Chris Hine on Anthony Edwards' book, Ant's irrational confidence, Michael Jordan comparisons and more (EXCLUSIVE)

Whether he spoke with Anthony Edward’s close confidants or acquaintances, The Star Tribune’s Minnesota Timberwolves’ beat writer, Chris Hine gained insight on how Edwards has impressed those around him with two distinguishable qualities.

Ever since the Wolves drafted Edwards at No. 1 in the 2019 NBA Draft, he has guided the franchise to two consecutive Western Conference Finals and four playoff appearances with his soaring athleticism, confidence and continuously developed game. He has ingratiated himself with his coaches and teammates because of his humble demeanor and authenticity.

All of which made for a fascinating angle to explore in Hine’s recent book, “Ant.” Hines dives into the factors that molded Edwards’ distinguishable personality, character and skill. Those episodes include how Edwards handled losing his mother and grandmother at 13 years old, how various mentors shaped him and how he responded both to excitement and concern about his pre-draft workouts. Hines further explored Edwards’ relationship with key teammates (Karl Anthony-Towns, D’Angelo Russell, Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle, Mike Conley) and coaches (Chris Finch) and why Steve Kerr, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker gained greater respect for him on Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Hines spoke extensively with Sportskeeda about his book, those storylines and more.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

Amid all your work covering ANT on the beat and finishing your book, what’s your favorite ANT story?

Hines: “That’s a really good one. The favorite story that I have in there doesn’t have to do with ANT himself. But the story that I got and was happy to write was his workout with the Wolves and how everything came together in that workout. A.J. Moye, from Atlanta, showed up at the workout. Everything coalesced in that moment for ANT and everything that he overcame earlier in his life. There were struggles he overcame following the death of his mother, Yvette, and his grandmother, Shirley. There was the hard work he had put in for the last several years. Justin Holland was there, a guy who has been by ANT’s side for the several years as well. For the Wolves, this was the moment that their franchise changed.

That workout is the two sides of this: the Wolves and Anthony Edwards coming together to change each other’s lives. That’s a really cool thing and it was fun to chronicle from all angles, whether it was with Gersson Rosas, Ryan Saunders, Justin, what ANT has said about it in the past and A.J. Moye when I reached out to him. It was very cool to put all of that together.”

You explained the pre-draft process pretty well in the book. On one hand, you explained Wolves felt impressed with how ANT talked about his mom and grandma. But on the other hand, they also had concerns about hearing what happened with the Warriors’ workout and how serious he is with his intensity. Can you give a sneak preview of those things the Wolves tried to figure out?

Hines: “Yeah, it was a really weird time with the pre-draft workout, especially because things were still limited with COVID. I tried to get across in the book how much that had an impact on his preparation. That may have led to that Warriors workout where they were less than impressed with him. Steve Kerr said in the book that he thought he looked “lazy.” That’s tough to come back from when a team forms an opinion like that of you during the pre-draft process. It led to the Wolves wanting to put him through a very demanding and tough workout because they had heard what happened in Golden State. The Wolves were not going to be easy on him.

There’s the A.J. Moye and Justin Holland angle: two people from Atlanta knowing ANT for a long time. It was a little bit of home and Atlanta to inspire and uplift ANT to great things. It was a tough moment for ANT. It was not an easy workout. It was not an easy interview. He really had to show the Wolves what he was made of during that 48-hour period. And he did. The rest is history.”

You also detailed ANT’s workout with Charlotte in front of Michael Jordan. Though ANT publicly downplays the MJ comparisons, you reported that he told Justin that he wants to win “seven rings” ahead of his six. How do you think ANT views the MJ dynamic overall?

Hine: “ANT is very competitive. The confidence that he has, you might think it’s irrational confidence in some ways. But I think it’s also very endearing. It’s one of his best qualities. He can be confident without coming across as overly arrogant, even when he says something like that. He always says these things with a smile on his face. That’s part of his personality. I believe him when he says these things most of the time. But there are times when he says stuff and I’m like, ‘Does he really believe that? Or is he just saying that because it might be good for the camera?’ But I think that most of the time when he says something that might sound outlandish, I honestly think he believes it.

