Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards is obviously one of the biggest names around the NBA world right now.
The former No. 1 pick from Georgia has made waves in helping lead Minnesota to a rare appearance in the Western Conference Finals.
That included a stunning seven-game win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the conference semifinals. Edwards, 22, averaged 27.7 points to go with 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists in the series.
After a huge Game 7 win in Denver on TNT, Edwards was interviewed by volatile media personality Charles Barkley.
The Basketball Hall of Famer told Minnesota’s star guard that he has not been to Minneapolis in two decades. That’s when Edwards coined a phrase that has taken the Northstar State by storm. “Bring ya a**,” Edwards told Barkley. It has now taken off like rocket fuel since.
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Background of Minnesota Timberwolves’ “bring ya a**’ slogan
“In that moment, I think we all kind of felt something there,” local comedian and Timberwolves fan Jon Savitt said.
There are even some awesome t-shirts available with the slogan.
Explore Minnesota pounced on the phrase, too.
“We probably can’t afford (Edwards) as a spokesperson, but this is as good as we’ll get for that,” said Lauren Bennett McGinty, Explore Minnesota’s executive director. “It’s not easy to do something that quickly in government, but when it’s so much fun and you want to make sure that people see everything Minnesota has to offer, you make it work.”
The Timberwolves are appearing in their first conference finals series since Kevin Garnett was leading things back in 2003-04. Edwards was just two years old back then.
He’s now taken over as the face of the up-and-coming team as Minnesota takes to the Wolves’ brand of basketball.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves lost the opener at home against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday. They’ll host Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Friday. And yes, Barkley will be on hand for TNT.
