Anthony Edwards Isn’t Jordan… And That’s Why I Love Him

As the Minnesota Timberwolves take on the Los Angeles Lakers, the spectre of Michael Jordan hovers over LA’s side of the court. LeBron James is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, has four titles, took six more teams (some deeply flawed) to six more NBA Finals, has four Finals MVPs, four MVPs… and will still fall short of Jordan, in some pundits’ eyes.

Hey, I don’t care. Beat LA, baby. It doesn’t bother me if the Wolves further thwart LeBron’s legacy. It’s more to highlight how much influence Jordan still has over the league. A guy who is, by any measure, objectively the best player in league history simply can’t measure up.

On the other side of the court, you have Anthony Edwards, who people will, in hushed tones, make the comparison you just can’t make.

The one to Michael Jordan.

They’re insane, stupid, and unfair. Even Ant-Man wants you to stop. But when you look at the pure dunking ability, how he somehow backs up his ego, and his instinct to dominate, even humiliate his opponents… you at least get why.

 

In short, “Ant’s” a killer, which is the exact way where LeBron simply can’t measure up to Jordan, regardless of whether he catches up in the NBA title race alongside Luka Doncic. A big part of Jordan’s legacy is winning six championships by sheer force of will. He was a sonofabitch who’d run over anyone if it meant winning a basketball game. And if being a good teammate ever got in the way of winning, he didn’t care.

That legacy lived on in Kobe Bryant‘s career, which he branded as Mamba Mentality. As for James? Not so much. He’s seen as a nice guy and a great teammate. While Jordan once punched Steve Kerr in the face, LeBron’s iconic moment of losing his cool on a teammate was making a memeable hand gesture at J.R. Smith.

What was the better way to elevate their teams?

Scoreboard.

And that’s why I hate Jordan. He’s far from the inventor of being a superstar who was an a—— to everyone around him, and he’s not close to being the last. But arguably, no one in sports history is more lionized and celebrated for being a cruel teammate. No one else’s success is used more to dress up waging psychological war against their own locker room as “leadership.”

But if Jordan is the thesis and James the antithesis, Edwards gets to step in as the synthesis. Ant is absolutely an egotistical madman on the court, and fully willing to punish opponents with violent drives to the net. But Edwards is an insane competitor while building his teammates up, not breaking them down.

We saw this in the aftermath of Game 1, when the Wolves stomped the Lakers on the strength of Jaden McDaniels‘ team-high 25 points and plus-27.

“We tell him every game, man, be the MVP,” Edwards said, grinning as he was asked about McDaniels’ play. “We knew this series, [LA] was gonna have faith that he wasn’t gonna be aggressive all night, and we told him throughout the whole week, ‘Hey, be aggressive the whole game. Don’t stop shooting, find your spots, trust yourself, trust your work.’

“And here you go, tonight, the MVP of the game, baby.”

Ant wasn’t done heaping praise on his teammate when he left the court, telling the media later, “Jaden McDaniels is my favorite player of all-time.”

Maybe that message might come off as a slight in another player’s hands. LA’s counting on you to fail. They don’t think you’re good enough. It’s up to you to prove them wrong. With Edwards, it’s an opportunity to be McDaniels’ hype man. They’re gonna leave you open, and that’s stupid, because I know how great you can be.

Follow my lead, and you’ll be the MVP.

McDaniels believed Ant, and the results came with it. How could they not? Once Edwards starts pumping your tires, he wills you into becoming better.

This played out last postseason with Karl-Anthony Towns, for whom keeping his confidence up was Edwards’ biggest project. Famously, after Game 4 of the sweep of the Phoenix Suns, Edwards told KAT, “Stop f—— fouling.”

On paper, that reads like a blunt call-out of a teammate in front of the media. In practice, it was way different. It was blunt, but it was charming and funny, like a friend joking with another friend who knows he does kind of need to get his stuff together.

Then there’s the fact that before that, Ant gave Towns incredible praise, well-deserved after the Big KAT was 28-10-3 against Phoenix.

“Every time in the third quarter, when we grow a lead, it’s because he’s in the game, because they don’t have a matchup for him,” Edwards told the press. “I told [Towns] yesterday, ‘We’re not gonna win Game 4 if you keep fouling.’ And you see what he did in the third quarter, what he did in the fourth quarter. … He’s the best offensive player on the team. If he’s not in foul trouble, it’s a problem for the team that’s gotta guard him.”

It’s such a cool version of leadership that feels unique to Edwards.

One of Ant’s biggest strengths is his confidence, which he uses to say, Hell yeah, I can get through that guy, or, Hell yeah, I can just decide to lead the league in 3s. But it’s not just a gift for him. It flows so freely and naturally from him that it seeps into his teammates.

Instead of a great player communicating to his locker room, Why can’t you be like me? Edwards tells guys, This is how you can be better than me, then loans out his supernatural confidence. There’s so much to love about Edwards, but if you ask me to pick just one reason, that’s my favorite thing he offers.