When this season began for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards was in an interesting position. Just a few weeks removed from losing his friend and All-Star caliber teammate Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, Edwards was going to have to adjust to life with his new teammates on the fly.
Coming off a season where he earned his first career All-NBA selection, the expectations for Ant were high. Additionally, his reputation around the league had grown significantly from where it had been in October 2023. Edwards was now universally seen as one of the best players in the association, and opposing defenses were treating him like it.
Combine that with the spacing issues the Timberwolves found themselves confronted with to begin the current season, and it is no wonder Ant had some obvious struggles to begin the year. He was vocal about these challenges, not shy to admit that he didn't feel like himself at times. Who could forget his media session back on Jan. 2 when he said he "didn't want to be passing the ball all night?"
The @Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards in January:
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) January 31, 2025
485 points
92 rebounds
92 assists
69 threes made
12 blocks
10 wins
No one else in NBA history has reached all those numbers in a month. pic.twitter.com/c60wJsarOD
Edwards' January numbers have never been achieved in NBA history
But it was right around that point when something clicked for Edwards. Just two nights later, he dropped a career-high 53 points on the Detroit Pistons, and began to really turn things up a notch from a scoring perspective. Since then, he has truly been back in his bag offensively, looking like one of the best scorers in the game once again. He finished the month of January averaging 30.3 points for the month.
It was one of the most impressive months of Edwards' career as a scorer. He racked up an astounding 485 points, 92 rebounds, 92 assists, 69 made threes, 15 steals and 12 blocks on his way to helping Minnesota win 10 of their 16 games. Incredibly, no other player in NBA history has achieved in one month statistically what Ant did in January.
These numbers go to show what kind of progression Edwards has made this season, and they remind us that he is one of the best players in the NBA. Sometimes it can be easy to forget that he is still just 23 years old, and he is still learning some things about how to be great in this league. But his exceptional talent continues to shine through in spite of some difficult circumstances.