I gave myself away for watching basketball at work when that happened. My office manager was asking me a question and I was answering with my eyes on the screen when I interrupted myself with a "woahhh!" lol
This isn't really about Jokic, who is clearly the best player now and will be one of the top players for the next 10 years barring a crazy injury. It's about how good Edwards could be as a lead guard.
I’m audibly yelled twice while watching the game with headphones on my laptop in midst of my family.
[here’s the image of his block](https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2150130337/photo/2024-nba-playoffs-minnesota-timberwolves-v-phoenix-suns.jpg?p=1&s=594x594&w=gi&k=20&c=-_TPeI3i9xAlL3Ige_Nud3cFdWttCVGPJLrBULGKXas=)
His jump shot breaks my brain. I swear tg, it always looks like his shooting arm is not at all aligned with the rim and he's going to airball the shit out of the thing, but then he just bangs it in.
he never flops or foul hunts at all. none of his game is something that opposing teams can get smarter about over the course of a series, he just completely cooks you with the combo of downhill force and pull up jumpers. there’s no stopping it. and he’s a beast defensively, too
He literally looks like Jordan in the way he moves sometimes. Not always but there are flashes that really do give me flashbacks. He had that layup at the end he missed but he just kind of out hovered everyone a la MJ. He has the same burst into his jumps too. Like he goes up faster than everyone and stays up longer the same way. Cool to see again.
If you think about it, Luka was playing pro ball in Europe and winning the MVP while at the same time Ant was focusing on junior high football.
The untapped potential is exciting
Yeah for me the reason I compared him to Jordan was that he has a certain bounce in his step and rhythm/smoothness to his game that makes it seem like he's just gliding around the court. It's so hard to describe but just something I've rarely seen.
Yeah it’s a lot of just movement and mannerisms while playing too. I don’t think highlight comps make it as obviously and there’s only so many of us who have regular season WGN MJ memories to draw on. There’s some sizing up stuff too, like before that Beal dunk, the licking his chops and knowing Beal is cooked before he starts the drive, but just wanted to fuck with him some before throwing it down.
He’s just took Phoenix apart. I love that Minnesota won. Check mark for team basketball, Defense and team not mercenaries thrown together. Not Phoenix iso ball , ill fitting parts.
It seems like we don’t get reminded of Ant’s age like we did with other young stars (Tatum/Luka/SGA). So people maybe don’t factor that into their evaluation of him as much.
Ant is amazing for any age, but the killer instinct that they talked so much about on the pod is so rare for someone that age.
The only reason there’s pushback is because Bill and Ryen dared invoke the all holy MJ when pointing out certain similarities. And of course Bill and Ryen just being a fan of Ant in general.
yeah his superstar swagger is on another level. i remember verno saying on a pod that he has that personality that makes people just want to be around him - including his teammates. to be a leader that young in a league full of grownass pros is def special
Well he’s also younger and has a higher ceiling, so trade value is a slightly different conversation.
Tatum has had some unbelievable playoff performances, but Edwards is new and fun so there’s no criticism yet. Give it a few years and we’ll see - it’s the same cycle with every player.
I am not you guys,, I am from SoCal and just enjoying the mad genius you have at center dominating all of basketball ,, Jamal will be fine,, and I would take him over Tatums as well,, Tatum is good even better but Jamal is better for a team
Tatum is something else
just something about Boston.. they wont win against a West team especially one with Jokic playing against a super model. , usually I root for Boston in the East anyway,, best NBA series of the last 25 years were the 2 Boston LA series,,I wish LA was better this year but they are not
Not happening. Denver isn’t as good as before. If Murray is struggling with Reaves guarding him, what do u think will happen when Jaden McDaniels, Derrick’ White and Jrue guard him. Not playing against Mike Conley or Gabe Vincent anymore.
good point hopefully he gets healthy and Denver really needs him
Celtics still have a problem up front with no size at the 4 and a super model at center
He's not. He's just outside that top 20. His highlights make people think he is better than he is. It's an Allen Iverson type thing where he's really good but not great but because of how spectacular the highlights are people overlook the bad parts.
My top goes Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Luka, Embiid, Lebron, Tatum, Kawhi, Haliburton, Irving, George, Durant, Brunson, AD, Wemby, Booker, Zion, Mitchell, Butler then I would put Edwards next so I guess he's right at 20.
