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Anthony Edwards put on one hell of a show while helping the Timberwolves advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs by sweeping the Suns. He picked up where he left off when Minnesota topped Denver on Saturday, but he wants people who’ve started comparing him to Michael Jordan to take things down a notch.
There’s a reason the Minnesota Timberwolves decided to use the top overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft to select Anthony Edwards, and it didn’t take him very long to prove he’d be able to live up to the hype he’d managed to drum up during his lone season at the University of Georgia.
The 6’4″ shooting guard averaged 19.3 points per game during his inaugural campaign and has seen that number improve every single year going forward (a feat he’s also been able to match on the assists front).
In 2024, he earned a spot in the All-Star Game for the second time while helping the Timberwolves punch their ticket to the playoffs and headed into the postseason hoping to advance past the first round for the first time since joining the team (a feat that franchise hadn’t been able to achieve since making it to the Western Conference Finals in 2004).
The T-Wolves were able to do exactly that thanks in no small part to Edwards, who went on an absolute tear over the course of their four consecutive wins against the Suns. He averaged 33 PPG in a sweep where Minnesota was barely tested by Phoenix, and he proved it was anything but a fluke by scoring 43 points against the Nuggets in their 106-99 victory in Game 1.
It’s probably a bit early to start comparing the 22-year-old Edwards to Michael Jordan, but Stephen A. Smith is just one of a handful of notable names who’ve started to do exactly that based on Ant’s awe-inspiring ascension to the top tier of NBA talent.
However, Fox Sports reports Edwards isn’t a fan of people suggesting he’s on the same level as His Airness, telling the outlet, “I want it to stop. He’s the greatest of all time. I can’t be compared to him.”
Edwards obviously has a long way to go before he even comes close to being in the same conversation as Jordan when it comes to what they were able to achieve during their NBA careers, but he’s certainly trending in the right direction.