This summer, two things might make Anthony Edwards a worldwide celebrity.
We’ve had the Anthony Edwards rise to superstardom conversation for the last two years. He made his first All-Star appearance in 2023, but the 2023-24 NBA season was his true breakout on the national stage. In his fourth season, Edwards was named to the All-NBA second team and led the Minnesota Timberwolves to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals appearance in two decades.
He’s vaulted into the argument for who the best American basketball player is. He is in the conversation about who will become the face of the NBA when the old guard of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant finally call it a career.
Ant’s profile has risen dramatically since “analysts” called him the second coming of Dion Waiters when he was coming out of Georgia in the weird-as-hell 2020 COVID draft class. Edwards has 3.3 million followers on Instagram and a wildly popular signature shoe with Adidas. He continues transitioning from one of the most exciting young players in the NBA to one of the league’s best players full stop. However, two things this summer can take Ant from being a national sensation to becoming a global icon.
The first is the 2024 Olympic Games. Edwards booked his ticket to Paris this summer after a strong individual showing at last year’s World Cup and is part of a Team USA roster that people are heralding as possibly better than the Dream Team. Edwards is walking into one of the greatest basketball rosters assembled, with James, Durant, and Curry leading the Americans for one last ride to Olympic gold and glory. Joel Embiid chose Team USA over France and Cameroon.
Anthony Davis is back after a decades-long absence. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday return to Team USA after a championship with the Boston Celtics. Devin Booker, Bam Adebayo, Tyrese Haliburton, and Derrick White, who is replacing injured Kawhi Leonard, round out the new Dream Team.
Edwards has endeared himself to NBA sickos and kids who are constantly online with his authentic personality, viral dunks, and being good at basketball. But now he can go global if he can stand out from the crowd during the Olympics. Charles Barkley broke out as a member of the Dream Team by leading Team USA in scoring. He was also the most approachable superstar for the fans and offered unfiltered opinions on his competition whenever someone pointed a microphone at him.
Edwards is becoming the Gen Z Barkley. He has the most charisma of anyone on Team USA, but his game will do the most talking in front of hundreds of millions of fans watching the Olympics.
Team USA head coach Steve Kerr will likely relegate Edwards to a bench role with so many legends on the roster. However, that doesn’t mean he’s resigned to taking a backseat to his idols. Edwards has already (somewhat) jokingly called himself Team USA’s No. 1 option, but he did his best to back it up in an exhibition game against Canada on Wednesday night in Las Vegas.
After a sloppy start for Team USA, the two-time All-Star got the crowd going with his usual array of rim attacks, baseline jumpers, and a three to beat the third-quarter buzzer. He led Team USA with 13 points on 6-10 shooting and the squad’s 86-72 win over Canada, the team with the second-best odds to win gold in Paris.
Edwards has all the tools to use his run with the Olympic team during his fantastic regular season to become a global household name. But he has one more card to play this summer regarding maximizing his global brand.
We learned earlier this week that Ant has signed a new mega-deal with Adidas, essentially anointing him as the new face of the brand’s basketball line. Ant’s first shoe, the AE1, was a success. Adidas making him their marquee player is a big-time bet on Edwards’ star power.
Being a signature athlete is a huge deal for a player from one of the mid- to smaller-market teams, and can help Edwards etch his name next to some of the stars of the sport with the biggest global reach. As great as Kevin Garnett was, Edwards has a chance to become the biggest star the Timberwolves have ever employed.
It’s up to Ant to take this opportunity and make the most of it. He’ll turn 23 five days before the gold medal game, and what better belated birthday present to give himself than an epic performance to deliver America another gold medal while wearing his one signature shoes?
He’d be doing so in Victor Wembanyama‘s home country, the next chosen one everyone has pegged as the face of the NBA in waiting. Maybe Edwards even beats France in the process. That’s the story Olympic dreams are made of.
