As a No. 1 NBA Draft pick, there’s a lot of expectations attached. Fortunately for Anthony Edwards, he’s entered the league in a relatively low-stakes situation with a Timberwolves team that seems to be a perpetual state of flux. But on Friday night, Edwards reminded us all why he’s garnered so much attention.
During the fourth quarter of Minnesota’s game against the Raptors, Edwards caught the ball on the baseline, and after finding a clear lane to the basket, attacked the rim with the type of fury you rarely see from a player his age. The victim was poor Yuta Watanabe, who ended up on the receiving end of what is easily the nastiest poster dunk of the year so far.
DUNK OF THE YEAR.
ANTHONY EDWARDS. #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/hmnhFvldF0
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 20, 2021
I mean, just look at this.
DID THIS DUDE JUST DO THIS?! pic.twitter.com/epDGybBjpo
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 20, 2021
And if that image is almost too much for your brain to process, you’re not alone. Unsurprisingly, basketball fans on Twitter lost their minds in the aftermath of Edwards’ jam, joining the collective disbelief about what will surely go down as, not just one of the best highlights of the season, but one of the greatest highlights of his career when all is said and done.
Here is a brief roundup of some of the best reactions thus far.
I’m proud of our boy Aron Baynes for being a spectator and not a victim here. Veteran move pic.twitter.com/R9MGLPxZFP
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) February 20, 2021
Hang it in the Louvre. https://t.co/ffLW7V9GwH
— Drew Hamm (@drewhamm5) February 20, 2021
my goodness this is incredible https://t.co/bE2Dj0HumP
— honi (@HoniAhm) February 20, 2021
Who got up and walked away on the Toronto bench 💀💀💀 https://t.co/CPSw0ArmXI
— Kareem (@RespeckMySixers) February 20, 2021
HOLY GOD. Poster dunk of the year by Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/JgK6zSxV5F
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 20, 2021
Best running back in Minnesota since Adrian Peterson https://t.co/eqOe3Vw7kX
— Shake Milton Better (@TrillBroDude) February 20, 2021
basketball can be so damn balletically violent https://t.co/c2rztgM7am
— Brady Klopfer (@BradyKlopferNBA) February 20, 2021
Business decision might have been a better choice here … https://t.co/ob086JuiRY
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 20, 2021
Ay dios mio https://t.co/B8oMjxEVxe
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) February 20, 2021
This is Mozgov-esque https://t.co/BpZWumNZpK
— Lucas Hann (@LucasJHann) February 20, 2021
In this screengrab it looks like he’s calmly riding a horse to the rim https://t.co/hDOfCvlBU7
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 20, 2021
I love that in this angle of the Edwards dunk, even with the dunk nearing completion, Malik Beasley still appears to be maybe calling for the ball pic.twitter.com/aOo8o2RfPO
— Hanif Abdurraqib (@NifMuhammad) February 20, 2021
As always, Watanabe deserves credit for the attempt. It was a decision that will likely haunt him for the rest of his career, but a player in his position has to give maximum effort on every possession to earn playing time, and sometimes, that’s quite simply going to end badly.
