All-Star guard Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves is having the best year shooting the 3-pointer this 2024-25 NBA season. However, not everyone has been a fan of how he’s played. Former NBA star Charles Barkley is among the former players who have expressed their displeasure with Edwards’ performance.
Edwards is averaging 24.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 32 games. This season, he’s increased his attempts from beyond the arc to 9.7, knocking down 41.5%. In the previous season, he attempted 6.7 shots from deep and made 35.7%.
Even with his high efficiency from 3-point range, Barkley believes the change in how Edwards plays isn’t beneficial to the team.
“It’s night and day because they really miss KAT,” Barkley said on how the Wolves have played this season. “When Rudy Gobert’s in the game, they’re playing five on four, cause Rudy’s not scoring. But the one thing that’s hurting them, they have really screwed up Naz Reid. Because he’s not getting any shots at all.”
“Julius Randle is a good player but he’s so ball-dominant and he gon’ get his shots, he’s not worried about anything else. I actually think, Anthony Edwards, in my opinion, has regressed. He’s become an outside shooter. He’s not aggressive like he was last year.”
"I actually think Anthony Edwards has regressed"
Chuck isn't a fan of Ant's three-point volume this year 🫣 pic.twitter.com/rtgRjD95Bm
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 3, 2025
“He’s taking too many threes,” Chuck continued. “He’s such a terrific player, if you guard him, you want him shooting threes. Because if he’s going to the basket, he’s dunking on people, he’s getting you in foul trouble, he’s getting you in the penalty sooner.”
With the amount of shots the star guard attempts from deep, Edwards is now the league leader in 3-pointers made with 131.
Anthony Edwards goes 2-9 from three in a loss against the Celtics
On Thursday, the Wolves played against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics. The team kept it close but it wasn’t enough as they suffered a 118-115 defeat. Anthony Edwards’ performance shooting the basketball was the night’s main story.
JT led the charge in the @celtics' first win of the New Year ☘️ pic.twitter.com/avM2cbMGU3
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 3, 2025
Edwards finished the game with 15 points, four rebounds and six assists. The Olympic gold medalist shot a lowly 31.3% from the field, including a 22.2% shooting performance from three.
Fortunately for his teammate, Julius Randle, he did most of the heavy lifting. He had 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 71.4% shooting from deep.
The Wolves started the New Year with a loss. Their next game is on Saturday against the Detroit Pistons.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
