How Anthony Edwards Built This Latest 'Super Pretty' Sweater: 'Make 'Em Respect It'

SAN FRANCISCO – If shooting is an art form, then Chris Hines is a gilded frame sculptor. A basketball craftsman. A manager of strokes.

As an assistant coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he watches his latest masterpiece from the sidelines: Anthony Edwards' shot.

“Now this is a crazy thing and it sucks for me,” Hines said, “I know when it’s not going in. So I watch from the bench and say, 'Damn!' as soon as it leaves his hands.”

His student doesn't have such problems.

“I think I can do it every time. I’m not going to lie,” Edwards said, flashing his lemonade promotional smile from the visitors’ locker room at Chase Center on Sunday.

Embedded within the swagger is evidence of his sophistication. To be clear, Edwards can sense when his form goes awry and failure is probably going. But he's gotten his mechanics to some extent where he doesn't feel it as often.

“Most of the time,” he said, “when it leaves my hand, I'm like, 'Damn, that felt good.' Because I worked on it, man. I'm not even funny. I've been working on my treyball so much. … I’m happy where it’s at.”

Behind all his flair, Edwards' hard work is visible in his form. While his appeal suggests it's easy to become a superstar, his vastly improved shooting underscores an insane work ethic.

This art has functionality. Edwards left the Bay Area this week – after splitting a two-game series with the Golden State Warriors – who made the most 3-pointers in the NBA with 103, and his 241 attempts put him one behind Jayson Tatum's the Boston Celtics 3 seconds, taken on Tuesday morning. A little over a quarter of the way through the season, Edwards has been one of the league's best 3-point shooters, a strong counterpoint to his reputation for attacking the rim.

But don't miss the aesthetic of his polished sweater. Appreciate the artistry of Edwards and the engineering of Hines.

Maybe it'll get lost because of Edwards' highlight dunks and viral quotes. But he came up with a pretty picturesque shot.

“Hell yeah,” Edwards said. “Super pretty. Kudos to C. Hines.”

Third player in NBA history to make 100 three-pointers in the primary 23 games.

particularly. 🐜 pic.twitter.com/S9JCNRq95s

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) December 9, 2024

The feathers hidden in his legs are already seductive. He just floats, or so it looks like time slows down when he's within the air. Edwards rising to leap looks like something cool is about to unfold. He has already developed a classically attractive midrange.

The mechanics of his sweater have develop into much cleaner. It's an efficient transition from recording to publishing. Smooth. Effortless. As against recording typical jumpers reaching the height of their jump before unfurling anything chunky. Edwards has worked on his form until it becomes a fluid motion, consistently repeated and capped by a portrait-worthy follow-up and snap of the web.

Ant-Man created one other path to awe. One of the league's most compelling players, adding to a ton of brilliance that's already brimming with personality.

“It’s not the prettiest,” he explained, nodding to Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. “They have some nice sweaters. I don't try to have the prettiest sweater. I just want it to come in. Yes, it looks good. But as long as it goes in, it looks better.”

However, beauty comes at a price. For Edwards, it was paid for through a process that was as methodical because it was relentless.

Hines and Edwards put it together as a long-term project. Like so many things about Edwards, his ability to perform was obvious. The talent drips from him like Jheri curl juice. The last 4 years have been dedicated to harnessing his globe-trotting abilities, and the following decade will proceed to accomplish that.

Edwards initially resisted. Some days he despised Hines, the tormenting teacher.

“He hated me,” Hines said with a proud smile. “From the beginning. He says, 'C. Hines, you're not going to change my game.' I’m not trying to change your game. Let me fine-tune it and everything will be fine.”

Hines gained Edwards' trust by not altering the canvas but appreciating it. Edwards often heard what he couldn't do, how he needed to vary – people were continuously telling him how he should play his game. Hines as a substitute confirmed that Edwards just needed refinement, not rebuilding. They worked on the structure and adjusted his shot to the play that made him special.

Hines began by cleansing up Edwards' strengths. His grip. His graduation packages. His footwork. His touch on the sting. These were fundamental elements to construct on.

“He already had a pretty good, solid, strong shot,” Hines said. “We just wanted to tighten up everything around his shot. Little things. …How does it get into the bag? Is it clean? How do you find the shoelaces without looking for them? Little things like that. It was really fun to watch the process of tightening all that up.”

The recordings are too incessant to be counted, the hours are too blurry to be recorded. Shooting is a careful craft. It is feeling and form. Technical and artistic. It stays true to the distinctiveness of the shooter while respecting universal laws.

Hines went to work making Edwards' shooting move easier. First they’d to interrupt his habit of dropping the ball too low. Now his process begins by sheer muscle memory with the ball near his navel.

Then they modified his high release. Edwards had a wide selection of motion and lifted the ball from his stride to behind his head, providing ample opportunity to disrupt the end result. The longer the form, the harder it’s to breed.

By raising the start line and moving the discharge point forward, his movement became more efficient.

Another thing Hines fixed: Edwards' habit of bringing the ball near his body, which limited his range of motion. Hines taught him to maintain his elbows in an L shape as a substitute of a V shape in order to not lose strength and flow. Hines has ingrained in Edwards the necessity to hold his elbow above his eyebrows at the extent of his character.

Follow-up was one other necessary component. Edwards now has a noticeable snap of his wrist, as if he's dipping his hand into the rim. It gives his ball an emphatic spin that squirts into the web.

“We’re in the gym four or five times a day just shooting,” Edwards said. “Just shoot. I just shoot. So I tried – tried to perfect it. Because when I came into the league, the main thing was, “He can get downhill, but he can't shoot.” He can't shoot. He can't shoot.' That's why I've been trying to remove that from my name for a long time. It’s still a bit cutting edge, but I feel like I’m trending in the right direction.”

Last month, Edwards sent a voice message to Curry attempting to glean some off-the-cuff knowledge from his Team USA buddy. This got here after a summer of picking the brain of Durant, his favorite player.

The threat of Edwards' aggressive attacks, which led to a series of highlights, caused defenders to tug him back and permit the jumper to forestall the poster. His emergence as an MVP candidate increased the variety of double teams he faces.

Therefore, his next level of growth is to be an off-ball threat. The rhythm of dribbling right into a shot is totally different without the stone. Maintaining the identical form while catching and shooting requires repetition and precision practice.

Edwards said he desired to shoot well enough for long enough in order that his pump fakes would get defenders within the air and open up lanes for his drives.

“In order for me to score without the ball,” Edwards said, “I have to be able to shoot. Do you know what I'm saying? Make them respect it. … Just being willing to shoot for the catch makes you another threat on offense. Because guys have to respect it now because I want to catch and shoot. So if you throw me off track now, I’ll end up where I really want to go, which is downhill.”

This requires hundreds of recordings, hours upon hours, over years. Hines didn't need to rush the method. He was conscious of not skipping any steps and mastering one skill before moving on to the following.

The pursuit of greatness is at odds with haste. A masterpiece transcends time by being committed to quality.

A player has to want that. I actually need it. For this level of improvement, the trouble is unavoidable. How much work Edwards puts in becomes clear as he drives up. Floating within the air. Fluid mechanics. Nice rotation. Silky splash. His weakness has develop into a murals. You can tell by the way it was framed.

The athlete