Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards named All-Star for 3rd straight season
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards has been named an All-Star for the third straight season.
Edwards, 23, is having arguably the best season of his career through 48 games. He's averaging 26.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists while shooting 44.8% from three and playing 36.7 minutes a night. His three-point percentage is especially impressive considering he leads the league in both makes and attempts.
Edwards was named an All-Star reserve this year and was the only Timberwolf honored. Former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns was named an All-Star starter in his first season with the New York Knicks.
The Wolves are on a five-game winning streak, but still sit in the middle of the pack in a stacked Western Conference.
There will be at least 15 players who "start" at the All-Star Game this season. It's the first year of a new All-Star format, with three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.
That draft will be held Feb. 6.
Those three teams will be entered into a four-team tournament, with the remaining squad made up of NBA rookies and second-year players from the Rising Stars event on All-Star Friday, which is Feb. 14. There are two semifinal games, with the winners meeting in a championship game. The games should go quickly; the first team to reach 40 points wins.
The league changed the format this year with hopes that shorter games will be more competitive. Last year's All-Star Game was the highest-scoring in league history, a 211-186 game that was basically all 3-pointers and dunks.
"We went back to the drawing board," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. "We had direct conversations with many of the players, many of the perennial All-Stars, to talk about what it is that we could put together from a competitive standpoint. I'm optimistic this year that we landed on a formula that will work."
Note: The video above originally aired Jan. 8, 2025.
