Anthony Edwards had a breakout season while leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals.
Now he says it’s his turn to lead Team USA.
The 22-year-old NBA All-Star was asked on Sunday where he fits into Team USA’s roster as it prepares for the upcoming Paris Olympics. He intends to play the same role he does in Minnesota — as the team’s “No. 1 option.”
“I’m still the No. 1 option,” Edwards said Sunday while speaking with media from Team USA’s training camp in Las Vegas. “Ya’ll might look at it differently, I don’t look at it no different.”
When asked what playing the No. 1 option on a roster featuring some of the game’s all-time greats looks like, Edwards’ confidence didn’t wane.
“I just go out there and be myself,” Edwards continued. “Shoot my shots, play defense and, you know. They’ve gotta fit in to play around me. That’s how if feel.”
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards on how he fits in with USA Basketball Olympic team: “I’m still the number one option. Y’all might look at it differently. … They’ve got to fit in around me. That’s how I feel.” pic.twitter.com/Cga5kTiR2J
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 7, 2024
Edwards’ competition for “No. 1 option” will be stiff. Amongst others, Edwards is joined on Team USA by LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid. Those four players alone have combined for 10 NBA championships, eight league MVPs, seven Finals MVPs and nine NBA scoring titles.
Jayson Tatum, Anthony Davis and Devin Booker are among the other high-level scoring options slated to take the floor for Team USA in Paris. Edwards — the youngest player on the team — isn’t even guaranteed a starting spot in this lineup, much less a featured role as its No. 1 option.
Edwards is not ignorant of this. He provided his commentary Sunday alongside a glowing smile acknowledging the audacity of what he’d just said. He knows that nothing’s going to be given to him on the world stage. So he intends to take it via the confidence that shaped his transformation last season from rising star to certified superstar.
What better stage for Edwards to cement that status than at the Paris Olympics amongst the best of the world’s best players? While James, Curry, Durant and Embiid certainly have no intention of ceding their spotlights, they surely welcome Edwards’ self-assurance.
They didn’t get to their level without playing with that same kind of confidence.
