Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade declared that the things Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards is doing haven’t been witnessed since 2006, when Wade led the Heat to their first NBA title in franchise history.
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“But that young man Anthony Edwards — who was doing amazing the games before scoring the basketball — had a tough night, and you couldn’t even really tell,” Wade said regarding Edwards’ Game 7 performance against the Denver Nuggets. “That’s a sign of a very good basketball player.
“He came alive. He kept his attitude. He didn’t hang his head too much. He made sure he was still putting his body or his game on the line to get — kick it to his teammates. That’s why he’s so special. Because sometimes when a ball’s not going through the basket, you — players just disappear. And a Game 7 on the road in year what? What year we in with Ant, three, four? We don’t see that, right, that often. And so — last time you seen it was 2006. Facts is facts. So, we’ve seen that 18 years ago, and it’s special to watch.”
As Wade alluded to, Edwards managed to put his imprint on the Timberwolves’ Game 7 victory over the Nuggets despite shooting just 6-of-24 from the field. The 22-year-old chipped in eight rebounds, seven assists and two steals in Minnesota’s eight-point victory that sent the 2023 NBA champions home.
He has now led the Timberwolves to their first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 2004, when Kevin Garnett was the team’s best player. Minnesota has yet to appear in an NBA Finals since the franchise was established.
Edwards has been as productive as any player in the NBA since the start of the 2024 NBA Playoffs, considering he is averaging 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 0.6 blocks and 1.7 steals per game in 11 playoff games so far.
Wade’s playoff run in 2006 is comparable to Edwards’ current run when factoring in that the former was a youngster and put up similarly spectacular numbers. The 42-year-old played in 23 playoff games for the Heat that year and averaged 28.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.1 blocks per contest on 49.7 percent shooting from the floor.
But in order to further validate the comparisons between Wade’s and Edwards’ playoff runs, the latter still needs to lead the Timberwolves to eight more wins in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Minnesota will take on Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, with Game 1 of the series set to take place on Wednesday night.
The Mavericks eliminated the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening two rounds of the playoffs to secure their first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 2022, when Jalen Brunson was still on the roster.
If Edwards can help the Timberwolves eliminate the Mavericks and then beat whichever team represents the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, the guard would make a strong case for having one of the better playoff runs of any player his age in league history.
