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Even without the emergence of COVID-19 and the reduced schedule that resulted from it, the 2019-20 campaign would have been a rough one for the Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were both on the shelf, Draymond Green wasn’t engaged and the club had stumbled to a 15-50 record by the time play was halted.
On the other hand, the Dubs’ dreadful performance allowed them to net the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, during a year when the likes of LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman were all making the jump to the pro game.
There are silver linings and then there are silver linings — this was the latter.
While all three players had their hype, visions of a Curry-Edwards backcourt were definitely dancing in fans’ heads at the time. And the same could be said for Warriors decision-makers who, per the San Francisco Chronicle, were all set to take Edwards if they had gotten the first pick.
In the end, though, the Wolves won the top selection and took the reigning SEC Rookie of the Year. Golden State ended up with Wiseman who, in 2022, is still just trying to actually get onto the court.
Nevertheless, the Warriors — and, specifically, head coach Steve Kerr — ended up having an incredible impact on the direction Edward’s early career would take (and in the best way possible).
Kerr’s Challenge Changes Edwards’ Game
While promoting the Netflix feature Hustle — in which he appears alongside the likes of Adam Sandler, Queen Latifah and Robert Duvall — on Jake’s Takes, Edwards credited Kerr for inspiring him to become a harder worker.
As the 20-year-old tells it, Kerr called him out during his pre-draft workout with Golden State for not giving his all during a drill. The exchange would ultimately result in a revamped mindset for Edwards going forward.
“I couldn’t do it. I’m too tired. I’m like, man, this s**t too much. But I’m not saying it, so I’m just jogging. And after the workout, Steve comes to me like, ‘You can’t go any faster?’ I’m like, ‘I thought I was going pretty fast.’ He was like, ‘Nah, do it again.’ So I did it again. I’m going fast, I’m going fast. He stops me and is like, ‘You can’t go faster than that?'”
Kerr didn’t stop there.
“…’If we gon’ draft you at No. 2, you gotta be a hard worker. Like, you ain’t working hard enough.’ And I think, I think that was a stumble in the road for me. And I looked at it like, I called my trainer afterwards and was like, ‘Ay bro, we gotta change, we gotta change it up.’ … Steve Kerr told me how Steph and [Kevin Durant] used to work out super hard. It might not be long, but it’s super hard when they’re in there. Ever since then is when I feel like I took that next step.”
Two years in, it’s clear that Edwards’ change in approach has paid major dividends for the baller. It has also given Dub Nation cause to weep for what might have been.
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An Upward Trajectory
Edwards may have been beaten out for Rookie of the Year honors by Ball, but he still displayed dynamite scoring chops and a Swiss army knife skill set as a first-year pro, logging a 19-5-3-1 line and shooting 32.9% from deep. Things have only progressed from there.
During the 2021-22 campaign, he averaged 21.3 points, 4.8 boards, nearly four assists and 1.5 steals per contest, while upping his three-point conversion rate to 35.7%. And in the playoffs, he erupted to the tune of 25.2 PPG and shooting splits of 46-40-82.
The Warriors saw firsthand how explosive he could be when he dropped 48 points on them during a November bout at Chase Center.
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