Anthony Edwards may end up being the top pick in the 2020 NBA draft on Wednesday night.
But there are NBA fans who think there’s a red flag that teams should be concerned about, thanks to a feature about the Georgia prospect from ESPN.
It’s in there that he was asked about how he became passionate about basketball after being a football player first. His answer?
“I’m still not really into it,” he said. “I love basketball, yeah. It’s what I do.”
He went on to say he’d leave basketball behind if he was drafted by the NFL, which doesn’t seem like it’s happening anytime soon:
“Because you can do anything on the field,” he explains. “You can spike the ball. You can dance. You can do all type of disrespectful stuff.” In the NBA, he says, “you can’t do any of that. You’ll get fined.”
This is being shared everywhere on the eve of the draft, and it feels ridiculous to worry that his love of football — and a perceived lack of passion for basketball — will be a problem.
Heck, later in the very same story, there’s this from his trainer Justin Holland:
That’s the way Edwards consumes basketball, Holland says, in short bursts. When Edwards said he wasn’t a fan of basketball, Holland says what he meant is he’s not a fan of watching games like he does football. But make no mistake, Holland says, he’s a student of the sport, breaking down clips of Bradley Beal’s step-back on his iPhone.
Edwards is a tough nut to crack, isn’t he? I ask.
Holland laughs.
“Right,” he says.
And further down:
“Basketball is my life,” he explains. “I love it, and it’s what I do. Basketball is my heart, but football is where I started, so I’ll never forget about that. But don’t get me wrong, basketball is my No. 1 because I feel like it’s going to get me through a lot of the stuff I need to get through.
“And it’s what I do. It’s a job. I feel like I’m working right now. I love it.”
It sounds like he’s putting in the work and that’s really what matters, and what I’m sure will matter going forward. If there’s a team worried about that, it’s the wrong approach.
I think the more notable quote is what he said about Damian Lillard’s rapping, which I’m pretty sure the Blazers star will take note of:
He goes on to say that he’s an aspiring rapper. He’s already recorded a few tracks with his older brother Bubba. So, like Damian Lillard? “But I really can rap,” he says. “Dame, talking about — I don’t know what he’s talking about. I’m rapping like Lil Baby.” He says he won’t release any songs until he’s established in the NBA.
We know what happens when you cross Lillard on a track. Just ask Marvin Bagley.
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