Anthony Edwards took Yuta Watanabe’s soul after the dunk of the 2020-21 NBA season.
Who cares if the Minnesota Timberwolves are terrible? Their No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards can destroy people’s livelihoods with one ferocious jam at a time. He simply did not care if Yuta Watanabe of the Toronto Raptors had a family, as he ripped the soul out of his body for the entire world to see.
Even though Minnesota lost at home to Tampa Bay’s finest, this is not the first time Edwards got us out of our seats and pointing at the television screen like we were Rick Dalton. This is the type of talent that was on display for a year at the University of Georgia. Despite the Timberwolves having the worst record in the Western Conference, we will always have this dunk.
DUNK OF THE YEAR.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) February 20, 2021
ANTHONY EDWARDS. #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/hmnhFvldF0
Not even NBA Twitter could garner universal approval of Anthony Edwards’ jam
This was one of those disrespectful dunks that the entire internet salivates over.
That is one of the best f’ing in-game dunks I’ve ever seen.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) February 20, 2021
Anthony Edwards in flight. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/9fKskTKJHs
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2021
Watanabe's reaction to getting dunked on by Anthony Edwards! pic.twitter.com/0hhhddk2lz
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) February 20, 2021
NBA Twitter sending Yuta Watanabe to the gulag after Anthony Edwards dunked on himpic.twitter.com/fXUum2VRSt
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) February 20, 2021
As soon as Edwards left his feet, Watanabe had no chance of saving his reputation.
the most malik beasley thing that he was still calling for the ball while anthony edwards was committing a murder pic.twitter.com/u97EVLpcqI
— Justin Phan (@jphanned) February 20, 2021
Yuta Watanabe: 1994-2021
— Austin 🐺 (@DaMNTwinkies) February 20, 2021
Cause of Death: Murderous Dunk
Suspect: Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/jBrHapkUX0
*record scratch*
— Anthony F. Irwin (@AnthonyIrwinLA) February 20, 2021
*freeze frame* pic.twitter.com/ayRWtpntPB
One would have thought everybody on the internet would appreciate this magical moment.
I think the funniest part of the Anthony Edwards dunk is noted poster-taker Aron Baynes leaning back like “that’s not for me.”
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) February 20, 2021
someone is gonna lose their virginity next to a poster of this in a college dorm room, put money on it pic.twitter.com/ihPtGyiI53
— claire de lune (@ClaireMPLS) February 20, 2021
However, not everybody was a fan of Edwards’ thunderous jam.
Anthony Edwards all over Twitter tonight with the dunk of the year. He also has 7 points on 3/14 shooting, 0/7 on 3s.
— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) February 20, 2021
Seven points for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft tonight. Sweet dunk tho.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) February 20, 2021
Naturally, NBA Twitter devoured those poor souls alive for their asinine comments.
Nate Duncan after watching Anthony Edwards defy human physics pic.twitter.com/XAh3Jd5Hdf
— Andrew Claudio (@AndrewJClaudio_) February 20, 2021
My 11-year old niece in Australia just reacted to the Anthony Edwards with “WOW” and now I’ve got to explain to her that he only had 7 points and didn’t have a good shooting night.
— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) February 20, 2021
That Anthony Edwards stat line tweet really a master class in seeing basketball as a culture and basketball as an Excel spreadsheet lol
— Justin Tinsley (@JustinTinsley) February 20, 2021
I think I speak for all basketball fans when I say the first thing anyone thinks of when they see this dunk is the fact that Scottie Pippen was five 5-16 in the game. pic.twitter.com/dmdrQa1QcX
— Cody Hunt (@co_dhunt) February 20, 2021
SVP starts the segment “you guys want to see a dead body?” and I thought it was gonna be Nate’s tweet
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) February 20, 2021
Yuta was -10 while Edwards was -13 so who really got sent to the shadow realm
— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) February 20, 2021
While there are hills to die on, denying that Edwards’ signature dunk was not spectacular is not one of them. If it is the hill you choose to die on, let it be a hill of fire ants so you can truly feel the moronic nature of your flawed logic. At its core, the NBA is a source of entertainment. It does not matter that the Timberwolves lost at home 86-81 on Friday night. We were entertained, dammit!
The Ant-Man became the Sandman and put Watanabe to sleep after this hellacious throwdown.