Anthony Edwards: Victor Wembanyama is the face of the NBA
Anthony Edwards doesn’t see himself as the face of the league.
LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant are all-time greats who made the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team and are certain first-ballot Hall of Famers.
Nikola Jokic is a three-time NBA MVP and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is favored to win his first one this year. Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum are, at worst, in the top 10 of current NBA players.
Anthony Edwards may very well wind up having the distinction of taking them all down in what would be a historic two-year playoff run and lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to their first NBA championship. Along the way, he could well become the face of the league, whether he wants that or not.
Oh yeah, everyone heard what Edwards said during NBA All-Star weekend when asked on Feb. 15 in Oakland if he considered himself a candidate for the “next face of the league.”
Wearing black sunglasses and a white fitted Atlanta Braves hat on backward, chewing gum minus the grin, Edwards said, “Nah, not really.”
Why? “That’s what they got Wemby for.”
Those comments created much social chatter, but San Antonio Spurs All-Star 7-footer Victor Wembanyama is a generational talent widely viewed as the next one.
The phenom from France missed the second half of his second season with a blood clot in his right shoulder. Wembanyama will have the Spurs back in postseason play soon if he can stay healthy.
Right now, Edwards is showing why he should seriously be considered a candidate for the future face of the league. In many ways, what we’re seeing was foreshadowed in last year’s playoffs against Phoenix, when Edwards emerged as the catalyst that led Minnesota to a four-game sweep of Durant and the Suns in the first round.
Now, Edwards and the sixth-seeded T-Wolves are a win away from upsetting James, Doncic and the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference first round.
They’ll take a 3-1 lead into Game 5 Wednesday, April 30, in Los Angeles.
Edwards is averaging 29.8 points, shooting 43.2% from distance, 7.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists in 40.5 minutes against the Lakers in this best-of-seven series.
He’s the most exciting and entertaining NBA player to watch. Edwards has an infectious smile that can be seen on the court and in commercials. He’s part cocky, part humble, but has the total wow factor.
The three-time All-Star and 2024 Olympic gold medalist plays with energy, enthusiasm, leads vocally and by example and has a budding clutch gene.
All those qualities are great, but NBA players, perhaps more than any other sport, are measured by what they do against the very best.
Last year, Edwards and the T-Wolves swept Durant and the Phoenix Suns and took out Jokic and the then-defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets in seven games.
He can start this year’s postseason run by taking down James and Doncic, who led the Dallas Mavericks past Minnesota in last year’s conference finals.
Edwards scored 24 of his 43 points in the second half of Sunday’s 116-113 victory, April 27, over the Lakers.
James and Doncic combined for 22 points in the second half, with the NBA’s all-time leading scorer managing just five of those and none in the fourth.
The numbers are one thing, but the way Edwards is imposing his will in leading Minnesota amplifies his performance. It’s not a one-man show now, but Edwards is the Michael B. Jordan of this playoff script.
The T-Wolves-Lakers winner will play either the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets in the West semifinals. The Warriors are up 2-1 on the second seed.
If Golden State and Minnesota advance, it’s Edwards versus Curry with the winner likely facing the MVP favorite and No. 1 overall seed, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in the West finals.
The Timberwolves went a combined 3-5 this season against the Warriors and Thunder, who won 68 games this season, the fifth-most in NBA history.
If Edwards and the T-Wolves somehow power through the Lakers, Warriors and Thunder, they’ll likely meet Tatum and the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics in the finals.
The Timberwolves are making their 13th NBA playoff appearance since joining the league in 1989. They’ve only advanced past the first round twice — 2004 in Kevin Garnett’s MVP season when reaching the conference finals and last season.
If Edwards can take Minnesota a step further to the finals, win or lose, he’ll be the leading candidate for the future face of the NBA.
If he wins his first championship at age 23, something not even the greatest of all-time, Michael Jeffrey Jordan, nor James, Curry, Durant, Jokic or Tatum, did?
Not even Wembanyama could block Edwards from that unprecedented distinction.
Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.
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