{"id":1929396,"date":"2026-05-11T12:57:48","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:57:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1929396"},"modified":"2026-05-11T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T09:57:48","slug":"anthony-edwards-delivers-a-mothers-day-gem-for-mom-the-wolves-and-all-of-us-whove-lost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1929396","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Edwards delivers a Mother\u2019s Day gem for mom, the Wolves, and all of us who\u2019ve lost"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 The subject of Anthony Edwards\u2019 late mother goes largely undiscussed. Whatever pain remains from losing her 11 years ago, whatever motivation he mines from her impact, remains locked away behind his rollicking aura. He doesn\u2019t talk about the great trauma he endured at 14, and still carries at 24.<\/p>\n

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But on Sunday, the Minnesota Timberwolves star spoke to her. With something greater than words. The toughness she bequeathed him. The belief she poured into him. The appreciation she taught him.<\/p>\n

So exhausted during Game 4, he slipped into the tunnel for oxygen during a timeout with four minutes left. The San Antonio Spurs\u2019 steady wave of aggressive defenders hounded him harder as the game elapsed, trapping him and face-guarding him in the fourth. And his knees ached to the point he preferred falling instead of landing on his feet. But Edwards summoned the love of his mother for a boost. He found more.<\/p>\n

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Enough lift on his turnaround jumpers and arc on his 3s. Enough burst on his drives and strength to finish through contact. Enough to score 16 points in the fourth quarter so his Timberwolves could survive 114-109<\/a> and even this Western Conference semifinal series at two games apiece.<\/p>\n

When he stepped around a Rudy Gobert screen in the fourth quarter and drilled a dead-center 3, sending the sell-out crowd into a frenzy and San Antonio into a timeout, Target Center filled with a social vibe, as if the will of a superstar were producing a moment. His 36 points on 22 shots in 40 minutes helped Minnesota avoid a crushing defeat to a Spurs squad that played mostly without Victor Wembanyama after he was ejected in the second quarter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Edwards\u2019 competitiveness has long been established. Sunday, though, Mother\u2019s Day, his fuel came from a special source. He deemed the occasion worthy of turning private hurt into a public proclamation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to win for my mom,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

People across America celebrated their mothers with breakfast in bed and brunch dates, flowers and candy, gifts and adventures, hugs and quality time. Edwards, meanwhile, connected with the void that can\u2019t be filled, thinking all day about Yvette Edwards, who died from cancer on Jan. 5, 2015. His gift to her: victory. His first career win on Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

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Even amid the raucousness of Timberwolves fans Sunday night, Edwards could almost assuredly still hear Yvette screaming for him, like she did during his youth football days. And just like on the football field of Georgia, in Oakland City and Adamsville, everyone in Target Center would know Ant\u2019s mom.<\/p>\n

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\"Anthony<\/p>\n
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\n Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in 40 minutes Sunday, lifting the Wolves to a needed win on Mother\u2019s Day, 11 years after he lost his mother to cancer. (Abbie Parr \/ AP)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He represented millions who find hurt on this holiday. He proved that the pain that never leaves can transform into an internal fire. His performance and his story illustrated how resilience can be the best form of remembrance.<\/p>\n

For Edwards, Sunday marked 4,144 days since he lost his mother.<\/p>\n

For me, it marked four.<\/p>\n

This Mother\u2019s Day swelled with emptiness. I didn\u2019t get to treat my mom to Red Lobster, her favorite. Didn\u2019t get to buy Deana another set of soft pajamas, as she always wants. Didn\u2019t spend 20 minutes on the phone hearing about how I was the favorite of her six children as the firstborn. Couldn\u2019t handle my annual tradition of reflection with \u201cDear Mama\u201d on repeat.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t want to talk about it, especially as the surreality began to fade.<\/p>\n

But Edwards\u2019 dedication of the win to his mom following his series-saving performance reminded me of truths I needed to reclaim.<\/p>\n

That sorrow can also inspire.<\/p>\n

That a new normal will eventually arrive.<\/p>\n

That trauma and the tears they bring don\u2019t have to extinguish joy, which is rooted in knowledge and conviction.<\/p>\n

That making someone you love proud fulfills you even when they\u2019re gone.<\/p>\n

These gems were hard lessons learned from losing my dad. But after 25 years, this refresher course proved clutch.<\/p>\n

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Perhaps this is too deep. The onset of grief manufactured meaning from an NBA playoff game. Or maybe part of the appeal of sports, and the connection with their stars, can be found in the humanity on display.<\/p>\n

A picture of Edwards during the 2020 NBA Draft surfaced on social media. At home during the COVID-19 pandemic, he sat on a couch waiting to hear his name called first by commissioner Adam Silver. To Edwards\u2019 right, a painting of his mother. To his left, a painting of his grandmother, Shirley, who died from cancer eight months after his mother. He wears No. 5 because both died on the fifth.<\/p>\n

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Seeing the 19-year-old him between the renderings of his fallen matriarchs tells an amazing story when juxtaposed with the man now the face of the Timberwolves. The distance between them reveals something special. By no means a portrait of perfection, but of profound perseverance.<\/p>\n

What did it take to survive at that age and still get here? What\u2019s inside that prevented him from breaking after the kind of hurt that destroys lives?<\/p>\n

Edwards works like a man familiar with struggle, yet smiles like a man who refuses to be conquered by it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe older you get, the more mature you get,\u201d said Edwards, who scored 44 in his only other Mother\u2019s Day game, a loss to Denver in the 2024 playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not just about me. It\u2019s the people around me. \u2026 These people really want to see me succeed, and they don\u2019t let me take a day off. They stay on me, and I appreciate everybody that\u2019s in my circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The extra strength he derived from honoring his mom held him up in Game 4 against the Spurs\u2019 Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Dylan Harper and whoever was available to trap.<\/p>\n

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But Edwards found just enough cracks in the defense. His pull-up 3-pointer on the right wing put the Wolves up a point with just over five minutes left. Edwards bounced after the shot ripped the nets. A few minutes later, a Naz Reid 3-pointer banged off the back rim to the top. Edwards won the race to the ball, continued towards the rim and dropped in the layup after colliding with Spurs center Luke Kornet. Edwards flexed after giving Minnesota a 4-point lead. The Wolves wouldn\u2019t trail again.<\/p>\n

It was his last real burst. The Spurs face-guarded and trapped him. Edwards\u2019 gravity opened space up for his teammates, who kept San Antonio at bay.<\/p>\n

When the win was secured, he raised both fists. He\u2019d spent all he had, and it got the job done. Mother\u2019s Day gift delivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t lose this game for her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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After he said all he wanted to say about his mother, Edwards shifted the attention to his teammates and the victory they earned. And the depth he possesses, the complicated essence of the young man who endured, returned to its private place. Compartmentalized, sanctified even, where memories of moments and lessons give him strength and perspective. And that\u2019s where we\u2019ll keep it.<\/p>\n

Because while a mother\u2019s loss stains the heart, a mother\u2019s love lifts the soul.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 The subject of Anthony Edwards\u2019 late mother goes largely undiscussed. Whatever pain remains from losing her 11 years ago, whatever motivation he mines from her impact, remains locked away behind his rollicking aura. He doesn\u2019t talk about the great trauma he endured at 14, and still carries at 24. Advertisement But on Sunday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1929396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1929396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1929396\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1929396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1929396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1929396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}