Georgia freshman guard Anthony Edwards is the lukewarm favorite to be chosen with the No. 1 overall pick this offseason but opinions about his game vary widely, as Sam Vecenie of The Athletic notes. In a poll of eight college coaches, some believe Edwards will be a perennial All-Star in the mold of Bradley Beal. One of the coaches that Vecenie spoke to believes he might be nothing more than an average role player. Edwards’ ability in pick-and-rolls makes him at least a top-five player in this class, Vecenie concludes.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Baylor power forward Freddie Gillespie has interviewed with half of the teams in the league, including his hometown Timberwolves, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Gillespie is considered a marginal second-round prospect. He’s currently ranked No. 73 overall by ESPN and 15th among players at his position.
- Hall of Fame guard Paul Westphal has been diagnosed with brain cancer, former ESPN Sports Reporters host Mike Lupica tweets. The 69-year-old Westphal, who was inducted last year, also coached Phoenix, Seattle and Sacramento after his playing career ended in 1984.
- Victor Williams has been named CEO of NBA Africa, according to a league press release. Williams, an investment banking executive with extensive experience growing businesses across the U.S. and Africa, will be based in the league’s Johannesburg office. In this newly-created role, Williams will oversee the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Africa.
Paul Westphal is the nicest guy. Always willing to talk and engage politely. When you watch his Hall of Fame speech you can just see how appreciative he is of his basketball career. Very humble man with a great heart.
It’s so funny, I always do the look-alike game when I’m out with my buddies. I’ll say, “oh there’s so and so,” or “oh there’s whosoever.” It won’t be that person.. it will be a guy that looks just like them.
One time playing hoops, there was a guy on the baseball diamond playing catch with his son. So I say to the guys on the basketball court, “Hey look it’s Paul Westphal.” Then the guy turns around and waves.. lol it WAS Paul Westphal !! As I said, he’s just a super guy, he came over chatted with the group and just was super nice.