Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards has his team on the cusp of franchise history. The Timberwolves took a 2-0 series lead in the second round of NBA playoffs with a 106-80 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday to bring Minnesota two wins closer to reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2004.
Edwards’ leap during the 2024 NBA Playoffs has been undeniable. The former No. 1 overall prospect by 247Sports in the 2019 recruiting cycle and the top pick from the 2020 NBA Draft out of Georgia is in his fourth season in the NBA. Edwards is moving up the all-time No. 1 overall recruit leaderboard because of his performances in the postseason — he had a ho-hum-for-him 27 points Monday night. Edwards is part of the new guard of young talent taking over the NBA postseason and is positioning himself as one of the faces of the league going forward.
In Game 1 against the Nuggets, Edwards scored 43 points to become the fourth player in NBA history with three consecutive playoff games with at least 35 points. Edwards joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant. Edwards also joined Bryant as the only player with back-to-back 40-point games at age 22 or younger in NBA playoff history.
In the 247Sports era (2010-), Edwards is one of five former top recruits who were the No. 1 pick in their respective drafts, joining Anthony Davis, Andrew Wiggins, Ben Simmons, and Cade Cunningham. Edwards, Davis, and Simmons are the only players who have already been named multi-time all-stars.
Edwards’ path from top recruit to NBA superstar was anything but conventional. Edwards reclassified from the 2020 cycle to what would become a star-crossed 2019 class to join Georgia one season early. Edwards averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 during the 2019-20 season at Georgia that was cut short due to COVID-19.
“Ant’s natural scoring ability, combined with his physical gifts, all-around skill set and long-term upside make him a special prospect,” said then-247Sports Director of Scouting Evan Daniels.
During the pre-draft process in 2020, there were question marks surrounding his desire to play basketball. Edwards was a Pop Warner football star in his younger days and expressed before the start of the 2023-24 NBA season his hopes of one day playing in the NFL.
“Yeah,” Edwards told Marco Summers on his talk show Open Thoughts. “I might be the first…
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