Anthony DeVante Edwards (born August 5, 2001), nicknamed "Ant-Man", is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). A shooting guard, he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the Georgia Bulldogs. Edwards finished his high school career at

Holy Spirit Preparatory School Holy Spirit Preparatory School (abbreviated HSP) is an independent, Roman Catholic preparatory school located in Atlanta and Sandy Springs, Georgia. It was originally established in 1996 as Donnellan School. Location and administration Pre-K4 ...

in his hometown of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where he was rated a consensus five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

and one of the best players in the 2019 class by major recruiting services. As a senior, he earned

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and ''USA Today'' All-USA first team honors. He committed to play college basketball for Georgia, becoming the highest rated recruit to do so, and was named SEC Freshman of the Year after his freshman season with the team. He was selected with the first overall pick by the

in the

2020 NBA Draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

Early life

Edwards spent his early life in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. When he was three years old, he was given the nickname "Ant-Man" by his father. For much of his childhood, Edwards played football at the

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, and

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

positions. He played youth football for the Atlanta Vikings and became one of the best

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

running backs in the country by age 10. However, Edwards switched his focus to basketball because he "thought it looked more fun" after watching his brothers play the sport. He often played basketball against his brothers at their grandmother's house. Entering ninth grade, he began training under the guidance of Justin Holland, a former

player for

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and an Atlanta-based basketball trainer.

High school career

Due to his success with the Atlanta Xpress 15-under

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

team, Edwards was considered a four-star

Rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

in 2016. He began playing high school basketball for

Therrell High School Daniel McLaughlin Therrell High School is a public high school located near Interstate 285 (Georgia), Interstate 285 and Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Three schools operate ...

in Atlanta as a member of the 2019 class. In early January 2017, Edwards transferred to

in Atlanta and

reclassified ''Reclassified'' is the reissue of Australians, Australian rapper Iggy Azalea's debut studio album, ''The New Classic'' (2014). It was released internationally on 21 November 2014 by Virgin EMI Records, and in the United States on 24 November ...

to the 2020 class. He made the move in an effort to improve his academic performance, since Holy Spirit Preparatory had "small class sizes and support to help that." In March 2018, Edwards helped Holy Spirit Preparatory defeat The Heritage School for the

Georgia Independent School Association The Georgia Independent School Association (GISA) is an association of private, independent, and parochial schools throughout the state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia ...

(GISA) Class AAA state championship. He reclassified back to the 2019 class in November 2018 after seeing academic improvement. As a result, Edwards rose to become the number one recruit in the Top247 rankings by recruiting website

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a larg ...

. In his senior season, his team finished as GISA Class AAA runners-up to The Heritage School, despite 27 points from Edwards. At the end of the season, he was averaging 29 points, nine rebounds, and two assists per game. Edwards garnered ''USA Today'' All-USA first team and

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is owned by Paramount Global and is a division of CBS Sports. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including b ...

All-American fourth team recognition. He played in the McDonald's All-American Game and

Jordan Brand Classic The Jordan Brand Classic is a high school All-Star basketball game played annually in April. The game's rosters feature the best and most highly recruited high school boys in the senior class including alumns like Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Bl ...

in March and April 2019, respectively.

Recruiting

By consensus among major recruiting services

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

, and

, Edwards was rated a five-star recruit, top-five player, and the top shooting guard in the 2019 class. On February 11, 2019, he committed to play college basketball for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, becoming the program's best recruit in the modern recruiting era. Edwards chose the Bulldogs over offers from

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. Edwards was drawn to Georgia because two of his favorite players, Dwyane Wade and

Victor Oladipo Kehinde Babatunde Victor Oladipo (born May 4, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, where in the 2012-2013 sea ...

, had been coached in college by head coach

Tom Crean Tom or Thomas Crean may refer to: *Thomas Crean (1873–1923), Irish rugby union player, British Army soldier and doctor *Tom Crean (explorer) (1877–1938), Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer *Tom Crean (basketball) Thomas Aaron Crean (born Ma ...

