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via Imago

via Imago

Bill Simmons has been heaping praises on the Minnesota Timberwolves star player, Anthony Edwards, for quite some time. In November 2023, he said that the team was “real,” and he gave flowers to the ANT for his persistence. Fast forward to early February 2024. Simmons honored Edwards by calling him a young Kobe, particularly referring to the time when Bryant was in the process of transformation to the ‘Black Mamba’. “Edwards has it,” he had said.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t always what he thought of the young forward-guard. A year after he was drafted, the founder/CEO of The Ringer had a very interesting take on the Georgia product. And now that opinion is once again viral on X, coming back to bite him. Talking on The Bill Simmons Podcast, the man of the hour said, “I think Anthony Edwards was born in the wrong era.”

“I don’t know if he’s ever gonna put it all together. I have no idea if his teams will ever win. I’d pick Edwards 4th in a re-draft after Wiseman, Haliburton and LaMelo.” Oopsie! The Timberwolves finished the regular season as the third-seeded team. They swept the Big 3 of the Phoenix Suns 4-0 in one go. As a latest achievement, clinched the series-opener home game of the second round of the playoffs against none other than the defending champions!

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Things aren’t looking too good in hindsight, are they now? James Wiseman is now part of the bottom-ranked Pistons. LaMelo Ball is, well, out for the season with an ankle injury, among other things. And Tyrese Haliburton is the only one still in contention and nearly on par with Anthony Edwards. The Pacers did knock the Bucks out of the way and are getting ready to face a familiar foe, the Knicks. And Haliburton’s stunning run this season was why Indiana advanced to the second round of the playoffs in nearly a decade.

As for Edwards, well, the 22-year-old is smiling bright and shining even brighter! His brilliance in steering his team and teammates the right way has Jokić contemplating some mad science solutions.

“I can have a duplicate clone of myself”: the Joker’s solution for Anthony Edwards and Co.

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Jokić was obviously referring to the three bigs the Wolves slapped on the Serbian big man. Naz Reid, Rudy Gobert, and Karl-Anthony Towns shouldered their responsibility beautifully. The Finals MVP finished the night with 32 points, but he took 25 shots. That is the most number of shots the man’s taken in a playoff game this season.

USA Today via Reuters

When he was asked how he would deal with them in the upcoming game, Nikola, with his effortless humor sense, replied, “I can have a duplicate clone of myself. That way when one of them checks into the game, I can have a fresh version.” Imagine the kind of damage two Nikolas would do on the court! Jokes aside, this was a strategy that worked in the favor of Minnesota for the first game.

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Add the injury-addled, hobbling Jamal Murray and all the Wolves had to do was to be tactical with their plays. With Anthony Edwards’ ability to make quick and efficient reads and adjust game plans according to what the opponents were throwing their way, it was truly a remarkable matchup. Murray’s concerning injury update and Edwards’ continued dominant performances might just give them the edge in Game 2.

But Nikola Jokić isn’t feared by many in the league for nothing. Hopefully, the ever-optimistic and bushy-tailed Anthony Edwards can stand strong against the 2x MVP.