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Anthony Edwards Has a Simple Answer for Why He Plays So Well Against the Suns
Anthony Edwards was once again spectacular against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night, scoring 44 points in a 116-98 victory. The Minnesota Timberwolves superstar was a perfect 14-of-14 from the free-throw line and enjoyed every minute of his performance, dancing while dribbling and letting the Suns home crowd know about it after every big play.
During his postgame availability Edwards, who was instrumental in Minnesota's playoff sweep of Phoenix last season, was asked why he performs so well against the Suns.
His answer? Kevin Durant.
Anthony Edwards in PHX on why he plays so well against the Suns: "Kevin Durant."
— Jon Krawczynski (@JonKrawczynski) March 3, 2025
"He's my favorite player of all time. He's the greatest player to me. I want to beat him. I want to go against him."
Those comments should come as no surprise as Edwards has been effusive in his praise of the future Hall of Famer, calling him his GOAT.
"That's my GOAT... I'm starting to see like, 'Okay, yeah Kevin Durant is real...' then he start guarding me. I'm like, 'KD, come on, KD. Like you ain't no defensive player.'"
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 2, 2025
Anthony Edwards on facing KD in the playoffs last year 😅
(via @uninterrupted)pic.twitter.com/EehWI4eqRH
There's a lot of respect in those words even if Edwards is actively trying to embarrass everyone he plays, a goal he accomplished on Sunday night with Durant saying as much after the lopsided loss.
The good news for Ant is that the win kept his team in a three-way tie for the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference. The bad is that dealing the Suns another loss made their playoff chances even bleaker as they are now four games outside of a Play-In spot, meaning Durant likely won't be around to inspire more playoff greatness.
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Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.