No one can ever blame Anthony Edwards for not possessing a competitive drive. At just 22 years of age, the Minnesota Timberwolves star has set himself up to be a future face of the NBA, setting records and taking charge of his franchise. Currently participating at the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside other talented atheletes, he recently went viral after making some bold claims about his swimming abilities. The same, however, has now come back to haunt him.

Taking to his official Instagram account, the 2x NBA All-Star highlighted a clip made of a compilation of his interviews. In both of them, when asked about his choice of swimming event to participate in, Edwards chose ‘freestyle’ owing to his ‘fast’ nature. The compilation ended with a message from 21-year-old Olympic swimmer Phoebe Bacon. Having heard the claim that Edwards is the fastest swimmer “on the team”, Bacon went on to challenge the NBA star to a ‘50m freestyle.’ Not only did Edwards respond, but he decided to make things interesting. On the course with classic Edwards’ style, he stated “If we doin 20m, we can talk??” To know that he has heeded the challenge, the athlete even tagged Bacon on his story.

In the half a decade that he has been in the spotlight, Anthony Edwards’ swimming skills have not reportedly been made public knowledge. Despite this, the player is confident that he can excel when made to compete against any respective individual. In the interview with Craig Melvin of ‘TODAY’, the 22-year-old highlighted his love for the sport and how he will keep an eye out on the Team USA athletes looking to secure a medal in swimming. This love, combined with his competitive spirit, also caused him to be brutal when discussing the swimming skills of his fellow basketball players.

“They ain’t no swimmers,” said Edwards. “You got Embiid, you got AD, and Bam, they ain’t swimming fast. Bron, he ain’t swimming fast. KD, Kawhi (Leonard), (Jayson) Tatum, they’re not swimming fast at all. So, my only challengers are [Devin Booker], when he might not know how to swim. Jrue (Holiday), he might drown. And (Tyrese) Haliburton. Oh my God. If Haliburton beat me, then I just need to never touch the water again.”

To be fair, the basketball players listed by Anthony Edwards may not be that bad in the water. After all, longtime fans of LeBron James have often seen the player have some experience with the water via social media. However, knowing how competitive Anthony Edwards may get, not many of them may look up to accepting the player’s challenge.

Stephen Curry unexpectedly sets Anthony Edwards up for a Table Tennis challenge

The ‘discussion’ between Anthony Edwards and Phoebe Bacon comes only a few days after the NBA player’s competitive spirit may have caused him to take up another major challenge. All thanks to his Team USA teammate Stephen Curry.

It all started during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. As the Team USA boat sailed across the River Seine, the All-Time three-pointer leader introduced Edwards to the Women’s Table Tennis team. Curry could have smoothed the process, however, as he outright stated to his teammate “Ant! They said they’re smack you 21-0!”

As expected, Edwards’s competitive spirit woke up, causing him to state, “I got some people here that say they gonna beat me in ping-pong, 21-0. I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it. I’m not having it. I’m not having it. Eleven to zero, I’m scoring one point.” When the members of the Table Tennis stated that there is only one way to find out the answer, Edwards replied “How can we do that? Whenever (I’m ready).”

Not only was the challenge made in front of Anthony Edwards’s teammates, but it was also captured on camera. Therefore, if he looks to avoid the challenge now, he can’t. However, knowing the Timberwolves, he isn’t one to back down from a fight.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Silas Demary Jr.