40 Points, an All-Star MVP, and Zero Apologies: Inside Anthony Edwards' Unstoppable Week

Some weeks in the NBA are just noise. Last week was not one of them — at least not if your name is Anthony Edwards. The 24-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves guard spent seven days reminding the basketball world exactly who he is: the sport's most electrifying player, a legitimate heir to the throne of NBA stardom, and a competitor who plays every possession like something is personally at stake.

First came the All-Star Game in Los Angeles, where Edwards walked away with the Kobe Bryant Trophy as MVP of the 75th NBA All-Star Game. Then, in his first game back from the break, he dropped 40 points on the Dallas Mavericks. It was the kind of week that doesn't just make highlights — it makes a case.

And Edwards, characteristically, was not shy about it. After learning he had won the All-Star MVP, he admitted he hadn't expected it — but then revealed exactly the mindset that makes him so compelling to watch: "I want to cook them every time," he said of his approach once the shots started falling.[1]

From Athens to the All-Star Stage: The Georgia Foundation

Before Edwards was Ant-Man, before the poster dunks and the viral moments and the sold-out arenas, he was a freshman at the University of Georgia, suiting up for the Bulldogs in the 2019-20 season as the program's highest-rated recruit in the modern era.[2]

The Atlanta native chose Georgia over blue-blood programs including Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, and Florida State — drawn in part by the presence of coach Tom Crean, who had previously coached two of Edwards' favorite players, Dwyane Wade and Victor Oladipo. It was a homecoming of sorts, and he wasted no time announcing himself.[3]

In his collegiate debut against Western Carolina, he scored 24 points — the most by a Georgia freshman since Basketball Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins scored 26 in 1979. He went on to average 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game, leading all Division I freshmen in scoring and earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors by unanimous decision. His season-high came against No. 3 Michigan State at the Maui Invitational, where he erupted for 37 points — 33 of them in the second half alone.[2]

One college season was all it took. Edwards declared for the 2020 NBA Draft in March of that year, and the Minnesota Timberwolves made him the No. 1 overall pick — the highest selection in Georgia basketball history, surpassing Wilkins' No. 3 pick in 1982.[4]

All-Star Weekend: Taking Over the Biggest Stage

The 75th NBA All-Star Game at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California introduced a new format: three teams — USA Stars, USA Stripes, and Team World — competing in a single-day round-robin tournament capped by a championship game. It was designed to inject genuine competition into an event that had long been criticized for its lack of intensity. Edwards made sure the format delivered.[5]

Playing for the USA Stars, he was the best player across all four games. He finished the night with 32 total points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 26 minutes of play — shooting 13-of-22 from the field, including 6-of-15 from three. His Stars squad, the youngest in the field with an average age of 24.8, defeated USA Stripes — which featured LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and hometown favorite Kawhi Leonard — 47-21 in the championship.[5]

Edwards received 10 of 14 media MVP votes, the clear choice among voters. After accepting the Kobe Bryant Trophy from commissioner Adam Silver — with what appeared to be genuine surprise on his face — he shared what the award meant to him, and what he hopes comes next: "Hopefully I can get three more trophies like Kobe Bryant," he said, referencing Bryant's record four All-Star MVPs.[6]

Then He Went Out and Scored 40

If the All-Star MVP was the exclamation point, the 40-point performance against Dallas in his first game back from the break was the follow-through. Edwards scored 40 points as the Timberwolves defeated the Mavericks 122-111 — his eighth 40-point game of the season, tying him with Luka Dončić for the most among all players in 2025-26.

It was the kind of performance that confirmed this was not a one-week wonder. Edwards is averaging 29.5 points per game this season, third-highest in the NBA, and has been one of the most consistently dominant players in the league from wire to wire. His agent Rich Paul summed up the prevailing sentiment in league circles simply: Edwards is the best player in the NBA right now.[7]

Sources: NBA.com, Fox News Sports, Athlon Sports.

The 'Face of the NBA' Conversation — for Real This Time

The question of who leads the NBA's next generation has been debated for years, with various names cycling in and out depending on the week's results. But there is a growing consensus, both among media and inside the league itself, that Edwards has moved to the front of that conversation in a way that feels different from the usual narrative cycles.

Part of what sets him apart is the combination of production and personality. At 24, he is one of the most watchable players in the sport — explosive, expressive, and genuinely funny in a way that translates both on and off the court. He plays the kind of basketball that casual fans stop scrolling to watch: thunderous dunks, step-back threes, defensive plays that end up on broadcast loops for days.

But he is also, increasingly, one of the most productive players in the game. His 29.5 PPG average is no fluke, and his 40-point performances are not happening against inferior competition. He is doing this against the best defenses in the league, on the biggest stages, when the stakes are highest — including against LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard at the All-Star Game.[5]

The comparison that keeps surfacing is a young Michael Jordan — not just for the statistical profile, but for the manner of the performances. "They have a lot of the same mannerisms. The moves, the fadeaway, the athleticism, the poster dunks," said Timberwolves teammate Mike Conley. "That same kind of work ethic, that same kind of 'I don't sleep at all at night because I'm ready to play, I'm ready to hoop.'"[3]

What the Georgia Bulldogs Saw First

For Bulldogs fans, none of this is entirely surprising. Edwards arrived in Athens in 2019 as the most highly-touted recruit in the program's modern history and left after one season having proven every bit of it. He was the nation's leading scorer among freshmen, an SEC All-Freshman selection, and — in the opinion of coach Tom Crean — "without a doubt one of the best teammates" Crean had coached in 31 years.[2]

The traits that made him special at Georgia — the ability to take over games, the resilience when his shot was off, the competitive edge that manifested as wanting to score on every possession — are exactly what make him special now. One college season was enough to see all of it.

His Georgia debut scored 24 points and immediately drew the comparison to Wilkins. His NBA debut, by contrast, was quieter — 15 points in 25 minutes against Detroit. But six seasons in, the arc of the career is becoming clear, and it traces back directly to those 32 games in Athens.[4]

The Week That Confirmed What Everyone Suspected

Edwards has been building to this moment for years. There have been glimpses — playoff runs, individual scoring outbursts, viral moments — but the past week felt like a threshold being crossed. He didn't just win the All-Star MVP. He won it convincingly, on a stage designed to test whether the league's best players could compete with something real at stake, against opponents who don't let anyone coast.

And then he came back, stepped onto a regular-season floor, and scored 40.

The kid who chose Georgia over the blue bloods, who averaged 19 points a game as the nation's best freshman, who sat in the green room and heard his name called first in the 2020 draft — that kid is now the most compelling player in the world's best basketball league. The debate about who leads the NBA's next generation is, for all practical purposes, over.

Ant-Man has arrived. He's not going anywhere.

 

Sources

[1] Starting 5: Looking Back at 2026 All-Star Game — NBA.com

[2] Edwards Selected No. 1 Overall In NBA Draft — University of Georgia Athletics

[3] Anthony Edwards — Wikipedia

[4] Anthony Edwards Set For NBA Draft — University of Georgia Athletics

[5] Anthony Edwards Earns 2026 NBA All-Star MVP Award — NBA.com

[6] Anthony Edwards Eyes Kobe Bryant Record After NBA All-Star Game — Athlon Sports

[7] Rich Paul Claims Anthony Edwards Is the Best Player in the NBA — Roundtable.io