Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, is known for his athleticism on the basketball court, however, he has recently declared that his talents can transfer over to any sport, including ping pong.
While at the Olympic opening ceremony, Stephen Curry introduced Edwards to some members of the Team USA's female table tennis team, who wanted to challenge him. The Minnesota Timberwolves basketball player claimed he would be able to score one point on them in a ping pong match, while they laughed at him evidently believing it would be an easy 21 or 11-0 win.
The matchup we didn't know we needed! 😂
It's @theantedwards_ vs. @usatabletennis.
📺: @NBCOlympics & @peacock#ParisOlympics | #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/ucZQY1oUhF
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 27, 2024
During the third round (32 players) of the Olympic ping pong tournament, Edwards made an appearance to see Lily Zhang's match, who is one of the Team USA players that challenged him.
Anthony Edwards in the crowd 😂😂😂💀 pic.twitter.com/Elt8rp4JrU
— The Daily Wolves (@TheDailyWolves) July 29, 2024
As Edwards cheered for Zhang, while also maybe secretly scouting his challenger, she went on to win her women's singles match, defeating Brazil's Bruna Takahashi (4-2). This means the four-time Olympian now advances to the Round of 16, and will play the winner of Shin Yu-bin (South Korea) and Georgina Póta (Hungary).
Anthony Edwards had to go support USA's Lily Zhang after Steph Curry said he'd lose 21-0 to the U.S. table tennis team 🔥🏓 pic.twitter.com/vbNQcgLkhH
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 29, 2024
Zhang will likely reciprocate the support, as she will root for Edwards and Team USA as they face South Sudan on Wednesday, July 31 at 3:00 pm ET. To note, in the Team USA men's basketball team's first game, Edwards scored 11 points (4-for-6 FG; 2-for-3 3PT) in a 110-84 win over Serbia.
When viewing Edwards' chances of scoring one point against an Olympic ping pong player, there is no doubt that he believes he can, as the Atlanta, Georgia native surely does not lack confidence.
there's a great commercial here somewhere?
OPEN ~ Ant & Lily Zhang staring each other down over a ping pong table.. Ant makes a lucky shot, celebrates his point in Zhang's face.. 🗣️
ACT TWO:
squaring up in hoops.. Lily dunks all over Ant.. then brushes her shoulders off.. 💪🥰 https://t.co/kh0FJafZ1n pic.twitter.com/z8Kf2QssFH
— sam samolians (@SamoliansSam) July 30, 2024
During an interview back in 2020, during his rookie year in the NBA, Edwards made the wild claim that he could play every sport, in particular ping pong, and be successful at it.
The interviewer said, "Sounds like you're just an athlete... Ping pong, baseball, football, basketball."
In which Edwards added, "Tennis, swimming, Lacrosse. Whatever you need me to play I'm going to go do it. If it's some money on the line, I'm going to go do it."
The NBA All-Star was even asked about golf and hockey, as he responded, "Whatever you need me to do."
With this in mind, don't be surprised if you see the now 22-year-old back at the Olympics sometime in the future participating in another sporting event besides basketball.
