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Before Anthony Edwards was leading Team USA to FIBA World Cup success, he was a budding young star. There were questions regarding his commitment to the game leading up to the draft. However, from the sounds of things, Edwards chose basketball.
In an interview during his rookie season, where he averaged 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game, Edwards spoke about his skills. As he explained, his athletic abilities extended well beyond the confines of a basketball court.
The comments came back in 2020 while he spoke with Bally Sports reporter Marney Gellner. At the time, Edwards name-dropped a number of sports he could excel at. In addition to baseball, Edwards explained that he's also a standout football player, calling himself "A1 from day one."
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"I used to play baseball when I was young. I could have went to the MLB. I'm serious, I'm not even joking. I played pitcher, shortstop, third base, center field. I was fourth-fifth hitter. Straight clean-up.
"Tennis, swimming, lacrosse – Whatever you need me to play, I’m going to go do it. If it’s some money on the line, I’m going to go do it," Edwards said.
Asked if he could play hockey, Anthony Edwards replied:
"Whatever. On the rink. Whatever you need me to do. It don’t matter. Trashcan ball. Whatever you need me to do. Cook food, cook food. That’s something to do. I bet I’ll be A1 from day 1."
While Anthony Edwards was completely serious about being able to excel in another sport, NBA fans are certainly glad he went with basketball.
Looking at Anthony Edwards' recent domination with Team USA
Leading up to the FIBA World Cup, Anthony Edwards has outperformed expectations. In his first interview regarding the roster this summer, US national team coach Steve Kerr didn't name Edwards when discussing players he'd lean on.
“I will definitely go into this with a vision of Jalen Brunson taking on a pretty big role, given the way he plays, his success at the FIBA level in past tournaments," Kerr said.
“There’s no question in my mind that Mikal Bridges is going to be a huge factor for us defensively. As a coach, you go into these things, and you say, 'Well, who is gonna guard Luka, or who’s gonna guard Giannis?' One of the reasons we built the roster the way we did is we have multiple options for these sorts of things.”
On the heels of a dominant 34-point win to lead Team USA to a victory, Steve Kerr spoke about Anthony Edwards' impact on the win over Team Germany.
As he explained, Edwards is unquestionably 'the guy' on the team after a dominant showing throughout training camp and tuneup games. He spoke to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, saying:
"He's unquestionably the guy. You can see he knows it. But now the team knows it, and I think the fans see it. ... He genuinely believes he's the best player in the gym every single night. And he's such a dynamic young player. I think he's taking a leap."
With the FIBA World Cup 'Group Stage' set to start on Friday, Aug. 25, it's safe to say that Anthony Edwards will be looking to keep the momentum rolling.
