Pat Beverley disrespects Minnesota despite saying 'no disrespect to Minnesota'
Stop us if you've heard this before: "Young star needs to get out of Minnesota to thrive."
It's a tired trope that, despite LeBron becoming LeBron in Cleveland, is still around. Well, former Timberwolves guard Pat Beverley, in a recent appearance on Gilbert Arenas's podcast, said Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards "will get out of Minnesota, that's just what happens."
"That's no disrespect to Minnesota," Beverely clarified. "It's just that personality, he could change the world."
“He will get out of Minnesota.” - Pat Beverley
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) August 31, 2023
Pat Bev talks about the level of star Anthony Edwards is for the NBA. pic.twitter.com/Hg6S3NRmn5
It's strange that Justin Jefferson can be, outside of Patrick Mahomes, the biggest star in the NFL as a Minnesota Viking but somehow Ant can't shine in Minnesota.
This is something we as Minnesotan's have heard forever about sports stars who get their starts here. But if the age of social media has taught us anything it's that it doesn't matter where you're at, if you've got the talent the spotlight will find you.
Former Wolves first-round pick Rashad McCants asked Beverley where Edwards should go, to which PatBev responded, "Again, I played in Minnesota. It's no diss on Minnesota. It's no diss on little market teams but he is the type of player that you need to see him."
"There's no way that Minnesota should have 9, 10 [national] TV games right now," Beverley continued. "So, of course all the work he's putting in now, but it looks different when you get to see it rather than go through an app and get it. It's different when you've got 30 games on [national] TV and you get to see that s*** every night."
That's not a problem created from playing in Minnesota. That's the NBA's national television partners not recognizing what a great, young talent the NBA has on their hands in Edwards.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has become a global superstar in Milwaukee despite the Minneapolis market being more than 20 places higher on the latest Nielsen market rankings, yet the Bucks will air on national TV 30 times in the upcoming season.
The Spurs, one of the worst teams in the NBA in 2022, are featured on national TV 19 times this season, despite a market ranking more than 10 places lower than Minneapolis.
Ultimately, this isn't something Wolves fans will need to worry about in the near future after Ant signed a max contract this summer. Getting out of Minnesota is far more unlikely to be Ant's objective if he can do what no one has done before: take the franchise to the NBA Finals, and maybe even bring home a championship.
