The Minnesota Timberwolves hosted the Boston Celtics as part of TNT's first Thursday night doubleheader of 2025. With the Timberwolves off to a rough 17–15 start after going to the Western Conference finals last season, Inside the NBA host Ernie Johnson asked Charles Barkley what he is seeing from Minnesota right now.
Barkley had a whole list of problems for the franchise, starting with the loss of Karl-Anthony Towns. He also took a shot at Rudy Gobert's offense and suggested the team had "screwed up" Naz Reid with the addition of Julius Randle, but his harshest criticism was aimed at Anthony Edwards.
"I actually think Anthony Edwards has regressed"
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) January 3, 2025
Chuck isn't a fan of Ant's three-point volume this year 🫣 pic.twitter.com/rtgRjD95Bm
"I actually think Anthony Edwards in my opinion has regressed," Barkley said. "Because he's become an outside shooter. He's not aggressive like he was last year."
"Because he's taking too many threes in my opinion," Barkley continued as Shaquille O'Neal agreed. "Because, Ernie, when—he's such a terrific player. If you guard him, you want him shooting threes. Because if he's going to the basket, he's dunking on people, he's getting you in foul trouble. He's getting you in the penalty sooner. When he shoots threes, even though he makes them..."
And make them he does. Edwards is shooting a career-high 41.5% on a career-high 9.7 attempts per game. He's shooting a higher percentage than Steph Curry on one fewer attempt per game. He's shooting better from three than Kevin Durant on four more attempts per game. He's shooting slightly better than Tyler Herro on the exact same number of attempts per game.
It doesn't seem like that would be the problem, but considering Edwards made just 2-of-9 attempts in a 118-115 loss on Thursday, it's hard to argue.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Charles Barkley Explains Why Anthony Edwards Has 'Regressed' This Season.
