Don’t compare the young players of the NBA with the legendary Jordan. Edwards is the best proof.
Nikita Biryukov May 25, 2024, 18:00 Moscow time
Is MJ’s “heir” impressed?
Some people get labeled too early in their careers. Who are you usually compared to in basketball? Of course, with the legendary Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan, who became an icon not only of the NBA, but of the entire world of sports. MJ is the embodiment of basketball in its original form. Michael had it all: the desire to win every game, an incredible work ethic, natural talent, and traits that are hard to describe unless you see Jordan in person. Anthony Edwards, 22, has been compared to His Airness too often lately, are the advances justified?
Edwards reached the conference finals in his fourth NBA season; It took Jordan five years to do it, but the leagues were completely different. Michael was opposed twice by the legendary Boston of the ’80s, led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, and the same number of times by the Detroit Bad Boys, led by Isaiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman . The “bulls” will reach the Eastern final. Therefore, comparing the postseason campaigns of Edwards and Jordan is no longer logical. MJ had much stronger opponents.
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We must not forget that Jordan literally burned the parquet with napalm in the playoffs: in his second season, Michael averaged 43.7 points in three games with Boston! And when he reached the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in his career, he had a stat line of 34.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists. Few people in the regular season can boast such numbers, but they can in the playoffs and with an excellent percentage of sales. Surely it was clear to many that Jordan is the standard of play in the playoffs, but how are things going with Edwards? It’s not bad, but there are some nuances.
This is the first serious playoff trip for Minnesota since Kevin Garnett’s team. The Wolves had little trouble shutting down the Phoenix Suns with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal leading the way. It’s no secret that KD is Edwards’ favorite childhood player. That’s why Ant gave everything in the series against his idol. Minnesota next faced the 2023 champion Denver Nuggets.
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From the first game, Edwards showed his intentions to become the best on the court: 43 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Furthermore, the Minnesota leader was very brilliant in the fourth game of the series, but he took a backseat in the rest. In total, in the last five meetings in the playoffs, Ant did not make any impression: 18, 27, 16, 19, 21 points, far from the best shooting efficiency. It is unlikely that Jordan would have allowed himself to play like that at such a crucial moment. Therefore, we must slowly stop these disputes and debates about Edwards being MJ’s “heir.”
Jordan was alone and Anthony Edwards was alone. The 22-year-old has the makings of becoming a great player, he has a similar character to Michael, it is premature to resort to such ridiculous comparisons. Ant’s latest games are depressing. The young talent needs to draw conclusions and continue growing, and the series with Dallas is not lost. Minnesota bounced back from a 2-3 tie against the NBA champion. Why not repeat this with the “bums”? If Edwards, along with Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Mike Conley, are at their best, you can expect anything.
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