Before the Western Conference Finals even started, Anthony Edwards announced on live TV that he was looking forward to guarding Kyrie Irving. However, his bold words would come back to haunt him on Wednesday as Kai dominated him throughout the game and dropped 30 points on his head. Meanwhile, Ant-Man had a bad offensive performance and added only 19 points to the board. What surprised everyone was that he looked exhausted trying to keep up with Irving, which even Edwards admitted after the game, amidst an interesting inroad by Chris Paul.

“You all could see it. We were a step behind everybody. Especially myself… We were just a little tired, probably.” Edwards confessed post-game. However, coming to his aid, seasoned veteran CP3 admitted to having a similar issue while guarding a generational player like Kyrie in the playoffs. Making an appearance on ESPN’s NBA Countdown, Chris Paul was asked if he ever felt exhausted chasing him around. He replied, “Absolutely! I used to have to chase Steph around all the time.”

Although they are currently on the same team, Chris Paul and Stephen Curry have had countless memorable battles in the playoffs. Who can forget the historic Conference Finals series between the two superstars in 2018 when CP3 and Harden almost ended the Warriors dynasty taking them to a 7-game series?

However, in that series, Paul ended up suffering a hamstring injury in Game 5, causing him to miss the final two games. And maybe, some of that fatigue had to do with guarding a fast-paced and skilled player like Steph throughout the series.

Keeping up with players like Steph and Kyrie, who are always on the move with or without the ball, is not every defender’s cup of tea. And no one understands it better than CP3, who has been defending the best guards in the league for nearly two decades.

Chris Paul’s advice for Anthony Edwards

When Anthony Edwards openly took on the Kyrie Irving challenge, everyone appreciated him for his competitive mindset. Even Kyrie after Game 1 revealed that he took it as a sign of respect and used it as motivation, “That’s a no-fear mentality, and that’s why we love Ant.” But strategically, it might not be a wise decision to guard Kyrie the entire game. Even Chris Paul advised Ant-Man to change his strategy against Uncle Drew, “We loved that Ant said he wanted to match up, but that doesn’t mean you have to guard him the entire game.”

Being a two-way player and the best player on the squad, the Wolves also need Edwards to score points on the offensive end. But that will be hard if he is already gassed by guarding Kyrie all game. So, CP3 told Ant to start the game guarding Kyrie and then keep changing his coverage so that he could also focus on driving the offense. On the side, Edwards’ teammates should take the responsibility of telling him to stop spending this much energy on defense and say, “I need you to score.”

Being the best defensive team in the league, the Wolves will surely make adjustments in Game 2 and work on their mistakes. Maybe they will take CP3’s advice and do a better job stopping Luka and Kyrie tomorrow.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow in what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.