How Anthony Edwards cracked the NBA’s codes: ‘I think he’s a genius’

Anthony Edwards was bamboozled during Minnesota’s Game 2 loss in the first round to the Lakers.

The guard finished with 25 points and six assists, but the team’s ball movement stunk and its superstar contributed to the cause. Nothing flowed as easily as it did in a Game 1 victory, and Edwards’ decisiveness took a precipitous dip between the two battles.

“It seemed like every time I caught the ball, (the defense) kind of went like in a zone, in a sense,” Edwards said after the game. “So, it was kind of confusing at times.”

Edwards noted a lack of defensive attention paid to cutters, and while Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said the Lakers didn’t change anything from Game 1 to Game 2, the guard’s befuddlement was clear. He needed answers, and he knew where to look.

“When I go back and watch the film,” Edwards said, “I should be able to find things.”

Indeed, with a little help from a trusted ally.

Minnesota won the next three games of the series to close the Lakers out, with Edwards especially taking center stage as the best player on a star-studded Target Center court for Games 3 and 4. The Wolves are in the second round for consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history. They’ll open the conference semifinals on Tuesday against either Houston or Golden State.

Against the Lakers, Edwards averaged 26.8 points, 6.2 assists and just 1.2 turnovers. His assist-to-turnover ratio (5.2) is easily the best among all high-usage players in these playoffs.

Chris Hines is Minnesota’s director of player development. Edwards is one of his assigned players. Part of the job entails hours of film work spent between player and coach.

One thing Hines has discovered about Edwards is that the guard is mentally at his best in the dead of the night. So, in the wee hours one morning between Game 2 and Game 3 — Edwards estimates it was around 4 a.m. — the guard received a call from Hines.

“He called me like, ‘You woke?’ ” Edwards recalled. “ ‘I’m seeing stuff.’ ”

They went over a number of things that defined what the Lakers were doing defensively and how Edwards and his teammates could better approach the scheme. Edwards fired off a couple clips to forward Julius Randle.

The wheels were turning. The results were instant.

The last five minutes of Game 3 marked Edwards’ best end-of-game offensive performance of the season. He was a surgeon, dissecting the Lakers’ defense to get good offense for himself and others. Los Angeles was helpless. The play of the night came with Minnesota leading by three with three minutes to play. Edwards started to … well, just let him explain it.

“I think we ran an action to get Luka (Doncic) to switch (onto me), and they didn’t switch. I seen them about to double me, so I just tried to attack Luka,” Edwards said. “I got to the baseline and … since the first game (of the series), they’ve been taking away the corners. I didn’t have to look at the wing, I knew somebody was on the wing, whether it was Naz (Reid) or Donte (DiVincenzo). I really couldn’t even see him. I just threw it to the wing, because I knew somebody was going to be there.”

Sure enough, there was Reid. The forward cashed the open, catch-and-shoot triple to blow the lid off Target Center. It was Edwards who entered the launch code for liftoff.

‘A genius’

Folks used to ask Justin Holland, Edwards’ business manager, who trained the guard on the court for years, “How much more do you think he has in the tank?” Holland always answered that Edwards was only about 60% of the player he could eventually be.

“When he got into the league, he was just a pure athlete, and he was doing well just off his God-given ability, but not really thinking the game and reading the game.” Holland said. “This is exactly what I was talking about: understanding the game, making the right reads.”

He’s cracking new codes on a near nightly basis.

“He has gone from being super frustrated for not being able to play the kind of game he has wanted to play to embracing it, figuring it out in the moment a lot better. It used to take him a while,” Finch said. “Now, I see him directing his teammates where he wants them in certain situations, which is really good, because now he’s thinking a pass or two ahead.”

Early in his rookie season, Edwards was asked where his seemingly advanced “feel” for the game was born.

“I’m smarter than a lot of people think,” he said.

The general public knows Edwards is an insanely competitive, remarkable athlete with high-end leadership skills, a magnetic charisma and sense of humor. It’s possible the latter, along with his often curse-filled vernacular, cloak his intellect.

“But honestly,” Holland said, “if you really dig into his humor, it’s very witty.”

The funniest people know exactly what to say in every set of circumstances. That’s Edwards.

“He’s one of the smartest humans I’ve ever been around,” Holland said.

Holland noted you don’t navigate life the way Edwards has — going from someone who everyone counted out as a kid to the top of the professional sports world — without being brilliant. Hines took it a step further.

“I think he’s a genius,” he said.

Hines likened Edwards’ memory to that of an elephant. The coach will mention something in passing, and weeks later Edwards will not only recount it, but apply it appropriately on the floor or in film.

“He retains a lot of information,” Hines said. “Not only visually, but within readings, within scripts, within player movement and body movement, within repetitive movement on the court. … He can translate information, take it, but still be himself within that.”

Holland believes that’s been a major aid in Edwards’ development.

“He’s one of the few guys that gets better every year, because he picks up things so fast,” Holland said. “(With) his ability to internalize what’s being said to him, him being a visual learner. If he sees something, he can mimic it almost instantly.”

