Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards stole the show on Wednesday night as he helped lead Team USA to an 86-72 victory over Canada. Edwards finished with a team-high 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, to go along with three rebounds and an assist in 19 minutes off the bench.
It was merely a tune-up game for the Americans, but Edwards admitted after the final buzzer that his nerves nearly got the better of him.
Team USA News: Anthony Edwards Was ‘Nervous for Real’
Apparently, Edwards chose to confide in Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James before tip-off. In his post-game interview, the young Wolves guard revealed that he told LeBron how he was feeling right before the contest started:
“I was nervous for real, I ain’t gonna lie,” Edwards said, via Chris Hine of of the Star Tribune. “I told Bron … I ain’t been nervous in a minute. My first time playing in the Olympics. I definitely was nervous.”
As he said, Edwards is not the type who gets jumpy before games, which speaks volumes of how much this stint with the national team means to him.
This is exactly why these teams have these types of exhibition contests before major tournaments. Now that Edwards has his Olympics debut under his belt — or at least an official Olympic tune-up game — he can now focus on helping his team go for gold in Paris.
Based on what we saw from him on Wednesday night, it doesn’t look like Edwards is going to have any issues doing his job for Team USA.
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