Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards of Team Stars was rightfully adjudged NBA All-Star MVP on Monday. After all, he did score 32 total points across three games—including the game-tying trey against Team World and a sensational five-point burst to nearly beat Team Stripes in the second game.
What’s more, Ant-Man played with a pep in his step and appeared to be playing harder than usual for an All-Star Game, as were most of his peers on Monday. Afterward, he admitted that Victor Wembanyama going out and playing fierce basketball inspired him to go harder than usual.
“Wemby set the tone. He came out playing hard, and we had to follow that…,” he said in the on-court postgame interview after Team Stars were awarded the championship trophy.
Edwards doubled down, telling the NBA TV crew after the game: “I’m not gonna lie. Like I said, Wemby, he came out playing hard… We ain’t gonna let him outplay us, so we gonna turn it up.”
Anthony Edwards Had Another Reason to Play Hard
But it turns out Anthony Edwards had another reason to play hard, and this one may have hit closer to his heart: his daughter. During All-Star Weekend, the All-Stars were presented with an All-Star ring to commemorate their making the annual star-studded roster. The rings came in a box, and Edwards’ had a video of his daughter inside with a short but sweet message: “All-Star.”
“That meant a lot, and that’s what really made me play hard, too,” Edwards told a camera crew after the postgame All-Star photoshoot. “The fact that they [NBA] went that far to get that, that means they like me. They like me a little bit.”
Indeed, the NBA and its fans probably like Anthony Edwards. And if he plays the way he has been playing, he’d be liked a lot more, for sure.
