Anthony Edwards cheers on US’s Lily Zhang, days after Stephen Curry’s prod

Part of the experience of competing in the Olympics is that athletes get to support others from their country in different sports. While the U.S. basketball team is already missing the Olympic Village experience, the team’s stars were in the stands to watch a few other sports.

Stephen Curry watched the women’s volleyball team, Devin Booker watched Nyjah Huston win a medal in skateboarding, and Anthony Edwards was lively during Lily Zhang’s table tennis match.

Edwards was one of the prominent figures present at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles to show his support for the US women’s table tennis team. He was seen as a lively character in the stands as he continued to lift Lily Zhang’s spirits during their round of 32 clash. Ant was seen cheering and shouting, “That’s what I’m talking about” after Zhang had taken a 3-2 lead in the match.

Edwards’ presence seemed to have a huge impact on Zhang. The 28-year-old had a 0-3 head-to-head record against Bruna Takahashi going into the match, with the last two encounters having been clean sweeps. However, she stunned the Brazilian 4-2 to advance to the round of 16.

Ant-Man finding his way into Zhang’s table tennis match comes just days after his hilarious interaction with the U.S. women’s TT team. During Friday’s opening ceremony, Curry introduced the four-person team to Edwards by taking aim at him.

The Minnesota Timberwolves guard claims to be an “all-around athlete,” with swimming and ping-pong among his better options. Curry, however, was challenging Edwards, “Ant, they say they can beat you to 21-nothing.” The 22-year-old did not appreciate the lack of respect and vowed to win at least one point against the TT team players.

It seems Edwards went to Zhang’s tie for scouting purposes. His trash talk aside, it’s great to see the youngster making his presence felt among the American contingent. Given how much he looked entertained, we may see Edwards spend a lot more of his free time cheering on his countrymen in other sporting events during the rest of the Olympics.