star says that he “never” used to watch it and now it’s “fun”, well … it’s notable information.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Anthony Edwards is confident nobody can stop him
Anthony Edwards was featured on the cover of SLAM Magazine this week. Along with the cover photoshoot comes a feature story. And that means that we’ve been blessed with a fresh round of Ant-isms.
Edwards quickly became one of the NBA’s best quotes during his rookie season, and while he hasn’t been in front of cameras and microphones much over the past couple of months, SLAM sat down with the 20-year-old a few weeks ago for this cover story.
They cover a number of topics, from the whirlwind that took place from draft night to an abbreviated training camp to the struggles that Edwards endured during his first few weeks as a pro.
But the interesting stuff starts around the All-Star break. With no Rising Stars game, Edwards returned home to Atlanta to work out with two trainers. They encouraged him to watch film, which … he apparently has never done.
"“I never watched film, but now I watch a lot of film. It’s fun because you see, like, OK, if they giving me this shot, I’m gonna go to the gym and work on this shot. Ok, they’re giving me this midrange, I’m gonna go to the gym and work on this for three hours today. And then come back and work on it tomorrow until I feel like I perfected it.”"
Edwards also said the when they were watching film, he was noticing things he wasn’t doing right, including not jumping enough on his shot attempts.
The best thing about Edwards is that he’s so matter-of-fact. It isn’t rocket science to Ant, it’s just reading and reacting, finding things that need to be improved and then simply doing it.
That speaks to both Edwards’ talent level — he can make changes on the fly because he’s that talented — and his mentality. If it’s broken, it needs to be fixed, and Edwards is going to do just that.
Edwards goes on to talk about just how dominant he can be as he continues to get better and figure things out.
"“I feel like with me, once I find what I can do, a lot of people are in trouble. Once I find, OK, this is what I’m gonna do. This is how I’m going to score the ball every time. These are my three ways. Once I find that, it’s really nothing you can do ‘cause I’ma get there,” says the 19-year-old. “That’s kind of what I did. After watching all that film, I found there was three ways I’m going to score the ball. [And] I did that.”When asked about the three ways he speaks of, Edwards quickly responds, “Nah, I can’t tell the people because then they’re going to know how to guard me,” before cracking a laugh. He was kinda serious about that one, though."
Another interesting note from this article: not only was Edwards the third-youngest player to ever score 40-plus points in a game when he dropped 42 on Phoenix in March, but during a three-game stretch that included the victory over the Suns, Edwards scored 100 total points. He was the youngest player in NBA history to score 100 points in a three-game span.
Sure, it’s an obscure statistic. But it’s an example of things clicking for Edwards shortly after a rough first half of the season, as well as the ability to find some consistency while scoring at all three levels.
He isn’t one-dimensional on offense like many young players. He’s versatile and creative, and those things matter a great deal as Edwards navigates his way through the early stages of his career.
Head over to SLAM Online to read the entire piece. It’s a ton of fun, as is any article featuring quotes from Anthony Edwards.