College career

On November 5, 2019, Edwards made his debut for the Georgia Bulldogs, recording 24 points, nine rebounds, and four steals in a 91–72 win over Western Carolina. It was the most points by a Georgia freshman debutant since Basketball Hall of Fame inductee

Dominique Wilkins Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, a seven-time All ...

in 1979. On November 26, he scored a season-high 37 points, including 33 in the second half, and posted six rebounds, four steals, and three blocks in a 93–85 loss to third-ranked

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

at the Maui Invitational. Edwards became the first Georgia freshman to score at least 37 points in a game since Jacky Dorsey in 1975. In his final game at the tournament, he led all scorers with 24 points and made the game-winning shot against

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

team Chaminade. On February 1, 2020, Edwards recorded 29 points and 15 rebounds, both game-highs, in a 63–48 victory over

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. In his next game, he led all scorers with 32 points in an 81–75 loss to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. On February 26, Edwards scored 36 points and collected seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, in a 94–90

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...

defeat of

South Carolina )'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. As a freshman, he averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Edwards was the top scorer on his team and among freshmen nationally. He earned second-team All-SEC and SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Edwards collected SEC Freshman of the Week accolades four times during the season, the most in program history. He was also one of five finalists for the

Jerry West Award The Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate shooting guard. The award is named after former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, ...

, which recognizes the top collegiate shooting guard. On March 20, 2020, in the spring of his freshman year, Edwards declared for the

2020 NBA draft The 2020 NBA draft was held on November 18, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on June 25, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was instead conducted at ESPN's facilities in Bristol, Connecti ...

as one of the most touted prospects in his class. He signed with an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

, forgoing his remaining college basketball eligibility.

Professional career

Minnesota Timberwolves (2020–present)

The

was delayed by five months due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. In November 2020, Edwards was selected as the No. 1 overall pick by the

. On December 23, 2020, Edwards made his NBA debut, putting up 15 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists in 25 minutes, in a 111–101 win against the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

. On March 18, 2021, Edwards scored a then career-high 42 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists in a game against the Phoenix Suns becoming the third youngest player to score 40+ points in NBA history. After the season, Edwards finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie First Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for player ...

. On November 10, 2021, Edwards scored a then career-high 48 points on seven three-pointers in a 123–110 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On January 25, 2022, in a 109–107 win over the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

, Edwards became the first player in NBA history to record a stat line of at least 40 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, three steals, and five three-pointers in a single game; he joined Anthony as the only players to score 40 points without an assist at 20 years old or younger. On April 7, 2022, Edwards scored a career-high 49 points in a 127–121 win over the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

. In Edwards' playoff debut on April 16, 2022, he logged 36 points and six assists in a 130–117 Game 1 win over the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

in the opening round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. Minnesota would go on to lose to Memphis despite Edwards' 30-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist, 2-steal and 2-block outing in the 114–106 close-out loss in Game 6. On January 21, 2023, Edwards scored a season-high 44 points, including a season-high eight 3-pointers, along with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks in a 113–104 win over the Houston Rockets. On February 10, 2023, he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career as a reserve. Edwards and De'Aaron Fox were announced as injury replacements for injured stars Stephen Curry and Zion Williamson.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

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, 72 , , 72 , , 34.3 , , .441 , , .357 , , .786 , , 4.8 , , 3.8 , , 1.5 , , .6 , , 21.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 144 , , 127 , , 33.2 , , .429 , , .344 , , .781 , , 4.7 , , 3.4 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 20.3 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 17.1 , , .750 , , .000 , , – , , 4.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 12.0

Playoffs

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College

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, 32 , , 32 , , 33.0 , , .402 , , .294 , , .772 , , 5.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , .6 , , 19.1

Personal life

Edwards' mother, Yvette, and grandmother, Shirley, both died from cancer during an eight-month span in 2015, when he was in eighth grade. He has worn the 5 basketball jersey since high school to honor them, as they both died on the fifth day of the month. As a result, Edwards was raised by his sister, Antoinette, and brother, Antoine, who shared

legal custody A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...

over him. In high school, Edwards frequently worked as an instructor at a number of youth camps. He intended to major in

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

while attending the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

. During his childhood, Edwards also starred in baseball, often acting as his team's fourth or fifth hitter in the batting order. Edwards has also jokingly expressed how he was very skilled at a variety of sports when he was younger. He owns two

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

s and has also expressed his affinity for lions, although he does not believe he has the requisite space to care for one. Edwards made his acting debut in the 2022 sports drama film '' Hustle''. His performance in the film as the main antagonist, Kermit Wilts, was praised by many, including the film’s producer and star Adam Sandler. In September 2022, the NBA fined Edwards $40,000 for posting a video on September 10 in which he called a group of shirtless men "queer". The next day, he posted an apology, stating, "What I said was immature, hurtful, and disrespectful, and I'm incredibly sorry."

References

External links

Georgia Bulldogs bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Anthony 2001 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Atlanta Georgia Bulldogs basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Minnesota Timberwolves draft picks Minnesota Timberwolves players Shooting guards 21st-century African-American sportspeople