The 2020 NBA Draft will be held online. The Timberwolves selected guard Anthony Edwards from the University of Georgia as the first pick in the first round, and the 19-year-old was elected as the first pick in this year's NBA draft, finally fulfilling his basketball dream and officially stepping on the NBA stage.

Edwards, with the same inspirational story as Jimmy Butler, his earliest ambition was to become a football star, and the various misfortunes and twists and turns of growing up, eventually turned such a gifted athletic genius into a future basketball superstar.

Edwards is 1.96 meters tall, in the US media's draft template, he resembles the type of former Heat star Dwyane Wade, or Jazz great Donovan Mitchell, but his athletic talent seems to be better than the two.

In terms of physical condition, Edwards is a powerful defender, in addition to excellent scoring ability, he can also be an extremely qualified defender, and can defend multiple positions, which makes Edwards look more balanced and more comprehensive on both sides of the ball.

As a scorer, Edwards can attack with the ball or play without the ball, he can split opponents' defenses by driving, and he can score in unexpected ways with accurate dry pull jump shots. In the last NCAA season, Edwards' data was 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals, outstanding athletic ability to make Edwards in the offensive and defensive transition impact, which is quite the style of Wade in the peak.

To say the shortcomings, the genius of Edwards also has some, one is not enough focus on the field, which makes his play is not stable, good and bad, the state often ups and downs. Edwards is also quite "independent", his creed is "scoring first pass second", this type of play in the NBA may bring problems with teammates, as a rookie team veteran obviously will not accept a small player who has always controlled the ball in his own hands.

In addition, as a shooting guard, Edwards' 3-point shooting is not high enough, he was only 29.4 percent of 3-point shooting last season. There is something unexpected and lucky about the future NBA arena having such a talented player.

Because Edwards' original athletic dream was to play in the NFL and become a football star, the unexpected injury that changed his fate and the development of North America's two major professional leagues may be an exaggeration, but it is at least partially true.

Like many highly athletic teenagers in the United States, Edwards can choose a number of sports, depending on his taste, chance, providence and so on. Edwards' favorite sport from childhood was not basketball, but football.

At the age of seven, he met a local football coach in his hometown of Atlanta, Banks, who was impressed when he saw young Edwards. "Big calves, big joints, fingers and wrists, it's a natural rugby player," Banks said.

By that time Edwards was far more athletic than his peers, taller and stronger, and was beginning to make a name for himself on the elementary school football field. Unfortunately, Edwards' football career did not go smoothly, almost before the big development was cut short.

At the age of nine, Edwards' fate took a turn when an injury took him off the football field for good, fracturing his ankle when he was pinned on his foot by a big player defending him during a game. It looks like Edwards' rugby career will be over, and even playing other sports will have difficulties.

By this time, however, an interest in basketball began to grow in Edwards' body, and after his foot injury healed, he became obsessed with basketball and his interest grew. Fortunately, the injury did not seriously damage Edwards' athletic ability, and his legs were stronger and he could jump higher than before, which made him fully equipped to become a basketball player. But even after his success in basketball, Edwards still remembered the glory and fun football brought him, and he said that if he was selected in the NFL draft, he would definitely leave basketball. His favorite sport is still football.

After graduating from high school, Edwards chose to go to the University of Georgia instead of going to North Carolina and Duke. At that time, his vertical takeoff height had reached 1.054 meters, which was extraordinary. "At 1.96 meters tall, less than 100 kilograms, he can jump so high at the age of 17, you can imagine his future." That's what University of Georgia men's basketball strength training coach Sean Hayes said when he saw Edwards' athletic ability.

"There are some things I will never understand," Hayes said after watching Edwards practice and play. "I watched him throw and dunk, windmill dunk, Tomahawk dunk. Most people would leave the court after a hard workout to get a glass of water, but he would stay on the court and laugh and have a dunk game with himself." This may be Edwards is different from ordinary people, he is destined to enter the NBA, but more than most people expect is that Edwards is the first pick of the draft with unlimited glory to start his NBA career.

Many fans know that the most difficult and later most positive story of an active NBA star's family happened in the case of Heat star Jimmy Butler, which is almost the most touching growth story of an inspirational player who went from homeless to the Finals. Now Anthony Edwards, the new No. 1 pick, has a similar experience.

In Edwards' childhood, there were two people who played a crucial role in his development: his mother and grandmother. Sadly, not even 20 years old Edwards, these two of his closest relatives have long since died.

When Edwards was 14, he lost his mother and then his grandmother to ovarian cancer, which devastated the young Edwards, who once said: "There are only two people I can trust, but it's over. No one can trust me now." This was the cause of his dull character, and the death of two of his most important relatives left Edwards with a flaw in his character.

Bubba, Edwards' brother, said, "Our whole lives, the people who supported us the most and loved us the most were our mom and grandma. When they both die in the same year, it's a huge blow. It turns your heart cold and you don't get the support and love you once did."

Edwards also recalled in an interview that years ago, he wrote two goals on his bedroom wall: "A future McDonald's All-American" and "a future NBA player." When Edwards made a mess of the clean walls, Grandma was not angry. Instead, she told him proudly, "Son, you set goals for yourself, and I want you to achieve them."

Edwards says he loves basketball, but admits he hasn't really gotten into it yet. Edwards' statement has a lot of self-contradictory places, such as he said that basketball is now the first in his heart, he loves basketball, basketball is his life. But he also said, "It's because basketball helps me get a lot of things done that I need to get done. It's a job, and I need it to support my family and make my family happy." This may be the unique growth experience to bring this young man maturity, more important than interest and love is pragmatic.

Either way, starting with the 2020-21 season, the NBA will have a new person with unlimited potential, and perhaps, this new person will become a superstar in the future.