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Anthony Edwards Shares What He ‘Loved’ About Victor Wembanyama Duel After Career Night

Liam McKeone|
Anthony Edwards had 55 points in a loss to the Spurs on Saturday night.
Anthony Edwards had 55 points in a loss to the Spurs on Saturday night. | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

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San Antonio SpursMinnesota Timberwolves

On Saturday night, while much of the sports-viewing population watched the Seahawks kick the tar out of the 49ers, Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama faced off in a duel for the ages.

Edwards had 55 points to Wembanyama’s 39, but the Spurs wound up victorious, beating the Timberwolves 126-123 to best Minnesota’s superstar on a career night. It was a tremendous display of hoops between two of the best teams in the West, but the fourth quarter in particular was an absolute show. Edwards and Wembanyama went toe-to-toe in the final frame, combining to score a whopping 40 points in the final 12 minutes. It was, to put it simply, awesome.

Hopefully it serves as a glimpse into the future, too. The 24-year-old Edwards and 22-year-old Wembanyama are well-situated to be the long-term faces of the NBA. If fans are lucky this will merely be one of many battles between the two superstar talents.

Speaking to media after the game, Edwards was in great spirits despite the loss and clearly enjoyed the elite competition he went up against. He told reporters he “loved” the back-and-forth with Wemby to decide the game and wished he could go one-on-one with the tall Frenchman.

“They've got Wemby, he’s supposed to be the face of the league,” Edwards said. “So, I've always got to get up for that one... I loved it. I wish we could have just moved everybody out the way and just checked up— me versus him.”

When asked who would win in that scenario, Edwards answered with zero hesitation and his typical gusto: “Me.”

What a sight that would be. On Wembanyama’s end, he made sure to express appreciation for Edwards’s honesty but said it was a “fun” game despite San Antonio blowing a 15-point lead.

“I definitely appreciate the person for being this honest,” the 7-foot-6 phenom said when informed of Edwards’s above comments. “I think it’s, today in our job, I think it’s a real power to have the strength to be honest. He’s not backing away from questions. It’s an honor and it’s the best thing to have the best players go as hard as they can (against the Spurs). Because it makes us better, it makes me better. It’s a show of respect, and also of progress, stepping up, because now the standings (show) that we’re a respectable team."

The Wolves remain in fourth place in the Western Conference despite the defeat, while the Spurs maintain a slight edge over the Nuggets for second with the win. It is not unlikely the two sides will meet in the postseason given their current trajectories, which would be an absolute gem of a matchup given what we’ve seen from Edwards and Wembanyama this season. Saturday night proved they bring out the best in each other on top of all that.

Fans can only hope. In the meantime, the two stars will continue to build on their successful seasons so far.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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