Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards can’t wait to play on Christmas

For Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, seeing an NBA game on television was a luxury for himself and his family when he was young.

The two-time NBA All-Star said he grew up without cable television in his Atlanta-area home because his family couldn’t afford it. On Christmas Day, however, NBA games could be viewed locally on ABC’s Atlanta affiliate, WSB-TV, which felt like a Christmas present to Edwards and his family.

“You don’t have to have cable to have ABC at the crib. So, s—, KD [Kevin Durant] would play on Christmas,” Edwards told Andscape. “Me, my mama, my grandma, my brother, we’d all be sitting right there watching him. It was just special for us.”

This year, NBA fans will be able to watch Edwards on Christmas for the first time.

The NBA will feature five games on Christmas Day, including Edwards’ Timberwolves visiting the Dallas Mavericks. This will be just the third time in franchise history that the Timberwolves will play on Christmas Day, with the others also taking place on the road in 2016 and 2017.

In his fifth NBA season, Edwards is honored to be playing on Christmas Day.

“The credit goes to the organization for getting the right guys around us to get the Christmas game,” Edwards said. “And last [season] we did something [make the Western Conference finals] that we ain’t did in 20 years. So, of course, we got rewarded for our success and it’s dope. I’ve been waiting on the Christmas game for sure…

“You’re doing something you love on the day that you’re supposed to be showing love. Why not play the game of basketball? It is my first chance, so I make the most of it.”

Said Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch: “It’s a lot of fun. Some games through an NBA season, as much as we don’t want to admit it, are bigger than others, feel bigger than others. And Christmas Day is an incredible honor and is a tradition. I’ve been in a number of ’em and it’s a lot of fun.”

Edwards entered Christmas Day 11th in the NBA in scoring, averaging 25.3 points per game. The Olympic gold medalist and No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft is also considered one of the league’s brightest young stars and most exciting players.

Edwards might be more excited to play on Christmas than his fans are to see him.

“I’m going to be super, super happy,” Edwards said. “It’s Christmas, man. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’ve never played on Christmas, so I can’t wait to see what the feeling is. I know it’s going to be fun.”

The NBA debuted in 1946 and first began playing games on Christmas Day in 1947. The 1998-99 NBA lockout season was the one season in which a game wasn’t played on Christmas.

The 2024 NBA Christmas games are laden with the league’s biggest stars including Edwards, Durant, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Stephen Curry, Victor Wembanyama, Jalen Brunson, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and many more. But 20 NBA teams don’t get the opportunity to play, including the 2024 NBA Cup champion Milwaukee Bucks and finalist Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I wish more of our great players had a chance to play on that stage on Christmas Day,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “It’s been an interesting turnaround from my earlier days where we got a lot of complaints [from teams] for playing on Christmas. Now it has come the other way where [teams are saying], ‘Why aren’t we playing on Christmas?’ I wish we could accommodate more teams.

“I love the tradition of playing on Christmas Day. It’s been a tradition in this league going back 75-plus years. I love the amount of excitement built around it. It’s a real tentpole in this league.”

If there is some coal in Edwards’ stocking, however, it is that the Christmas matchup in Dallas is also rematch of the 2024 Western Conference finals.

The third-seeded Timberwolves entered the West finals as the favorite over the fifth-seed Mavericks. But Doncic took the spotlight by averaging 32.4 points to lead the Mavs to the NBA Finals with a 4-1 series win. The Mavs also defeated the Timberwolves in their first matchup this season 120-114 in Minneapolis on Oct. 29.

Edwards is still haunted by losing the Western Conference finals and his play that series.

“What bothers me the most is just me not being me,” Edwards, 23, said. “Not taking over the game, not shooting my shots, just fatigue. So, I’m definitely ready to get there again.”

Edwards and the Timberwolves could use some holiday cheer after losing to 117-114 on the road to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. The Timberwolves have a surprising 14-14 record and have lost three games in a row. Edwards, however, did get an early Christmas present as his grandfather attended the game on Monday. Minnesota is still adjusting from trading longtime forward Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks just before training camp for forward Julius Randle and guard Donte DiVincenzo.

Finch is trying not to get too high or low with the Timberwolves’ roller coaster season.

“[We’re] Making sure we’re not living and dying with every single result,” Finch said before the Hawks loss. “We still see this as still early in the process of integrating everybody. We’re facing some challenges we didn’t anticipate. Maybe we are trying to reinvent ourselves on the fly. We’re dealing with the weight of the expectation of a great season. But this is a totally different team.”

Sadly, for Edwards, his mother and grandmother died long before they could see him play in the NBA. On Jan. 5, 2015, Edwards was a 14-year-old in the eighth grade when his mom, Yvette Edwards, died from cancer. Seven months later, his grandmother Shirley Edwards died after her cancer returned.

Edwards is blessed with a new family member to introduce Christmas to: his newborn baby daughter, Aislynn. Edwards’ girlfriend, Shannon Jackson, was shown giving birth to the baby on the 2024 Netflix docuseries “Starting Five.” Edwards said that Jackson and their baby will be in attendance at the Christmas game in Dallas.

During a game earlier this season, Aislynn was photographed wearing a pair of noise-canceling headphones as she played with a stuffed doll and chewed on a teething ring.

“She is going to see the pictures when she gets older, so it’s going to be fun for sure because she is a happy [expletive] baby,” Edwards said. “She’s smiling all the time, so that’s going to be fun.”