The defensive masterclass of the Minnesota Timberwolves and explosive scoring from its guard Anthony Edwards brought the victory in Game 2 for the Wolves. One of the main highlights, apart from an air-tight defense that the Denver Nuggets faced, was Anthony Edwards, who overshadowed the future MVP of the league, Nikola Jokic. But it is not just the contemporaries that Ant-Man is getting comparisons with. The NBA community is comparing the Wolves’ star with NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and one of them thinks Ant might be on par with Black Mamba at his current age.
NBA reporter for the Golden State Warriors, Ethan Sherwood Strauss, while appearing on The Bill Simmons podcast, highlighted how Anthony might have more potential than Kobe had in his contemporary age. “Edwards physically is just way stronger than Kobe Was, ” Strauss claimed while drawing parallels between Kobe and Ant-Man. He took the reference from Kobe’s early days at the NBA, where he was much thinner, while Edwards had the required physical build in his fourth year in the league. Strauss commended Anthony’s athletic prowess with the remark, “He could walk on a football field and run for 1500 yards.”
No wonder Edwards has the gas to match or surpass the Black Mamba. However, Strauss praised Kobe in terms of fierce competitiveness. Though Edwards has that raging blood with all the potential, Kobe had that ability even when he was trying to improve himself in the early days. Considering all of it, Edwards has just got the upper hand with his superior stamina.
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Interestingly, it’s just the start for the Wolves star, who became only the second to score 40 points without assists aged 20, as it is all about keeping up the hard work and maintaining consistency like Kobe did all of his life.
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Anthony Edwards Is Not Fond of Comparisons!
Anthony Edwards’s performance against the Denver Nuggets made him the center of attention. Per his media glorification, Edwards was compared to the great Michael Jordan. However, the Ant-Man seemed to be upset with these rumors going on as the Wolves guard considers Jordan “the greatest of all time.” When Fox Sports’ Melissa Rohlin asked him about the parallels between him and Jordan, Edwards replied that those comparisons should “stop” as he “can’t be compared to him[Jordan].”
Edwards has his own style of play, and it juggles Jordan’s and Kobe’s styles. With the ability to cover both sides of the court, like Kobe, and the stamina and fierceness of Jordan, Ant-Man is a beast on the court. Therefore, he confessed that he did not want to take any pressure at all for playing like MJ.
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Overall, Edwards might become the first Anthony, but he is far from being the next MJ or Kobe. The NBA community loves to draw comparisons with legends to have a measure of players’ potential. But some of them have the ability to go beyond predictions and theories. Anthony might be one of them. Where do you all think Ant will land before retiring from the league in the future?