Accept ‘the bad’

Finch has long lauded Edwards’ willingness to be coached, an attribute has helped set the tone for the organization as a whole. For Edwards, it stems from a passion for learning, and his need to be great.

“When he says, ‘I can do everything good,’ he really believes it,” Holland said. “And if he can’t do everything good, then he makes sure that he gets to the point that he’s really good at it. That’s just all the way around in his life.”

From a silly game on his phone to ping pong or spades. Holland noted Edwards was not good at the latter two when he first picked them up. That’s since changed.

“He’s like, ‘I have to master this game,’ ” Holland said.

But the path to earning your black belt in basketball is not clearly defined. Rules and rosters change. Even the things that seem simple at the surface likely have multiple hidden layers beneath. Obstacles on the road to greatness appear all over the place.

Edwards’ initial instinct is to run right through them.

It rarely works, but that’s almost part of Minnesota’s blueprint at this point. On a recent episode of the podcast ‘Pardon My Take,’ Finch noted that while the Wolves have always held Edwards accountable and coached him hard, they’ve also given the guard “an incredible amount of freedom to figure it out.”

“I think that was the only way he was going to learn,” Finch said. “If he went into a super overly structured, patterned environment, I’m not sure that would’ve benefitted him early on. If he went into a system where there was a ton of off-ball movement and cutting and reading, all that stuff, I’m not sure that would’ve benefited him early on.”

Fans have watched in awe as Edwards has defied the boundaries of physics for years. It’s part of his allure, but it can also be his Kryptonite. There are times in prep where Hines will explain “the right play” to Edwards — which is often to get off the ball — and the guard counters by pointing out a sliver of space he believes he can attack.

His physical gifts have generated this off-the-charts confidence that is a massive asset, but can also blur the line between fearless and foolish. Dipping his toe into the bad end of that pool has led to some frustrating performances and even the occasional cringe-worthy postgame comment.

Hines refers to those instances as Edwards “bumping his head” against the wall.

“That’s where he has to say, OK, is he being smart within himself, or is he fighting the game? There’s two sides to it,” Hines said. “And he has lost. He’ll say, ‘I can get through that hole,’ and he can’t do it, and he’s like, ‘(Shoot, coach) was right, get off it early.’ ”

It often is that quick of a revelation.

‘The biggest thing I’ve seen is during ‘down times’ throughout the year of him not necessarily making the right play is he’s learned from it and come back from it,” Wolves guard Donte DiVincenzo said.

Insane, Edwards is not. His failures are rarely repeated over extended periods of time. Some of his biggest leaps are born from struggles.

“The thing about watching film is you got to be willing to accept the bad. I think most people, they only want to watch it when it’s good,” Edwards said. “I want to watch the games when I play bad … like, what could I have done better? And I think that’s the perspective that helped me change as far as my playmaking and seeing the floor. I want to see what I can do better.”

Until his better is the best.

Defying limits

Minnesota’s loose leash with Edwards is two-fold. Yes, it’s provided the room for failure that induces growth. But it’s also helped the Timberwolves redefine what’s possible. Because while Edwards often “bumps his head” when pushing a boundary, there are also moments when he breaks through.

For instance, everything you know about basketball suggests attacking a double team with the dribble is a bad idea. But that pass to Reid for the 3-pointer at the end of Game 3 came after Edwards raced around two defenders and drew in a third opponent before he got off the ball.

In last year’s conference semifinal victory over Denver, it was common practice for Edwards to beat multiple guys to the edge, turn the corner and score at the rim.

“I’m like, ‘Oh (shoot), you are fast that way. OK, cool, so how do we develop that and get it to the highest level?” Hines said. “When it comes to coaching, everybody looks at it like, ‘Hey, he’s a coach, he should have all the answers. He’s the guy.’ (But) players are intelligent, too. The player actually tells you what they see, and then you have to go back and evaluate it.”

The Timberwolves’ offensive process has evolved into a constant collaboration. At halftime of Game 1 against the Lakers, it was Edwards who explained to his teammates and coaches how he wanted the floor spaced to exploit the way Los Angeles was tilting its defense heavily toward Edwards and Randle.

Minnesota scored 35 points in the third quarter to pull away.

“That’s what you want,” Finch said. “It’s got to be a relationship.”

One rooted in trust. Edwards firmly believes Finch, Hines and Co. have a strong understanding of his strengths and weaknesses, and are scheming with his best interests in mind. Meanwhile, the coaching staff is confident Edwards has seen, comprehends and can handle every defensive look in the book.

Hines “loves” the dynamic that has been established between all parties within the organization. The results speak for themselves.

“We’re at that stage now where he’s provided a lot of great feedback on things that he sees, things that he understands now that maybe he didn’t even a year ago, certainly before that,” Finch said. “I’ve always talked about having left and right bumpers for him, and giving him a ton of freedom. I think he thrives in that, and now it’s just (to) keep moving those bumpers out a bit as he grows and understands more about the game.”