“That’s my son”: South Carolina’s Raven Johnson jokes about her special bond with Anthony Edwards
Apart from Dawn Staley's impact on her college journey, Raven Johnson's basketball aspirations are fueled by a childhood friend, Anthony Edwards. The two met during their middle school years and shared plenty of one-on-one battles amongst them.
So, when Players Tribune's Haley Jones asked Johnson about her bond with the Minnesota Timberwolves superstar, the Gamecocks star had an apt response to reflect on their friendship. Off the bat, Johnson joked that she taught Edwards everything he knows on the court.
"Well honestly, that's my son," Johnson said. "That's my son. I taught him everything he knew. Well, he gotta, he gotta work on his defense just a little so I need to know some stuff on that with him. But yeah, that's my son." (9:52)
Raven Johnson also gave fans a hint of the competition and playful banter that revolves around her relationship with Anthony Edwards as she looked back at one certain game from her ninth grade.
“I remember going one-on-one with Anthony in a training session and he was treating me like a little boy, and I was like ‘Oh my God, go, like I'm a girl.’
"And I was like, I think I was like ninth-grade high school, like, ‘this man trying to go with me he's pushing me,’ and I tell everybody to this day that I beat him; I would never tell nobody he beat me."
Anthony Edwards helped Raven Johnson out of a rough patch
One of the lowest points in Raven Johnson's basketball career came after she was waved off by Caitlin Clark in the 2023 NCAA Final Four. The moment changed people’s outlook toward her, pitting her through a tough stretch. As people addressed her as “the girl who got waved off,” Johnson started missing classes and stopped going out of her room.
However, that was until Anthony Edwards reached out to her. She shared the NBA star’s message in her self-written story published by the Players Tribune.
“Don’t let this bring you down. You know who you are … so you can’t let this situation change you. You need to get in the gym and work on your weakness.… Nothing’s going to be handed to you. You just need to get in the gym and do what others don’t do….,” Edwards told Johnson.
Edwards also impacted Raven Johnson's work ethic as a youngster. She said watching Ant-Man getting up every morning to hit the gym three times a day forced her to mimic the same amount of hard work.