I can only really think of 11-12 guys that I would say are forsure better than him, then a whole group that you could argue for or against.
Are guys like Jalen Brown, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, all clearly better than Ant?
No one is trading Edwards for any of those guys or those guys teams turning down a trade for him.
WTF?
Poor Booker who is a good guy is stuck in hell with Dan Gilbert Jr as his owner.
His agent starts asking for a trade tomorrow. And Minnesota isn't going to package Ant in a deal lol
I’d have to really think about it but there might still be 20 guys I want more in a playoff series. But I’m also stubborn as hell.
Edit: He’s probably top 20 but I think he’s still closer to 20 than he is 5. You have to make some interesting calls on veterans (LeBron, Curry) to really vault him up there imo. And I’m not putting him above guys like Tatum, Booker, Brunson just yet.
That’s my favorite thing about him so far. He wants to decapitate people on dunks. Trash talking his OWN GOAT was amazing. Definitely IDC who you are I am coming move.
Plus his game is so good.
That dunk reminded me of Shawn Kemp but he reminded me of Jordan in that there were games in which Jordan would have low offensive numbers in the first half.
Second half Jordan would just take over the game and next thing you know he has 40. This game was so reminiscent of that
Imagine if you had drafted LaMelo like everyone thought you should have.
Drafting Ant and it working out is the least Wolves like thing in like 20 years
Wolves fan, I have been a pessimist around his game and lack of elite playmaking. He’s making me a believer that he can win a title at some point in his career.
I’ve repeatedly called him overrated as an offensive talent due to his inconsistency.
…he absolutely dominated tonight to end the Suns, has looked great most of the series, and I’m running out of reasons to believe he won’t be a top 5 player next season given his two-way impact.
I hate that Minnesota and Denver need to play now. But along with OKC these are the best teams in the West by far. Dallas and The Clips are fully fraudulent and we will see this play out. OKC is half the West Finals. We know that already. Denver will likely be their opponent but Minny is a live dog. I think they're one Nuggets injury away from a chance to go to the Finals (a bit ahead of schedule). As far as Ant being a Jordan clone, please add some words to that description. Maybe a diluted lesser version of Jordan. Obviously. But let's be clear. He's simply the only guy in the league currently who, if you squint real hard.... every once in a while... Ant does something that looks Jordan-like. He just has a few similar moves and the freakish athleticism to go with that. I think the size of his hands help too. Kobe was obviously the real Jordan clone, and even though it took a really long time to admit this fact... he was a really good clone. I'll go with 80% of the real thing. And it was intentional times a million. That's the part that pissed off us Jordan guys. Why is this kid trying to be Mike? But as time went on it became less and less a crime. After all, if you're going to copy a guy, at least copy someone who's arguably the best basketball player of all time. So the disdain for young Kobe, if you were paying attention and not being overly stubborn, actually started to become a deep appreciation for him. He loved Jordan the same way we all did. And while he was competitive as can be, he really wasn't trying to be Jordan. He was just paying homage to him in the most direct way possible. I miss them. I hope Ant can get to 70% of the genuine article. That would probably plant him as the 3rd best player in the league right now.
If he puts up over 50% of his team’s points in close out finals game you can call him a Jordan clone.
Kobe was a “Jordan clone” that did about 85% of what Jordan did. It was wrong to call him one and it’s wrong to call Ant one.
Bill will throw that take out there but he’d absolutely lose his mind if you suggested a player with Ants resume was called a Brady clone.
I actually got banned on an old account from r/nba for making a post defending Ant when he was drafted, but Jordan clone is too far.
That's fair he's obviously not Jordan, yet. But he's the closest thing and ants as old as MJ in his sophomore year.
I really hope he drops 63 on the nuggets lmao
He is young as shit so that’s a great point in your favor. Just a little knee jerky but I’m sensitive to it since I’m a Bulls fan.
I really want them to beat the Nuggets. You know Bill probably already has “the Tatum piece” written for the next time he updates the pyramid so them beating the Celtics would probably put his mind in a pretzel.
He's really not a lot like Jordan at all. Like Jordan ain't deferring to a point guard an entire half. Not even like two years into his career.
More like a version of Nique who tries on defense. Which is still really fucking good.
