Anthony Edwards, Kevin Durant bonding while with Team USA

During an appearance on “The Jim Rome Show,” the Duke coaching legend was asked about the best player to ever suit up for the United States in Olympic competition, and he said he believes it’s Durant. “I think he is because of longevity and accomplishment,” Krzyzewski said. “Again, it’s unique, but the amount of points he has scored, he has scored a lot more than anyone else.” -via The Cold Wire / July 31, 2024

“Durant was absolutely miserable, abjectly miserable, when he was out and not playing. There are a few people that like things more than Kevin Durant likes playing basketball. When he’s not playing basketball, he gets very grumpy. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Kevin happier than he was on Sunday night, and I’m talking about the nights when he won championships too. When he won those championships with the Warriors, he won 4-0 and 4-1. They knew they were winning. He had gotten comfortable with the idea he was about to be a champion. It didn’t sort of surprise him. I don’t think he knew how he was going to play. Maybe he had confidence because he’s a confident guy, but he hadn’t played full speed five-on-five since April, since the Suns got eliminated by the Wolves. He just knew. He’s coming off the bench for the fourth time in his career. He’s like, I leaned on those other times when I came off the bench. He’s never done it in his life. When was the last time? I don’t know, but that’s what he said. He leaned on those times.” -via YouTube / July 31, 2024

He juggled the sport next to indoor volleyball and basketball at La Costa Canyon High School. Budinger won three state titles in indoor volleyball. He was also the No. 4-ranked basketball prospect in the nation and shared McDonald’s All American Game MVP honors with a future Hall of Famer — Kevin Durant. The USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins offered Budinger a chance to play both sports in college. But, he committed to the Arizona Wildcats, deciding to put volleyball on the shelf and see how far basketball could take him. -via ESPN / July 30, 2024

ClutchPoints: Anthony Edwards seems to be really enjoying the Table Tennis matches at the Olympics 😂🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0iTpgwm1h5 -via Twitter @ClutchPointsApp / July 29, 2024

Crean added that gradual team success with the Timberwolves over the past few years after being in a rebuild has only accelerated Edwards’ progression. “What he’s done is he’s taken that work, it’s built his confidence, he’s had some success, and he sniffed winning last year, and then this past season, he really got a great big dose of it. I think that’s what he needed. He needed to sense it and sniff it a little bit that year before, which propelled him into this year. I think it’s going to, or this past season, and I think it’s going to take him even further this coming year.” -via Essentially Sports / July 28, 2024

Regardless, Crean feels Edwards is more than ready for these big moments. “He can play at different speeds… The other thing he can see is so well, right? If he sees that double or if he sees that trap, now he’s got to be stronger with his passes, and he’s got to be a little bit better with his decision-making from watching these exhibitions, but he can make those passes, and he will make those passes,” Crean explained. “I think when you have that, that, that, he just, there’s so many different things they can do with him. But he’s not afraid of the big moment either. And I think that that’s going to help them at some point in time as well.” -via Essentially Sports / July 28, 2024