He's been a top-level athlete. He was a top-level athlete first in football. He saw as a teenager, once he put the work in, he kept working hard and saw how much better he was getting. So that just fueled him ever since for the last 10 years. He has the God-given talent. It’s all about honing it and putting in the work and building sweat equity. If he does the part that he can control, he will just keep getting better, better and better. That’s how he attacked each offseason. That’s why every year, when you chart his career, he has gotten better in some way shape or form through his first five NBA seasons.”

Given that, what do you project ANT’s upcoming season will look like?

Hine: “It’s continuing to read the game and make the game more comfortable. With how defenses have covered him, that’s been a very gradual process through his first five years. It hasn’t always been smooth, as you see in the book. He’s figuring out how people cover him. Dealing with double teams has been a constant issue for him. So it’s a continued evolution of that. Two, it’s trying to get back to being a multi-level scorer again with recapturing his strength in the mid-range. His finishing numbers around the rim went down, even as his 3-point numbers went way up. When you look at ANT’s fifth season, he became an elite 3-point shooter in the NBA. He’s got that and has shown the league he can shoot at a 40% clip from 3. But how can he get back to being that mid-range threat, get back to his finishing at the rim and getting to the line at a decent rate? If more of those fouls turn more into 3-point plays, a lot of those 2-point opportunities will help affect his game. It’s the multi-level scoring and reading defenses.”

After losing in five games in two consecutive Western Conference Finals, how wide or narrow of the gap do the Wolves have to make that next step to the Finals?

Hine: “When you look at the Timberwolves from a league-wide perspective, it’s very easy to just take a snapshot, especially since they didn’t make any moves this offseason. It’s very easy to take a snapshot of who they were last year and say, ‘They are going to be that again next season.’ But from their point of view, ANT will still take another leap from All-Star to superstar MVP-caliber candidate. They still think that Jaden McDaniels can add to his offensive game. They think Naz Reid can continue to grow, become more efficient and play better on defense. They think that Julius Randle has locked in and found his niche. They think Donte DiVincenzo will be a little bit more comfortable his second season. Then they have young guys, such as Rob Dillingham, Terrence Shannon Jr. and Jaylen Clark. They’re very encouraged with Shannon with what they saw last season and into the playoffs. Dillingham also showed flashes. So they’re relying a lot on their internal growth. Because they have so many young players, it’s not a bad bet to make.

When handicapping where the Wolves are, the Thunder are No. 1 and Denver is No. 2 after what it did last offseason. Those are mine and a lot of other people’s picks to go to the Western Conference Finals. But there is a sense of optimism within the Wolves with the internal growth of their young players and also guys that have been there and are in the prime of their careers.”

In your book, you explain all the different dynamics that Ant has with Rudy, Julius, KAT and Finch. Which dynamic do you think is most interesting and captures ANT well?

Hine: “Good question. I think the ANT-Finch dynamic is a fun one. That’s what has made the Wolves a better team and ANT a better player. They have such an honest relationship with each other. They can get mad with each other. They can get mad at each other. Finch can call out ANT in a film session. ANT might get mad at it, but he respects it. With Mike Conley and Chris Hine, ANT’s player development coach, I love the role in their dynamic with playing peacemaker at times. There was one anecdote I had where Conley said, ‘I can see when Finch gets on ANT in a film session, ANT’s legs start shaking.’ Mike will just whisper in ANT’s ear and say, ‘Calm down, you need to hear this.’ To me, that is a great encapsulation of coach, young superstar and veteran. The three-way dynamic there, I love that story. When Mike told it to me, I thought it was a good encapsulation.

