"One Of The Fans Was Talking Shit On The Sidelines. That Was The Only Thing That Got Me Going" - Opposing Fans Chirping Anthony Edwards Is Quickly Becoming One Of The Dumbest Things You Can Do

Lachlan Cunningham. Getty Images.

In the NBA, there are certain players you have to be very, very careful with when it comes to talking shit. While you may have good intentions and may just be trying to help your team win, for a certain group of players what you're actually doing is signing your favorite team's death wish.

Guys like LeBron, Steph Curry, KD, Luka etc will take that chirping and use that as fuel to then immediately destroy anything and everything in their path. You could make the case that chirping that group of players is one of the dumbest things you can do as an opposing fan. It never really works out how you may think or want.

Another player who is making a great case to also be thrown into that group is Anthony Edwards. If there's one thing his play has taught us these last few years, it's that you should probably hold off on chirping him during a game in which he may have gotten off to a slow start. That's a bear you don't really want to poke, and our latest example comes via what took place against the Kings

In the end, Ant was great. But that's the thing. After a tough 0-5 start, let's just say he had a little help snapping out of it

What I would love to know is what that fan felt the second Anthony Edwards gave this look

In the 2nd quarter, Edwards responded from his slow start with 16 points on 4-6 (3-3). In the 3rd quarter, another 3-5 (2-4) and 10 points. He basically sat the entire 4th (43 seconds) because by that time the Wolves were already going belt to ass and were up by a billion. Considering he went scoreless in the 1st quarter (0-5, 0-4) and the Kings were within 6 points after the first 12 minutes, my guess is that fan was feeling good and decided to poke the bear. 

For any opposing fanbase that may find themselves in a similar spot in a game against Anthony Edwards, don't make this same mistake. He's too good. That jumper is too pure. His competitive fire is too great. Just be happy he started slow and your team is in the game and be done with it. The last thing you should be doing is giving Edwards more motivation. This isn't a small sample size, we see this time and time again, but fans never learn. There are just some players in the NBA you do not bait. I get the urge to talk shit. I understand maybe getting carried away because your team that might be dogshit is having success against a good team. But you have to find the strength to resist chirping certain guys. If you don't, that's how performances like this happen, and frankly, the Kings need all the wins they can get right now (3-7), so that makes things sting even more. 

The cool part of last night wasn't just the fact that Ant used the chirping from a Kings fan to snap out of his funk and immediately rip out that entire fanbase's heart, but also after the game he was doing shit like this

It's hard not to root for a player who clearly gets it. I'd say this is exactly what you want from a young star player. On the court, he's ruthless. He's able to channel opposing fans talking shit and use it as fuel to dominate. Then afterwards, he doesn't go off and talk shit to that crowd, he has perspective and makes a memory that will probably stick with that Kings fan forever. That's pretty cool.