The ability to be a verbal leader doesn’t come naturally to every professional athlete. Some are more of the “lead by example” type, letting their play and hard work do the talking.
When selected with the first overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Anthony Edwards was just 18 years old. Now, the recently turned 25-year-old is starting to feel more like this is his team. As the Minnesota Timberwolves’ best player, Edwards has been showing this offseason that he wants to transition into becoming more of a team leader.
After the Timberwolves added Jonathan Kuminga in free agency, reporting from Jon Krawczynski revealed how much of a recruiting role Edwards played in helping land Kuminga and filling the need for a starting power forward. Recruiting Kuminga is just the latest example of Edwards taking on a leadership role this summer, though.
Ant becoming more of a leader is quite evident
Ant-Man has now played six seasons with the Timberwolves. That is tied with Jaden McDaniels for the longest tenure with the club.
Of course, there had always been one player who had spent one more year with Minnesota than Edwards: Naz Reid. Losing Reid—who was included in the trade with the Charlotte Hornets for LaMelo Ball—created a void in team leadership.
Enter Edwards. He’s making an effort to fill the team leader role. It started with making Ball feel at home soon after he was traded to Minnesota. It had to be somewhat surprising for Ball that Charlotte dealt him after the excellent run the team had to end last season.
Edwards mentioned at FanFest in July that Ball stayed at his home for a few days soon after the deal was made. They have frequently been seen working out together in the gym and have built a friendship long before even playing a regular-season game together.
Then, there was the trip to France. Nearly the entire team met up to see Rudy Gobert in his home country, and the bill for the trip was footed by both Edwards and Ball. As seen in videos and pictures, the excursion looked like an excellent team-bonding event.
Many folks in the media were questioning Edwards’ leadership toward the end of last season. That came after he dapped up the San Antonio Spurs’ bench before the fourth quarter was even halfway over in San Antonio’s series-clinching win in Game 6 of the conference semifinals.
That moment is quickly becoming less relevant when considering what Edwards has done this offseason. It will be fun to see how it translates to the court once the regular season begins.
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