Anthony Edwards: Steve Kerr told me I wasn’t working hard enough

Back in 2020 when the teams were making up their minds which rookies to draft, Anthony Edwards worked out for the Warriors that had the second pick in the draft. The then-Georgia Bulldog was asked to do a drill that Steph Curry is doing as Golden State wanted to see how hard he works.

Edwards revealed that the workout was very hard. Afterwards he had dinner with the Dubs’ head coach Steve Kerr who told him he wasn’t working hard enough. “I was working out for the Warriors pre-draft. Steve Kerr is there, Bob Myers, and I forgot the other guy’s name. It’s the coach and the front office guys,” the Timberwolves star told former NBA player Kenny Smith.

“We’re working out and I’m doing this drill that they say Steph be doing. I’m running, touching the line, shoot. Running, touching the line, shoot. You’ve got to make five in a row. I couldn’t do it. I’m too tired. I’m like, ‘Man, it’s just too much.’

“But I’m not saying this, so I’m just jogging. After the workout, Steve comes to me like, ‘You can’t go any faster?’ I’m like, ‘I thought I was going pretty fast.’ He was like, ‘Nah, do it again.’ I’m going fast, I’m going fast, I’m going fast. He stopped, he’s saying ‘You can’t go faster than that?’ So, at this point I’m like all right this is very bad now.

“So now, I’m trying to sprint, and now I’m looking all crazy. Missing left, missing right. So we go to dinner and he’s telling me, ‘Man, if we draft you at No. 2, you’ve got to be a hard worker. You ain’t working hard enough.’ I think that was a stumble in the road for me.

“I called my trainer afterwards and I was like ‘Hey Brad, we got to change our workout.’ Steve Kerr told me how Steph and KD used to work out super hard. It might not be long, but it’s super hard they’re in there.”

In the end Edwards was picked at number one by Minnesota and Golden State drafted James Wiseman at number two.