Anthony Edwards Reveals He ‘Wanted to Win’ Game for His Mom Who Died from Cancer in 2015: ‘I Couldn’t Lose’

Edwards was raised by his mother and his grandmother, Shirley. Seven months after Yvette's death in January 2015, his grandmother's cancer returned and she died, leaving a 14-year-old Edwards under the guardianship of his older brother, Antoine and sister, Antoinette. "All our life the most supportive and loving people we had was our mom and grandmother,” he said in a 2020 ESPN profile.

“For them both to end up passing, it was just like a strike to the heart. It turns your heart cold," he said, adding, “You don't have the support you once had. You don't have the love that you once had. So am I going to ever find that again?”

Edwards has also spoken about turning his grief into motivation on the court. “That just made me go harder because I know they would want to see me at the top so that made me go harder really that’s all that was,” he told 247sports in January 2020.

When Edwards was drafted in 2020, he sat beside paintings of his mom and grandmother as he waited for his name to be called. “As you can see my grandmother’s right here and my mother’s right here,” he told SEC Network ahead of the draft, pointing to each of their paintings.

“The shirt, with the collaboration I had, I got my grandmother and my mother’s name on my shirt so they’re with me at all times.”

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