Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves is recognized as one of the NBA’s most promising young talents. In addition to his skills, he’s also known for his outspoken confidence about his own abilities and those of his team.
However, NBA legend Magic Johnson believes Edwards should be cautious about how much confidence he shows and the things he says publicly. According to NBACentral, Johnson offered Edwards some advice, suggesting that confidence should be matched by accomplishments:
“You might want to hold off on the trash talk until you’ve won something. If this was coming from someone on the Celtics who just won a championship, it’d be different. But you haven’t won anything yet.
If I’m Anthony Edwards, I’d be more focused on teams like the Dallas Mavericks, OKC, and Boston. You didn’t make it to the championship last season, so focus on that instead of events before your time.”
Johnson’s message was clear: Edwards should wait until he has more success in the league before making bold statements. There’s no question that Edwards is one of the league’s standout players at the moment. In the previous season, he averaged 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game.
His contributions were also key to Team USA’s success at the Paris Olympics as they worked toward a gold medal. Although his season was filled with memorable highlights, the Timberwolves were eventually eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.
Despite a strong performance throughout the season, Edwards wasn’t able to reach the postseason heights he had hoped for. Johnson believes that once Edwards achieves those goals, he’ll have more freedom to speak confidently.
Until then, he should be mindful of his words and stay focused on the competition. Johnson’s advice, particularly about paying attention to other Western Conference teams like the Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, is hard to argue against.