Edwards, the new champion： another inspirational bad karma Eva from football field to NBA field
On the morning of November 19th, Beijing time, the 2020 NBA Draft was held online. The Timberwolves chose guard anthony edwards from the University of Georgia in the first round. The 19-year-old boy was elected as the No.1 pick in this year’s NBA, finally fulfilling his basketball dream and officially stepping onto the NBA stage. Edwards has the same inspirational story as jimmy butler. His earliest ambition was to become a football star, and all kinds of misfortunes and twists and turns in his growth eventually turned such a gifted sports genius into a basketball superstar in the future.
Edwards is 1.96 meters tall. On the draft template of American media, he resembles former Heat star Dwyane Wade or jazz general Donovan Mitchell, but his athletic talent seems to be better than both. As far as physical condition is concerned, Edwards is a strong defender. Besides his excellent scoring ability, he can also be a very qualified defender and can defend multiple positions, which makes Edwards look more balanced and comprehensive at both ends of the offense and defense. As a scorer, Edwards can attack with the ball or play without the ball. He can break through the opponent’s defense line and score in an unexpected way with accurate dry jump shot. In the last NCAA season, Edwards’ data was 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals. His outstanding athletic ability made Edwards full of impact when he switched between offense and defense, which was quite Wade’s style at the peak.
The talented Edwards also has some shortcomings. One is the lack of concentration on the court, which makes his play unstable, sometimes good and sometimes bad, and his state often fluctuates. Edwards is still quite "independent". His creed is "scoring first and passing second". This kind of play may bring problems in cooperation with teammates after entering the NBA. As a veteran of the rookie team, it is obvious that he will not accept a little player who has always controlled the ball in his own hands. In addition, as a shooting guard, Edwards’ 3-point shooting percentage is not high enough. His 3-point shooting percentage last season was only 29.4%.
Speaking of it, there are some unexpected and lucky elements in the future NBA stadium to have such a talented player. Because Edwards’ initial sports dream was to enter the NFL and become a football star, the unexpected injury changed his fate and the development of the two major professional leagues in North America. This may be exaggerated, but it is at least partially true.
Edwards, like many American teenagers with great sports talent, can choose multiple sports, which depends on his hobbies, opportunities, providence and so on. Edwards’ favorite sport since childhood is not basketball, but football. At the age of seven, he met a local football coach, Banks, who was very insightful in his hometown of Atlanta. The latter was moved at the sight of little Edwards. Banks said with emotion: "Strong calves, huge joints, fingers and wrists are natural materials for a football player." At that time, Edwards had shown his athletic talent far beyond his peers, taller and stronger, and began to become famous on the football field in primary schools.
Unfortunately, Edwards’ football career didn’t go smoothly, and he died almost when he was about to have a big development. At the age of nine, Edwards’ fate took a turning point. A sudden injury made him bid farewell to the football field completely. He was crushed on his foot by a big player who defended him in a game, resulting in a broken ankle. It seems that Edwards’ football career will be over, and even other sports will encounter difficulties. But at this time, his interest in basketball began to grow in Edwards’ body. After his foot injury healed, he became fascinated with basketball and his interest increased day by day. Fortunately, this injury did not seriously damage Edwards’ athletic ability. His legs were stronger and he jumped higher than before, which made him fully equipped to become a basketball player. But even after he made great progress in the field of basketball, Edwards still remembered the glory and fun brought by football. He said that if he could be selected in the NFL draft, he would definitely leave basketball. His favorite is football.
After graduating from high school, Edwards chose to go to the University of Georgia instead of going to North Carolina and Duke. At that time, his vertical takeoff height had reached 1.054 meters, which was amazing. "The height of 1.96 meters, less than 100 kilograms, can jump so high at the age of 17, you can imagine his future." This is the emotion that sean hayes, the strength training coach of the University of Georgia men’s basketball team, expressed when he saw Edwards’ athletic ability. After further observing Edwards’ training and competition, Coach Hayes said, "There are some things that I will never understand. I watched him throw and dunk, dunk with a windmill and dunk with a tomahawk. Most people will leave the court to find a glass of water after a high-intensity training, but he will stay on the court and dunk with himself with a smile." This may be the difference between Edwards and ordinary people. He is destined to enter the NBA, but what is higher than most people’s expectations is that Edwards started his NBA career as the No.1 scholar with infinite glory.
As many fans know, the story of the most frustrated family among the active NBA stars and the most positive story later happened to Heat star jimmy butler, which is almost the most touching growth story of an inspirational player who went from homeless to finals. Anthony edwards, who is now the new top scholar, has a similar experience.
In Edwards’ childhood, two people played a vital role in his growth, that is, his mother and grandmother. Regrettably, Edwards, who is less than 20 years old, and his two closest relatives have already passed away. When Edwards was 14 years old, he lost his mother first, and then his grandmother. Both of them died of ovarian cancer, which hit young Edwards hard. The young man once said, "Only two people can get all my trust, but it’s over. Now no one can get my trust." This is the reason for his dull personality, and the death of two of his most important relatives has left Edwards with defects in his personality. Edwards’ brother Buba once recalled: "In our whole life, our mothers and grandmothers supported us the most and loved us the most. They died in the same year, which is a huge blow to us. This will make your heart cold and you will never get the support and love you once received. " Edwards also recalled the past in an interview. Many years ago, he wrote two goals on the bedroom wall: "the future McDonald’s all-American team member" and "the future NBA player". When seeing Edwards make a mess of the clean wall, grandma was not angry, but said to him very proudly, "Son, you have set goals for yourself, and I hope you can achieve them."
Edwards said that he loves basketball, but he admitted that he hasn’t really devoted himself to it. There are many contradictions in Edwards’ statement. For example, he said that basketball ranks first in his heart now. He loves basketball and basketball is his life. But he also said, "This is because basketball can help me accomplish many things that I need to accomplish. This is a job, and I need to use this job to support my family and make my family happy." This may be the maturity brought by the unique growth experience to the young man. What is more important than interest and love is pragmatism.
But in any case, starting from the 2020-21 season, there will be a newcomer with unlimited potential in the NBA. Perhaps, this newcomer will become a superstar in the future.
Text/Beiqing Sports Liu Ailin
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