Minnesota governor drops iconic homage to Anthony Edwards in official statement

Can anybody stop Anthony Edwards? In the wake of leading his Minnesota Timberwolves to a Game 7 road win over the defending NBA champs, it sure doesn't seem so, and after a viral postgame interview with Inside the NBA's Charles Barkley, it seems that Edwards' next accomplishment may be an unexpected one: rejuvenating Minnesota's tourism industry.

The T-Wolves incandescent star is already the big winner of the NBA Playoffs, and that was even before he told Barkley to "Bring ya ass" when Chuck told him that he hadn't been to Minnesota in probably 20 years.

The internet immediately embraced Edwards' accidental slogan, and it really took off after a local comedian and fan bought the domain name bringyaass.com and redirected it to Minnesota's tourism website, where it created a huge spike in traffic.

Now Minnesota governor Tim Walz is even getting in on the fun, and he did so in a sneakily hilarious way in a proclamation earlier today to officially declare "Wolves Back Day" to celebrate the Wolves' success and wish them luck in their upcoming series against the Dallas Mavericks.

For those that thought that Minnesotan gubernatorial showmanship died when Jesse Ventura left office, think again, as Walz hid the Wolves' new rallying cry in plain sight.

Tim Walz's proclamation proves that Anthony Edwards is the superstar the NBA needs right now

Most NBA stars need more time before they find postseason success, but Edwards is blazing his own path. Even at just 22 years old, he's the unquestioned leader of the team, and he has Minnesota within four games of its first-ever NBA Finals in just his fourth year thanks to his relentless two-way game. Even Michael Jordan, whom conspiracy theorists believe is Edwards' secret father (I implore you, dear reader, not to fall down that TikTok rabbit hole, lest you never escape) didn't reach the conference finals until his fifth year, and he didn't make the NBA Finals until his seventh.

Just as notable is that Edwards has accomplished this while exuding a refreshing dose of personality, as evidenced by his interaction with Barkley following the biggest win of his life. He talks a lot of trash on the court (anyone who watched the outstanding Adam Sandler basketball movie Hustle, in which Edwards plays Kermit Wilts, the film's main antagonist, already knew this), but he has the game to back it up, and he put that on full display against the Nuggets, scoring 27.7 points per game while playing stifling defense on Jamal Murray.

The fact that Minnesota has fully embraced Edwards' outsized personality and now-iconic catchphrase is the best part of this story. Wolves fans have been starved for a winner for multiple decades, and now not only are they on the doorstep of the promised land, they've been led there by one of the most fun players to follow in recent NBA history. For anyone with even a passing interest in the NBA, all I can say is that you better bring ya ass when the Wolves and Mavs tip off tonight.