From basically the moment he entered the NBA, Anthony Edwards became known for his confidence and playful swagger. The Atlanta native has never been shy about showing off his personality on and off the court, which is a major reason why he has become one of the most popular stars in the league.
How about the latest example? During an interview with the Today Show, Ant jokingly said he could beat all of his USA Basketball teammates at swimming. Edwards told interviewer Craig Melvin that he plans to watch the swimming competitions in Paris this year, and that if he were to compete in a pool, he would choose freestyle. “But I’m fast, too,” he said.
“Definitely. They can’t swim,” Edwards joked when Melvin said he thought he was the fastest on the team. “Embiid, AD, Bam, they’re not fast swimmers. Bron’s not fast swimmers. KD, Kawhi, Tatum, they’re not fast swimmers at all. So my only issues are Book, who might not know how to swim, July, who might drown, and Haliburton. Oh my God, if I lose to Haliburton, I’ll just never touch water again.”
Edwards excluded Stephen Curry from his analysis, but there’s no doubt he believes he can beat him. This interview is reminiscent of Ant’s famous interview with Marnie Gellner of Bally Sports in December 2020 when he was a rookie. In that interview, Edwards told Gellner how to win in any sport or competition, saying things like, “I could have gone to MLB” and “I think I can be A1 from day one.”
To be clear, Edwards is not the best swimmer in Minnesota history to play professional basketball. The best swimmer was Kris Humphries, a Minneapolis native who played for the Minnesota Gophers and then played 13 years in the NBA. Humphries was the top 10-year-old swimmer in the nation in the mid-1990s, beating Michael Phelps in multiple events.
Yes, Edwards is not only the self-proclaimed best swimmer on the U.S. team, he might also be one of the team’s best basketball players.
