Anthony Edwards, who wore the number 5 jersey for both high school and the Georgia Bulldogs, chose to wear that jersey in honor of his mother and grandmother. Both women were extremely influential to him, but passed away from cancer within 8 months of each other when Anthony was in 8th grade.

Anthony wore the number 5 in honor of his mother and grandmother who both died on the fifth of the month.  When he was drafted to the Timberwolves, though, he wasn't able to use the #5, and chose the #1 jersey at that time.

Anthony is the youngest of 4 children. His older siblings are Antony, Antoinette, and Antoine. Their mother was quick to get all four of them into sports at an early age. Ant Man's siblings spoke with Steph Curry's parents on a podcast about how their mother encouraged their love of athletics and made sure to make it to every single game. When Yvette got sick and passed away, Antoine was 21 and Antoinette was just 19. They worked with their grandmother, who they saw as the backbone of their family, to care for their younger siblings, but just eight months later, their grandmother would also pass from cancer leaving Antoine and Antoinette to take legal custody of both their younger brothers.

“Me and my brother told each other we weren’t going to stop playing basketball because of it, because we know that if they were still here, they would want us to keep playing,” he said. “So, that’s all we did. I just channeled all my energy towards basketball. Stopped worrying about everything else.”

Anthony is a very close with his family and they are everything to him. He plays basketball as a way to channel all his energy towards something positive after losing both of his mother and grandmother within such a short time frame. Anthony is grateful for everything his mother and grandmother did for him, and he wants to make them proud by achieving success both on and off the court. Through his career in basketball, Anthony has shown that no matter what obstacles you face, you can always overcome them and succeed by staying strong, dedicated, and focused.

“Family is, like, the most important thing ever to me because of what happened,” Edwards said.“I hold my family as tight as I can because we lost our mom and grandma. So like my sister and brother, they came together. Listen, we’re going to stick together and get through this. We just all locked in and stayed together.”
 

No matter where he is playing, or what number he is wearing, Anthony Edwards will always honor his mother and grandmother who have both played such a huge role in shaping him into the incredible player and person that he is today. Their legacy will always be a part of Anthony, and he is committed to making them proud through his hard work, dedication, and commitment to family.

The artist that Anthony Edwards commissioned to paint portraits of his mother and grandmother can be found on Instagram at @heypaintella. She is a well-known Black artist that specializes in painting Black icons, and celebrates the beauty of Black culture.