I have loved the leadership of Minnesota Timberwolves star player, Anthony Edwards, or as people may know him, Ant. Ant was the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, this makes him one of the younger players on the team but he is also one of the more talented. He has become a prolific scorer and a lockdown defender but there are a lot of talented basketball players in the NBA, the thing that has most impressed me is how good of a teammate he is and the leadership role that he has stepped into.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Timberwolves swept the Phoenix Suns, which was a bit of a shock to everyone. The Suns were favored and they have three all-stars on their team Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker.
When I watched the press conference there were five things that stood out to me.
1. He is quick to pass on praise, make sure that others get the credit they deserve, and doesn’t do it with a false sense of humility.
At the very beginning, the press asks what made the difference in this series and why they were able to pull off the win. Immediately, Ant defers to his teammate Karl-Anthony Towns. He talks about how much of a mismatch he is for the opponents and how when he is playing at the top of his game, no one can stop him. Even though Ant is arguably the superstar on the team, he doesn’t take the credit for the win. He knows that it is a team effort.
2. Delivers feedback because it is true and because it will improve the team.
Around the four-minute mark of the press conference, the press asks Karl-Anthony how he was able to show up for the team and put in his best. Even though the conversation wasn’t directed at him, Ant jumps in and interrupts. He says, “Tonight he wasn’t in foul trouble.” Karl-Anthony has a history of dumb fouls and getting into foul trouble early in games and then he has to sit on the bench. So in this moment, Ant is showing him, with love, that when he does that he hurts the whole team. The feedback he is giving him is delivered in a way that is genuine to both Ant and Karl-Anthony, it is in the moment, it is slightly playful, but it is also to the point. There is no confusion on what the critique is–when you get into foul trouble, you hurt the team.
3. Delivers feedback with facts, not with hypotheticals.
But then he moves from being playful to being serious. He explains exactly why when Karl-Anthony gets into foul trouble, it hurts the team. When Karl-Anthony is out, the team can’t play with the same pace, they can’t create the same mismatches, and it makes it harder to win.
4. He makes sure that everyone on the team is involved and is contributing what they need to and to the best of their abilities.
The press then points out that no one was hitting threes early on and essentially asks if it was hard to keep passing them the ball if they keep missing. Ant again jumps and emphatically says, “Hell No, we got players like Mike Conley, I’m gonna pass it to him every time he’s open.” At this point of the interview, they are just coming off a win, he could deflect the question, he could express frustration with his teammates for missing all those shots, or he could get mad at the reporter for even asking the question but instead, he praises his teammates even more. He essentially says my teammates are awesome, just because they are missing a few shots doesn’t mean that I trust them less.
The reporter pushes back a bit and says, “I was thinking 31 in the second half, you’re not getting off the ball much then,” effectively saying, “Yeah, you say you trust your teammates but you also didn’t pass much in the second half.” and Ant responds by saying, that is because they quit double teaming me and made me beat them. If he hadn’t been passing the ball earlier, they could have continued to double-team him and shut him down but because he passed early and got his teammates involved, they were able to alter the way the Suns defended them.
5. The best leaders love competition. They don’t need to talk down about their competitor, they know that they need one another to rise to new heights.
At the end of the interview, Ant again deflects the credit and talks about the team effort. He builds up Karl-Anthony and reiterates that when he is in foul trouble, he isn’t as good. He also talks highly of the competition, he heaps praises on Kevin Durant and talks about how great he was in the series.
In summary the best leaders:
Are quick to praise their team.
Delivers feedback built around facts and the ability to improve the team.
Make sure their team stays involved in every step of the process.
Love competition because it brings out the best in everyone.
As Ant continues to mature and grow as an athlete, a leader, and as a person, I am excited to watch his leadership journey continue.
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