The Minnesota Timberwolves acquired Rudy Gobert from the Utah Jazz this year in a blockbuster trade they hoped would turn them into title contenders.
A big part of that calculation was the expectation that Anthony Edwards would continue to turn into the superstar he looked like at times last season.
Unfortunately, Edwards doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo. He came into this season weighing 239 pounds. For context, that put him at one pound heavier than big man Karl-Anthony Towns despite being seven inches shorter.
And the excess weight has been showing. Last year, Edwards was one of the most fun high-flyers in the league. This season he has mustered all of one dunk.
The questions surrounding Edwards’ motivation only intensified this week when a bizarre video of him went viral:
Anthony Edwards played an entire possession with his hands on his hips and without moving a single millimeter or changing his pose 😭
And the wolves still got an open corner 3 outta it (I don’t show it in clip) pic.twitter.com/H9qhVyZb16
— SangxMobDPOYszn (@SangRockets) November 6, 2022
Fans reacted immediately:
Would be about as early as it’s ever happened in a star’s career but would anyone be shocked if Ant asked out this year? https://t.co/IdvzaeCf8S
— Locked On Knicks (@LockedOnKnicks) November 7, 2022
He wanna come to Dallas so bad https://t.co/LEWt3KCRNC
— basketball dealer (@GiftedManley) November 7, 2022
He not gonna be great he good but that’s it https://t.co/65dvQ1p8fo
— Gio Vargas (@Giovargas214) November 7, 2022
He’s making the coach look bad. Frustrated or not, this a bad look. https://t.co/SSv5UTzqNI
— DAO Jonez (@DaRealQuick) November 7, 2022
might as well come to okc https://t.co/KhcryUfovc
— Gonji? (@hategonji) November 7, 2022
There were a lot of concerns about how motivated Edwards was to play basketball when he got drafted. And not without reason.
Over his short stint in the league, he has quieted that chatter to some degree.
Charissa Thompson’s outfit stole the show. https://t.co/HbXdLjm4Mf
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 7, 2022
That said, what he has shown thus far this season hasn’t been great.
The year is still young and Edwards still has time to get back on track. But if he doesn’t, people are going to need to seriously reevaluate how high his ceiling as a player truly is.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
