John Edwards (born July 31 1981 in Warren, Ohio) is a professional NBA basketball player, currently playing center for the Atlanta Hawks.
He played collegiately for Kent State University, taking two trips to the Big Dance-the NCAA tournament (losing to fifth seed Cincinnati in the second round after the upset beating forth seed Indiana in the first round in 2001 and making it all the way to the elite eight in 2002 as a ten seed beating number two seed Alabama and number seven seed Oklahoma State.) He was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year in his final season and holds the Kent State record for season and career blocked shots.
He was invited to the Pacers' training camp in 2004. Mainly due to his size, and some unexpected injuries to the Pacers' big men early in the season, he was the only free agent training camp invitee to earn a spot on the main roster. Even so, he was expected to be released as soon as the Pacers got healthy, but the rash of suspensions resulting from the November 19, 2004 brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills enabled him to remain on the team. Indeed, in one game shortly after the incident, the Pacers were only able to dress six players because of the suspensions and injuries and Edwards constituted the Pacers' entire bench.
During the summer of 2005, Edwards signed with the Atlanta Hawks and during the 2005-06 NBA season has averaged 8.6 minutes per game.