Anthony Edwards Explained Why The Wolves Were Thrilled RJ Barrett Took The Knicks Last Shot

On Wednesday night, the Knicks and Timberwolves game came down to the final shot. With the Wolves up one, the Knicks had an opportunity for the win in the closing moments of the game. New York couldn’t find a good shot, however, as RJ Barrett was forced to take a fading jumper that came up well short of the basket.

It wasn’t a great look for the Knicks, and after the game, Wolves rookie Anthony Edwards didn’t try to hide what Minnesota’s strategy was defensively for that final possession: Make RJ Barrett take the last shot.

“We told Jaden, try not to let Randle catch the ball we want to make someone else beat it. Gladly, RJ Barrett caught it and if he would have made the shot we would have lived with it because that’s who we want taking the shot. We don’t want anybody else taking it.”

Edwards’ brutal honesty is one of his most endearing qualities in terms of his interactions with the media, and this is a spectacular example of that. Coaches and players absolutely think this in end-of-game situations. They even say these things in the huddles before plays in such situations, but rarely do they offer those thoughts publicly to the media after. Edwards says the quiet part out loud here, as most would simply say, “We just didn’t want them to get the ball to Randle and to make anyone else take a tough shot.” He, instead, chose a bit of violence by making sure everyone knew the gameplan was to funnel the ball specifically to Barrett, because they believed that was their best chance to preserve the win by making him take the last shot.

This might not be an approach that makes Edwards a ton of friends around the league, as he’s not exactly diplomatic, but it’s also what makes him, well, him. His lack of a filter makes his media appearances absolute gold, and while it might ruffle some feathers at times, he’s certainly never boring even when talking about situations that don’t often produce any spice.