After USA’s Avengers took down Team Canada at the Las Vegas Strip yesterday, several predictions came out. The best one might have been from Pierce, who allotted apt roles to the young and the old stars of the team. Despite James’s overall performance against Canada, Pierce termed Anthony Edwards the team leader for one quality he showed yesterday. What is it? 

James and Edwards have an age gap of 17 years. Looking at the experience that James has in the Olympics, one would say he is the leader of the team. The 39-year-old has two gold medals and a bronze. However, Pierce went on to give the “leader” tag to Edwards, for showing up at the right time of the game yesterday. 

Boston Celtics icon Pierce said on Undisputed, “I noticed the game changed when Ant-Man got in. It’s like his personality took over the USA team.” The Americans were trailing by 6 points when Edwards subbed in with four minutes left in the first quarter. He scored a few layups to tie the game. Once again, the Canadians went up 21-14 in the second quarter, and Ant-Man was there to cut the lead all the time. 

“When USA was struggling and they needed a jolt in the arm, he[Edwards] was that one. Almost makes me wonder if he should be starting,” said Pierce about the Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard. Edwards led the Team USA in scoring with 13 points in the 86-72 win. And he did so coming off the bench for 19 minutes. This certainly has him being considered in the starting lineup.

Anthony Edwards was not joking when he showed his disinterest in coming off the bench last year

Should Edwards start for Team USA or come off the bench? This is a controversial topic at the moment. On Sunday, when asked about his role for Team USA, Edwards had iterated, “I am still the No.1 option.” Now after the performance yesterday, the 22-year-old certainly made his case, having many believe he deserves a chance. However, there is also Devin Booker. He played in the 2020 Olympics and brought in a gold medal for the USA. This is the first time Edwards is playing in the Olympics. 

Head coach Steve Kerr shared that Dwyane Wade came off the bench for Team USA, to convince Edwards to do the same in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, he was not a fan of this comparison. Edwards shared, “Of course, I wasn’t cool with it… He said Dwyane Wade came off the bench when Kobe played. I was like, all right, we don’t have a Kobe.”

Steve Kerr had Booker in the starting lineup yesterday and benched Edwards once again. The Phoenix Suns guard scored 9 points in 20 minutes. Edwards outscored Booker by 4 points off the bench. There are four exhibition games left for the USA. Let’s see if Edwards can claim the role of a starter. 

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video: