How Anthony Edwards built the new ‘super beautiful’ jersey: ‘Make them respect it’

SAN FRANCISCO — If shooting is an art form, then Chris Hines is a sculptor of gilded frames. A basketball craftsman. A manager of sorts.

As an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves, he watches his latest masterpiece from the sidelines: the shooting of Anthony Edwards.

“The crazy thing now, and it’s unfortunate for me,” Hines said, “I know when it’s not going in. So I’m watching from the bench like, ‘Damn!’ as soon as it leaves his hands.”

His student has no such problems.

“I think I do the b—- every time. I’m not going to lie,” Edwards said, flashing the commercial soda smile from the visitors’ locker room at Chase Center on Sunday.

Embedded in the braggadocio is evidence of his sophistication. To be clear, Edwards can sense when his form is going awry and a miss is likely. But he’s gotten his mechanics to the point where he doesn’t feel it as often.

“Most of the time,” he said, “when it leaves my hand, I think, ‘Damn, that b—— felt good.’ Because I’ve been working on it, man. I’ve been working on my trey ball so much. … I’m happy where it is.”

Behind all his flair, Edwards’ diligence is visible in his form. Although his magnetism suggests superstardom comes easily, his vastly improved shooting underscores a manic work ethic.

This art has functionality. Edwards left the Bay Area this week — after splitting a two-game sweep at the Golden State Warriors — with the most 3-pointers made in the NBA at 103, and his 241 attempts tied for the most with the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum. 3s taken from Tuesday morning. A little over a quarter of the way through the season, Edwards is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league — a potent counterpoint to his reputation for attacking the rim.

But don’t miss the aesthetics of his polished jersey. Appreciate Edwards’ artistry, Hines’ engineering.

It might miss Edwards’ highlights and viral quotes. But he has developed quite a picturesque shot.

“Hell yeah,” Edwards said. “Super beautiful. Shout out to C. Hines.”

3rd player in NBA history to hit 100 threes in first 23 games.

particular. pic.twitter.com/S9JCNRq95s

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) 9 December 2024

The springs hidden in his legs are already enticing. He just floats, or it seems like time slows down when he’s in the air. Edwards, getting up for a jersey, looks like something cool is unfolding. He has already developed a classically attractive midrange.

The mechanics of his jumper have become much cleaner. It’s an efficient transition from pickup to release. Smooth. Effortlessly. Unlike the shot of typical jumpers who reach the top of their jump before unfolding something clumsy. Edwards has worked his form until it is one fluid movement, consistently replicated, covered by a portrait-worthy review and a snap of the net.

Ant-Man has authored another path to awe. One of the league’s most captivating players added to a bag of brilliance already brimming with personality.

“It’s not the prettiest,” he declared, giving a nod to Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. “They’ve got some nice jumpers. I’m not trying to have the prettiest jersey. I just want it in. Yeah, it looks good. But as long as it goes in, it looks better.”

However, beauty comes with a cost. For Edwards, it paid off through a process as methodical as it has been relentless.

Hines and Edwards pieced it together as a long-term project. As with so much with Edwards, his capacity was obvious. The talent drips off him like Jheri curl juice. The last four years were dedicated to harnessing his worldly abilities, as were the next 10 years.

Edwards resisted at first. Some days he would despise Hines, the tormented teacher.

“He hated me,” Hines said with a proud smile. “From the beginning. He’s like, ‘C. Hines, you can’t change my game.’ I’m not trying to change your game, let me tweak it and you’ll be fine.”

Hines gained Edwards’ trust by not changing the canvas but appreciating it. Edwards often heard what he couldn’t do, how he needed to change – people constantly told him how to paint his game. Hines instead confirmed that Edwards only needed refinement, not rebuilding. They set about the structure and framed his shots around the play that made him special.

Hines began by purging Edwards’ forces. His handle. His finishing packages. His footwork. His touch at the rim. These were basic elements to build on.

“He already had a pretty decent, solid, strong shot,” Hines said. “We just wanted to tighten up everything around his shot. Little things. … How does he pick up in the pocket? Is it clean? How do you find the laces without looking for them? Little things like that. So once we’ve tightened all that up, it’s been really fun to watch the process.”

The shots are too incessant to be counted, the hours too blurred to be logged. Shooting is a meticulous craft. It is feeling and form. Technical and creative. It stays true to the uniqueness of Sagittarius while observing universal laws.

Hines set about simplifying Edwards’ shooting stroke. First, they had to break his habit of dropping the ball too low. Now, by pure muscle memory, his process begins with the ball near his navel.

Then they changed his high release. Edwards had a wide range of movement, lifting the ball from his crotch to behind his head, creating ample opportunity to upset the score. The longer the shape, the harder it is to copy.

So by raising the starting point and advancing the release point, his movement became more efficient.

Another thing Hines fixed: Edwards’ habit of bringing the ball close to his body, which limited his range of motion. Hines drilled him to keep his elbows L-shaped instead of V-shaped so as not to lose power and flow. Hines instilled in Edwards the need to keep his elbow above his eyebrows at the top of his form.

The follow-up was another essential component. Edwards now has a pronounced snap of his wrist as if he is dipping his hand into the rim. It gives his ball an emphatic spin that sprays the net.

“We’re in the gym four or five times a day just shooting,” Edwards said. “Just shooting. Just shooting. So I’ve been trying — trying to perfect it. Because when I came into the league, the main thing was, ‘He could get downhill, but he can’t shoot. He can’t shoot. He can’t shoot.’ So I’ve been trying to knock that out of my name for a long time. It’s still a bit of a stretch, but I feel like I’m moving in the right direction.”

Last month, Edwards sent a voice message to Curry, trying to get some off-the-ball wisdom from his Team USA homie. This was after a summer of picking the brains of Durant, his favorite player.

The threat of Edwards’ aggressive drives, which have produced a montage of highlights, had defenders backing him and conceding the jumper to prevent the poster. His ascension to an MVP candidate increased the number of double teams he faces.

Therefore, his next level of growth is to be a threat off the ball. The cadence of dribbling into a shot is very different without the rock. Keeping the same shape while catching and shooting requires repetition and precision drilling.

Edwards said he will shoot well enough long enough that his pump fakes get defenders in the air and open lanes for his drives.

“For me to score without the ball,” Edwards said, “I’ve got to be able to shoot. You know what I’m saying? Make them respect that. … Just being ready to shoot on the catch , makes you another threat on the offensive end. Because guys have to respect that now because I want to catch and shoot. So now if you drive me off the line now I’m going to where I really want to go, which is downhill.”

This takes thousands of pictures, hours and hours, for years. Hines didn’t want to rush the process. He was conscious of not skipping steps, mastering one skill before moving on to the next.

The pursuit of greatness is the opposite of haste. A masterpiece transcends time by being committed to quality.

A player has to want this. Really want it. For this level of improvement, the grind is inevitable. The amount of work Edwards invests is illustrated when he pulls up. Suspended in the air. Fluid mechanics. Nice rotation. Silky splash. His weakness has become a work of art. You can look at how it was framed.

(Top illustration: Meech Robinson / Athletics; photo: Adam Pantozzi / NBAE via Getty Images)