Anthony Edwards Says ‘Hell Nah’ to Playing in FIBA World Cup After Olympic Gold Medal

Don’t expect to see Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards representing Team USA at the next FIBA Basketball World Cup.

“Hell nah,” he said when asked about competing in the tournament again after the United States won gold at the 2024 Summer Olympics, per The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.

When it comes to Edwards’ status for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, fans can read between the lines.

“I can’t speak on that,” he said, per NBA.com’s Shaun Powell. “I can only speak on what I got around my neck right now. … This was the most fun I ever had playing basketball.”

Edwards was a clear bright spot for the United States at the 2023 World Cup, which saw the team finish fourth after losing the third-place game to Canada. He led the U.S. in scoring (18.9 points) across eight games.

Earning a spot on the Olympic squad was affirmation of how well he performed last summer. He suited up for all six games in Paris, averaging 12.8 points and 1.2 assists in 16.3 minutes per contest.

Edwards is theoretically someone USA Basketball builds around for the next Olympic cycle. At 23, he’s just starting to enter his prime playing years, and that’s in contrast to the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid, all of whom are 30 or older.

That’s why it’s less than ideal if the two-time All-Star removes himself from the mix for the 2027 World Cup. It points to how USA Basketball managing director Grant Hill could once again be forced to build one team for the World Cup and then an almost entirely different one for the Olympics.

Assembling the strongest roster possible remained a formula for success at this year’s Olympics, but the lack of continuity within Team USA could prove its undoing down the road. The rest of the world is only getting better, and most countries benefit from having their best stars compete together across successive major tournaments.

Based on Edwards’ comments, fans should already brace themselves for the handwringing that would result from the United States failing to medal in the World Cup.