Sports Media Mogul Compares Anthony Edwards’ Wolves To ’91 Bulls After Game 1 Upset Of Nuggets

In the wake of the CEO/Founder of The Ringer‘s quite controversial take on Anthony Edwards in 2021, the man is back with props for the Wolves’ superstar. By now, you would have understood who we are referring to here. After all, X is going crazy with the reposting and re-sharing of the particular opinion of Bill Simmons.

But in the same The Bill Simmons Podcast, guest Ryen Russillo, and the gracious host are all praises for the 22-year-old and his team. The 106-99 Game 1 upset by Minnesota against the defending champions, Denver Nuggets. Simmons has some lofty comparisons for the franchise and their star player. According to him, they resemble none other than the ” ’91 Bulls.” He also warned, “If Ant’s gonna look like that, they are gonna win the series!”

The sports mogul then proceeded to lay down some statistics to back his claims. Anthony Edwards scored 36 points in his first-ever playoff game. Michael Jordan, for his part, scored 30 points in his second playoff game ever. Moving on to Edwards’ eighth playoff game, he had 41 points! Simmons also mentioned Kobe Bryant, but then he was younger than both of them in his first or even second playoff games. Yet, the ANT’s 41 was better than even the ‘Black Mamba’ or ‘His Airness’.

If we were to look at Edwards’ last three playoff games, he averaged 39.7 points per game. And he is only 22 yet. Jordan’s average in the three games against the Boston Celtics in the 1985-86 season in the first round was 43.7 points. As for Bryant, one of his brilliant performances came in the 2000-01 playoffs; a 48-point play against Sacramento in Game 4 of the Conference semifinals. Looking at his average in the final three games of the second round, the 5x champion had 37.0 points per game. Both MJ and Kobe were 23 years old.

The significance of Edwards’ age is one Bill Simmons put particular emphasis on.

“For a 22-year-old to do that is f***ing crazy!”: Bill Simmons on Anthony Edwards

The above are purely numbers that aid in realizing the potential of a young basketball player who has not yet reached his prime. And Edwards knows it well. The magnitude of his age was made clear when he corrected teammate Mike Conley as the latter was talking to reporters about the 2x All-Star’s maturity and leadership. It would seem Bill Simmons is in complete agreement there too.

“The stuff Ant’s doing right now, historically, it’s a different level… he’s doing stuff the greatest two guards of all time were doing at this point of their career. It seemed early, but it wasn’t. To me, the ceiling is even higher, just because of what his last three games looked like.”

“The stuff he was doing to Caldwell-Pope, was kind of based on MJ stuff, late 2000s Kobe, and mid-2000s Wade stuff – a combination of all three… for a 22-year-old to do that is f***ing crazy!”

Well, for someone who wouldn’t have dreamed of drafting him before James Wiseman, LaMelo Ball, and Tyrese Haliburton in 2021, Bill Simmons has surely come a long way. But many would agree with him on one thing – Denver should be worried.