Edwards moved from the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he made two NBA appearances and played for the Wolves' G-League team in Iowa, to NBL powerhouse Melbourne United as part of the team's dramatic off-season transformation to their starting roster.
He made an excellent start to his new life in Melbourne with a ten-point, ten rebound double-double in less than 20 minutes of game time as United defeated the Tasmania JackJumpers 88-84 at MyState Bank Arena.
Edwards also unwillingly endeared himself to the Tasmanian public by becoming the first away player of the NBL26 season to miss two free throws and thus activating a Hungry Jack's promotion to give away free cheeseburgers across Tasmania, but he and his United teammates would have the last laugh after former JackJumper Milton Doyle scored 11 points in the last four minutes of what was a lengthy arm-wrestle.
"I felt pretty good," Edwards said of his debut game.
"There was a bunch of stuff to improve. I missed a couple of frees that I usually make, but I think it was overall positive. I'm pretty glad we got the win.
"There was definitely a lot of stuff we could make better, but for our first official game we had good energy."
United head coach Dean Vickerman shared Edwards' mixed sentiments, with Edwards saying that the boss "was happy about a lot of good things and he mentioned there was definitely some stuff we can improve such as missed shots that we would easily get.
"But that's more of a positive than us having played perfect and only scraping out the win."
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How awesome was Milton Doyle driving the team home to win in a game with 30 lead changes?
"That was beautiful - to watch that was great. Safe to say he felt back at home under the basket. Everybody enjoyed that."
How have you been settling into the Melbourne lifestyle after a couple of months?
"I love the city. Everything out here is quite perfect. We love the beach and the weather (for early spring) has actually been pretty nice. It's almost near perfect living out here. We have a little SUV and I'm still getting used to driving on the left side - that was a challenge for us."
Is there anything on or off the court that has particularly surprised you about Australia?
"Mostly how clean it is, which is good. The streets are really clean and safe. I feel like we can walk out at night wherever we want which is definitely a positive. The atmospheres in the stadiums are really good. It's a lot more fun and louder than you might expect (from the NBL). The stadiums are filled to the brim."
Did you come to Australia with any expectations about the style of NBL basketball such as the speed and the refereeing?
"I watched a lot of videos after hearing it was a bit of a mix between European and American basketball. It does kind of seem like there are a lot of European influences - FIBA rules, for example - but the speed is a lot higher which does fit well with my game. There's a lot of running and early possession which I enjoy."
What about in terms of minutes and starts - were you signed up to be the starting centre for United or were you told that right had to be earned?
"I heard they were looking for a starting centre with a lot of minutes and that was the role I was going for. Outside of that I'm just locking on my own game and trying to get myself better. Whatever the need teams at the end of the day, but the starting spot is what I was going for."
What goals have you set yourself (or have been set by the staff) for NBL26? Are you a stats man, or looking to refine what you might be consider to be a weaker part of your game, or is it all about one day returning to the NBA?
"A bit of both. Obviously you're always focusing on improving your own game. It's not like I'm hunting stats - that said, I do want to get a lot of double-doubles this season, so if there's one stat that would probably be the one. As for going back to the NBA, that's definitely in the back of my mind but it's more of a goal for after this season ends. Right now, it's really just focusing on the NBL for Melbourne and what happens after that, I guess I'll see at the end of March. (The NBA) is definitely a goal for sure."
November is two months away but the next European stage of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers will be here before we know it. How excited are you about the challenge of facing Latvia (rank #11) and Poland (rank #19) in a very difficult group? Do you think the Netherlands (rank #54) are a realistic chance of finishing in the top-two and qualifying for their first World Cup since 1986?
"We've got a tough group but our team has been improving a lot. We are pretty young and are moving into the next generation of our national team. Latvia is the main threat in the group but if we can squeeze out one against them we're a good chance. We had a good record against Austria in the last group (pre-qualifiers) and Poland is a really good side now but I think we'll measure up well against them. It's definitely realistic but it's going to take a big amount of work to get there."
