Warriors’ Lack of Interest in Anthony Edwards Exposed After Game 1 Heroics vs the Nuggets

The recent semifinal between the Timberwolves and the Nuggets was already gearing up to be an exciting one. It got more interesting thanks to the breathtaking performance of Anthony Edwards. Despite being on the offensive end against a team consisting of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the ‘Ant-Man’ came out on top with 43 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists. This would have been the perfect time to remind somebody of any regrettable decisions concerning Edwards. Interestingly, one individual called out the Warriors by digging up an age-old report.

A few hours ago, Sam Esfandiari, an NBA enthusiast took to his official X account. He found a tweet from Warriors on NBCS that was posted way back in 2020, which carried the news that the franchise will be “unlikely to draft Anthony Edwards” because of concerns about his ‘drive and enthusiasm for winning.’ Retweeting it on his feed, he replied putting up a (sarcastic) thumbs up. This certainly seems to be a classic case of the ‘turntables’.

Back in 2020, Anthony Edwards was amongst the field of prospective players heading to the NBA draft. He had just come fresh off a season with his college basketball team, the Georgia Bulldogs. During his brief tenure there, he played 32 games and could only secure an average score of 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. The young star was expected to be taken up by the Warriors during the draft. However, given how things turned out during his pre-draft workout with the team, his chances turned slim.

“I thought I was working hard,” said Edwards during an interview. “When he (Steve Kerr) came, I was going through drills and he kept stopping them, like, ‘That’s all you got? That’s all you got?’ And I’m like, “Bruh, I’m going hard as you want me to go. What you want me to do? I’m sweating crazy.’” The Warriors head coach used Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson as examples, whom Edwards would later compliment for their workout resilience. He further said, “You didn’t work hard enough. If we had the No. 1 pick, we wouldn’t take you.”

The above remarks deeply affected Edwards. However, instead of wallowing in self-pity, the player chose to motivate himself. He decided to pick up his game and become a “madman in the gym”. The result of that decision, and the actions he took later on, can be seen now in his recent performances.

Anthony Edwards’ pre-draft workout reminded Steve Kerr of a valuable lesson

The Warriors head coach had his own version of how things transpired between him and Anthony Edwards during the pre-draft workout. Back in 2023, after Edwards’ revelations became viral, Steve Kerr was questioned during a post-game presser about his version of the story. He recalled how he was unimpressed by Edwards’ initial workout, confusing it instead for a “warmup”. This led him to approach the player and ask him whether he could go “a little harder”. Edwards complied and later thanked the coach for letting him know just how hard he needed to practice.

“It was a good reminder to me that these guys who are coming out at such a young age really haven’t learned how to work yet,” said Kerr. “I remember saying something to Anthony at dinner about Steph and Kevin Durant and Klay [Thompson] and I said, ‘You’re going to see at that next level it takes game-like reps in practice to be able to hone your skill.’” While Kerr may have not chosen to take Edwards under his wing at that time, he did call him “an amazing player” and revealed forming a bond with him during the later years.

The world would have been quite different if Anthony Edwards had ended up wearing the yellow and royal blue colors of the Warriors. However, his time with the Timberwolves has been nothing short of fruitful. Having reached the semifinals and leading the Nuggets by a win, it remains to be seen just how far the 22-year-old can push.