Anthony Edwards' impact by the numbers in exhibition win over Germany

For Minnesota Timberwolves fans who have been keeping up with the Team USA action ahead of the Olympics, it has been anything but surprising to see the kind of impact Anthony Edwards has been having. Joining the national team after his involvement at the World Cup last summer, Ant has quickly risen to the challenge of helping this team earn their fifth-straight gold medal.

Team USA is of course stacked with some of the greatest American basketball talent of this generation. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and others all roam the sidelines for the US national team, so it would be understandable if Edwards chose to take a bit of a backseat to the legacy players.

But if you know his personality, you know Ant will never shy away from a challenge, and he has asserted himself as being the best player on this team since before they played their first exhibition game. Whether that is actually true or not is debatable at best, but it truly does not matter if he is correct or not. The fact of the matter is, Edwards has taken the best possible mental approach to this incredibly high task.

Edwards played the fourth-most minutes in Team USA's win

His confidence and resolve showed once again in the team's Monday win over Germany in their final exhibition match before Olympic play officially starts. With Kevin Durant still out, Ant played the fourth-most minutes of any player on the roster, behind only Curry, Devin Booker, and Joel Embiid.

He poured in 11 points on 50% shooting, knocking down four of his eight shot attempts. Edwards also added two assists and a steal as Team USA squeaked out a win against the 2023 World Cup champions.

The US finished exhibition play 5-0, but they certainly struggled in several of those wins, beating Australia, South Sudan and Germany by single digits. The victory over South Sudan in particular felt like a game the USA should have lost.

Anthony Edwards taking up the mantle of one of this team's top-usage players has been big as the roster continues to mesh and find their collective identity. Eye-test and statistics-wise, Ant has made a big impact on Team USA, and he will continue to be one of the main factors in determining if they can continue their winning ways as they search for yet another gold medal.