Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is stepping into the spotlight as a potential future star of the NBA after being named All-Star Game MVP on Sunday.
Despite his usual confidence, Edwards has been hesitant to label himself as the league’s new standout player. Prior to the All-Star Game, he shifted this expectation to San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama.
“Man, they’ve got Wembanyama. They’ll be all right,” he said before leading Team USA Stars to victories over Team USA Stripes and Team World in the mini-tournament on Sunday.
Wembanyama made a significant impact during the All-Star Weekend, scoring 33 points on 10-of-13 shooting for Team World. However, he doesn’t capture the audience’s attention quite like Edwards does.
Anthony Edwards Impresses at All-Star Game
Edwards scored 32 points and made six three-pointers during the event, although he wasn’t the top scorer; that honor went to Team USA Stripes forward Kawhi Leonard, who scored 37 points. The focus, however, remained on Edwards, who drew the interest of former President Barack Obama, who attended the game at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
“[Obama is] my favorite person in the world,” Edwards said after the game. “We were hanging out yesterday. I told him I was going to put on a show for him.”