Despite the grand achievement, it’s slightly tainted for Anthony Edwards.
On Thursday night, the Timberwolves star became the third-youngest player in NBA history to score 10,000 career points. At just 24 years and 156 days old, Edwards is also one of seven players who have hit the mark before age 25, putting him alongside Kobe Bryant, Luka Doncic, Tracy McGrady and Carmelo Anthony and more.
However, the three-time All-Star felt wary about passing Byrant.
“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 told reporters after the Timberwolves’ 131-122 win 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.”
Bryant was 24 years, 193 days old when he reached 10,000 points.
Edwards sealed the record when netting a 13-foot fadeaway jumper from the baseline in the fourth quarter.
He went on to finish with 25 points, shooting 10-for-20 from the field, along with nine assists and seven rebounds.
He also shot 4-for-7 from beyond the arc on a night where Minnesota had season highs from deep (53 percent) and in field goal shooting (57 percent).
Only LeBron James (23 years, 59 days) and Kevin Durant (24 years, 33 days) have edged out Edwards.
“The scoring comes natural to him in a lot of ways,” coach Chris Finch said when thinking about the first 40-point game of Edwards’ career in his rookie season. “At that point in time you knew there was something inside him where he could get to that.”
Only two other players have scored 10,000 points when playing for the Timberwolves — Kevin Garnett and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Edwards reached the mountain in 412 games, making him the 28th-fastest in the league to achieve it behind Doncic (358), James (368), Joel Embiid (373), Durant (381), Trae Young (390) and Donovan Mitchell (410).
The Timberwolves selected Edwards with the first overall pick in 2020, and this year, he’s taken his game to another level. He’s put up career highs with 29.2 points per game, a 50.4 field goal percentage and a 41.2 percent 3-point clip.
Edwards is aiming to get the Timberwolves back to the Western Conference finals and beyond after losing the series in five games to the eventual champions, the Thunder, last year.
