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Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards said Saturday he feels “bad” about sweeping Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs last season.
During a panel with Durant and former NBA player Jalen Rose at Fanatics Fest in New York, Ant described how it felt to play a significant role in his idol’s elimination from the postseason:
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“I felt a little bad, just because he’s my favorite player of all time. I didn’t want to send him home like that.”
-Anthony Edwards on what it was like to knock out KD in the playoffs 🤣🤝
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“I felt a little bad, just because he’s my favorite player of all time,” Edwards said. “I didn’t want to send him home like that.”
Durant later dubbed Edwards “the baby GOAT.”
Although Edwards and Durant were on opposite sides of the playoffs, they joined forces at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this month, teaming up to help Team USA win a gold medal.
Edwards, 23, has long expressed admiration for Durant, calling him his favorite player and naming him as one of Top five players in NBA history.
They had the chance to face each other in last season’s playoffs, and while Edwards still has a long way to go before he can match KD’s resume, which includes two championships and two NBA Finals MVP awards with the Golden State Warriors, Ant got the better of him in their series.
Edwards has been spectacular in those four straight games, averaging 31.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 3.5 three-pointers made and 2.0 steals per game.
He also helped the T-Wolves defeat the then-defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in the second round before losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals.
Given the obvious mutual respect between Edwards and Durant, basketball fans appreciated the opportunity to see them as teammates in Paris.
They shared the court quite often during the Olympics and seemed to inspire each other at times, and both provided a spark off the bench.
KD was Team USA’s third-leading scorer with 13.8 points per game as they went undefeated and beat host France in the gold medal game, while Edwards averaged 12.8 points per game as the United States’ youngest player.
It’s unclear if Durant and Edwards will ever get another chance to team up, but they should have more epic battles against each other in the highly competitive Western Conference in the years to come.
