MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards became the third-youngest player in NBA history to reach 10,000 career points, when the Minnesota Timberwolves star swished a 13-foot fadeaway jumper from the baseline midway through the fourth quarter against Cleveland on Thursday night.
Edwards, at 24 years and 156 days old, was beaten to the mark by just LeBron James (23 years, 59 days) and Kevin Durant (24 years, 33 days). Edwards is one of seven players who’ve hit 10,000 points before age 25, with Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony also in that group.
“To be honest, it’s cool, but I know I’ve got a lot more to go, so it’s really nothing, for real,” Edwards said after the 131-122 victory over the Cavaliers. “I’m kind of sick that I got in front of Kobe. I wished I would’ve waited like 100 days or something, but yeah, it’s all good.”
Edwards had 25 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as the Timberwolves finished with season highs in field goal shooting (51 for 89, 57%) and 3-point shooting (20 for 38, 53%) percentages. Edwards shot 10 for 20 from the floor and 4 for 7 from 3-point range.
“The scoring comes natural to him in a lot of ways,” coach Chris Finch said, reflecting on the first 40-point game of Edwards’ career that came at Phoenix late in his rookie season. “At that point in time you knew there was something inside him where he could get to that.”
Edwards, who was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, made his debut at age 19. He reached the 10,000-point mark in 412 games, the 28th-fastest in NBA history and the seventh-fastest among active players behind Doncic (358), James (368), Joel Embiid (373), Durant (381), Trae Young (390) and Donovan Mitchell (410). Only two other players have scored 10,000 points for the Timberwolves: Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns.
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