ATLANTA – The Sunday Funday gathering at Irby’s Tavern had its attention on the Braves, as evidenced by the vast majority of the twenty-some TV sets tuned to the team’s “Sunday Night Baseball’' appearance against the New York Mets, complete with game audio. .
A few of those TVs flipped over to TNT shortly before tipoff of Game 4 of the Timberwolves and Nuggets series at Target Center. With it came a few basketball fans — some just looking for a playoff game but others eager to watch the ascending star from Atlanta, Anthony Edwards.
“They’ve got a great shot at winning it all this season,” Guy Nardulli, a Chicago native and Los Angeles resident said of the Timberwolves before quickly turning his thoughts to Edwards. “I’ll say it like this: Michael Jordan is the GOAT — greatest of all time. This kid’s got a shot. He’s super talented, and you can’t guard him.”
Edwards, 22, grew up in the Oakland City section of South Atlanta and caught rides sometimes lasting an hour through traffic to reach Holy Spirit Preparatory School on the city’s north side. From there, he played one year at the University of Georgia before being selected No. 1 overall by the Wolves in the 2020 NBA draft.
Now in his fourth NBA season, Edwards scored nine points in the game’s first 4:03 as the Wolves took a 15-9 lead Sunday.
About that time, Da-Shon Dixon took a seat at the bar and immediately focused his attention on Edwards. Dixon, a Savannah, Ga., native, attended law school at Georgia while Edwards was averaging 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists as a Bulldogs freshman.
“I guess I first noticed him in his last year of high school because he was going to UGA and was the No. 1 high school player in the country,” Dixon said. “Obviously, he’s a phenomenal basketball player, but his personality just shines. … If you ask me, he’s the next up. He’s the heir apparent to LeBron James.”
The Nuggets stretched their lead to 15 points in the second before Edwards sank a couple of three-pointers in his 12-point quarter..