ANT and Finch are both fierce competitors. Finch took a very circuitous route in the NBA. I detail in the book that he thought when he took the job as the Wolves coach that this might be his only chance to be an NBA coach. Coaching ANT would partly determine whether he could sink or swim as an NBA coach. You can’t go halfway with it. You have to believe in your principles as a coach in what got you there. Just because this guy is the No. 1 pick and on his way to being an All-Star doesn’t mean he has to compromise that. When Finch sticks to who he is, that has benefitted him, the Wolves and ANT.”

Sorry if this causes you to roll your eyes. But do you have any running jokes with ANT or anyone else on Chris Hine as the Wolves’ development coach and that you two share the same name?

Hine: “Believe it or not, it rarely comes up. We never really talk about it. Maybe once or twice, we talked about it. I actually talk about it a little more with other players on how crazy it is. It confuses a lot of people. The people will remain nameless. But some people in the organization have texted me before and were thinking that they were texting him. I was even included once in a group chat. The initiator of the group chat then texted me separately, ‘Sorry about that. Can you leave the group chat?’ (laughs). So I quietly left that group chat so they could continue.”

You talked with KD, Steph, Kerr and Book about ANT with Team USA. What did you learn more about ANT through their lens?

Hines: “That goes to show you that his personality translates. If you can be the ultimate teammate for guys who are just in the league as two-way guys and can also be that same kind of teammate and be an uplifting presence in the locker room with legends in the game like that, it shows what ANT’s leadership potential can be. He can bring guys together and help a team get along amid all different dynamics and all different statuses of players. That has been true for his whole life when you go back to his early football and AAU days. He has always been somebody who doesn’t view ‘status’ with his teammates. Those are all of his guys. Whether it’s a max player or a two-way player, everybody is his guy. He's always out there rooting for them. In garbage time, he’s standing up off the bench and rooting for the end-of-the-bench guys. He’s always positive and uplifting.

One of the things that’s coming out now that he enters his sixth season, he feels he has a little more authority to be a little more vocal and a little more candid. He says what is on his mind with teammates. His positive nature enables him to have the credibility to say that. Nine times out of 10, he’s saying something positive, uplifting or encouraging. One out of every 10 times, he gives candid criticism to somebody. But when you are as positive and uplifting as he is, when he has something critical to say, that gets met with a better response than to somebody that is constantly negative.”

Being on the Wolves beat and covering ANT day-to-day, what is your favorite press conference moment of his?

ANT: (laughs). There are so many that stand out over the years. I mention these in the book. We were shooting the breeze before a press conference in Utah and John Madden had just died. The cameras were already rolling, and I said, ‘Hey ANT, did you see John Madden passed away?’ He said, ‘That hurt my heart, man. I had to then go beat somebody by 40 points to pay my respects.’ I loved that moment. Then there was a moment in Detroit when he ordered McDonald’s. He refused to take questions until he got his order in. I was the only one sitting in the room and he told me, ‘No questions, no questions. I have to place this order.’ I had to wait until he put his ‘McChickens order’ in before I could start asking questions.”

What do you hope readers get out of your book?

Hine: “Whether you’re a Wolves fan, ANT fan or not, the first part of the book will give a lot of details about his early life and perspective on who he is and why he is who he is. You see what he overcame. It’s a very human story. Regardless of who you’re rooting for and who’s your favorite player, readers will draw a lot of inspiration from it. It’s a story about his own perseverance and a story of community. I hope that comes across in the first half of the book.

This community of people that ANT has had in his life and are trying to watch out for his best interest try to keep people who aren’t at bay. They have him navigate that from the time he was 13 when his mother and grandmother passed away and to get to the NBA. I don’t know what the odds are of that are for somebody to do that in his situation. To go through all he experienced and still make it to the NBA and thrive has to overwhelmingly small. I hope people read that and draw some inspiration from that and understand the power of a person’s influence on a young kid’s life and the power of community. That’s the take away, especially from the first half of a book.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.