Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards switching to No. 5 jersey this season

Anthony Edwards wore No. 5 in high school and college. When he got to the NBA and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Malik Beasley already had the number and was not giving it up. Last season, Kyle Anderson was No. 5 in Minnesota.

Anderson agreed to switch and now Anthony Edwards announced he is going to No. 5 starting in his fourth season.

JUST IN: Minnesota Timberwolves All-Star Anthony Edwards is changing his jersey number to No. 5.

“Whole different player” – Sitdown at @Stadium on decision to change from No. 1 to 5, goals for next season, aiming to push Karl-Anthony Towns to MVP-type year and more: pic.twitter.com/N9QR07FCbs

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 1, 2023

“I want to let all the Minnesota Timberwolves fans know that I’m just switching from No. 1 to No. 5 this year...

“I mean, five has always been my number. High school, college, AAU its always been a number, a number to me that I always wanted and I tried to get it when I got drafted, I just couldn’t. My teammate had it. So I mean, an opportunity presented itself this year and I took it.”
Anderson will switch to No. 1, the two players are swapping numbers.

Five is not just a random number to Edwards, it has family meaning for him, something Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic explained.

Edwards lost his mother, Yvette, and his grandmother Shirley to cancer in the same year, when he was just 14. One of the reasons he wears No. 5, it has been reported, is that both died on the fifth of the month. Anthony’s birthday? Aug. 5.

Edwards, an All-Star last season who averaged 24.6 points per game leading the Timberwolves to the playoffs, seems poised for another significant leap this season. He will spend his summer playing for Team USA in the World Cup before returning to Minnesota, where he should have a larger role in the offense — it’s time for the Timberwolves to build around Edwards. He is the future. Not the “twin towers” idea.