Anthony Edwards, the golden boy of the NBA, was expected to be the next face of the league like Michael Jordan. But he might have given some intangibles that do not exactly resemble the quality of someone leading the league. Recently the Minnesota Timberwolves forward, now part of the second unit for the USA Men’s basketball team for the Olympics, opened up about his “nervous” mental state ahead of the first exhibition game against Team Canada in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, that did not go well with one of the biggest fanboys of MJ, sports commentator, Skip Bayless who tore apart Anthony’s attitude during his recent appearance on the Fox Sports show.
While commenting on Anthony after the first exhibition game on ‘Undisputed’, Bayless reflected on the 22-year-old’s attitude, “I have been guilty over hyping Ant-Man because I still haven’t seen enough of it. He hasn’t backed it up enough to show that he is Jordan-esque or Magic-esque or Kobe-esque.”
Despite the 13-point show that Anthony Edwards put on in the first exhibition game, Bayless was not convinced at all. To make his point, the commentator revolved back to the playoff face-off between the Wolves and the Dallas Mavericks, where the Wolves got swept out with a game record of 4-1. Bayless pulled out Edwards’ on-court interview after their Game 4 win quoting, “I was aggressive. I didn’t run to the corner and just stand in the corner and shy away from the basketball.” This lead was enough for Bayless to go after Anthony as he stressed how the Wolves star admitted publicly that he was running down to the corner in the fourth quarter hiding from basketball.
As per Bayless, it felt like Anthony crumbled under pressure in a tense situation and couldn’t think right. He acknowledged Ant-Man’s age factor there but was not convinced of the Wolves star being someone as determined as the greats. “Do you have the right intangibles to be a Michael Jordan? That was an early admission to me that I’m not just sure you’re that guy. You haven’t shown me enough,” Bayless closed his statement concluding AD’s comparison with the basketball GOAT. But, Paul Pierce came to the defense of Ant-Man.
.@RealSkipBayless questions Anthony Edwards’ IT factor after feeling nervous before USA vs. Canada pic.twitter.com/3OhJGzIfEX
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 12, 2024
Paul Pierce brings Anthony Edwards into the next-face debate once again
Skip Bayless was hell-bent on taking down Anthony Edwards’ high status as he went on to target the Wolves shooting guard’s vulnerability. However, Paul Pierce did not seem to align and got his answers from Skip accordingly as well. Pierce pointed out that Anthony’s presence was impactful on the court during the USA-Canada game, which Bayless admitted to.
But Bayless mentioned the 22-year-old recently calling himself the number one option for Team USA. He was not letting go of Anthony Edwards’ tendency to express everything. Pierce jumped in and asked if it did not sound like the loud-mouthed confidence of Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan. Bayless again had to reply to that question in affirmation.
Well, history does not always repeat itself. Even if AD has that potential, it is not necessary that he matches all the qualities of MJ or Kobe. What’s your stance on this matter? Let us know in the comments.
