Basketball fans will have to do without names like Curry, Durant or James at the World Cup. But Coach Kerr has already chosen a successor as number one.
Anthony Edwards has not yet won a playoff series in the North American professional league NBA – but he should lead the motherland of basketball in Asia to the longed-for World Cup gold.
“He’s definitely the man with us. You can see that he knows that. Now the whole team knows it and I think the fans have seen it too,” said head coach Steve Kerr in Abu Dhabi. In the spectacular 99:91 against Germany, in which the USA successfully countered a 16-point deficit, Edwards was the outstanding player with 34 points and a strong defensive performance.
Nothing less is expected of the 22-year-old Minnesota Timberwolves pro at the Worlds with games in Manila. “He’s such a dynamic young player and he’s still improving,” said Kerr, whose side are without the big names this World Cup year. Probably also because the 2024 Olympics in Paris are imminent and only a few professionals want to play through two summers in a row.
Edwards will now be cast in the role played by 2010 superstar Kevin Durant and 2014 playmaker duo Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry. The USA are considered the clear favorite for gold at the World Cup because of their superiority in terms of athletics, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals in 2019. Spain is the defending champion.
Other nations will also have to do without well-known stars this summer: Serbia’s Nikola Jokic is taking a break, as is Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. French super talent Victor Wembanyama is focused on preparing for his first NBA season.
2023-08-22 06:15:10
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