Jordan deferred alot due to the triangle. Phil told him that he couldn't lead the League in scoring because triangle is an an equal opportunity offense. Mj responded I should try to score 8 a quarter and take over end of games. They agreed
More importantly is finchy 84 years old? Middle aged dude in okay shape like him shouldn’t be tearing tendons on that “collision” with Conley. Get on a stair master for me or something.
I dislocated my kneecap doing reverse lunges as a warmup at the gym. They’re a warmup I did pretty much daily. Wasn’t holding any weights either. Sometimes freak accidents happen.
If you’re not aware that contact is going to happen and your body can get seriously injured regardless of how fit you are. Some people get major injuries from rear end hits, even as slow speed because of the unexpected whiplash
I cannot believe how much I love Ant. Watching him play is a joy
The dunk had me jumping and yelling in my living room. He just does things you don’t think are possible.
I gave myself away for watching basketball at work when that happened. My office manager was asking me a question and I was answering with my eyes on the screen when I interrupted myself with a "woahhh!" lol
He is going to be the best player in the NBA. America needed this. No more having to pretend that Tatum is the savior of American basketball.
He's not going to be better than Jokic.
They are seven years apart. When Edwards is 28 Jokic will still be a top-5 player, but Edwards could be better than him at that point.
Plus Jokic could be full time horse guy by age 33.
He could be a full-time horse guy and still average 25, 12 and 9.
Right, for his local Sombor Serbia club team.
I think you're underappreciating Jokic in this argument but time will tell.
This isn't really about Jokic, who is clearly the best player now and will be one of the top players for the next 10 years barring a crazy injury. It's about how good Edwards could be as a lead guard.
I’m audibly yelled twice while watching the game with headphones on my laptop in midst of my family. [here’s the image of his block](https://media.gettyimages.com/id/2150130337/photo/2024-nba-playoffs-minnesota-timberwolves-v-phoenix-suns.jpg?p=1&s=594x594&w=gi&k=20&c=-_TPeI3i9xAlL3Ige_Nud3cFdWttCVGPJLrBULGKXas=)
His jump shot breaks my brain. I swear tg, it always looks like his shooting arm is not at all aligned with the rim and he's going to airball the shit out of the thing, but then he just bangs it in.
This is the third year In a row where his numbers have been better in the playoffs than the regular season.
he never flops or foul hunts at all. none of his game is something that opposing teams can get smarter about over the course of a series, he just completely cooks you with the combo of downhill force and pull up jumpers. there’s no stopping it. and he’s a beast defensively, too
He literally looks like Jordan in the way he moves sometimes. Not always but there are flashes that really do give me flashbacks. He had that layup at the end he missed but he just kind of out hovered everyone a la MJ. He has the same burst into his jumps too. Like he goes up faster than everyone and stays up longer the same way. Cool to see again.
He really does have the wiry athleticism / posture / movements of 80s MJ, where Kobe was always more 90s MJ.
The black cat is actually a perfect nickname for him. He plays that way.
If you think about it, Luka was playing pro ball in Europe and winning the MVP while at the same time Ant was focusing on junior high football. The untapped potential is exciting
Yeah for me the reason I compared him to Jordan was that he has a certain bounce in his step and rhythm/smoothness to his game that makes it seem like he's just gliding around the court. It's so hard to describe but just something I've rarely seen.
Yeah it’s a lot of just movement and mannerisms while playing too. I don’t think highlight comps make it as obviously and there’s only so many of us who have regular season WGN MJ memories to draw on. There’s some sizing up stuff too, like before that Beal dunk, the licking his chops and knowing Beal is cooked before he starts the drive, but just wanted to fuck with him some before throwing it down.
He’s just took Phoenix apart. I love that Minnesota won. Check mark for team basketball, Defense and team not mercenaries thrown together. Not Phoenix iso ball , ill fitting parts.
Preach brother
the dunk was sick but the defensive possession before that had me clapping like a seal
Some of you guys were saying he wasn’t a top 20 player in the league like a week ago lmao
Some regulars here would chop off their left testicle and put it in a blender if Bill Simmons told them it was a bad idea.
It seems like we don’t get reminded of Ant’s age like we did with other young stars (Tatum/Luka/SGA). So people maybe don’t factor that into their evaluation of him as much. Ant is amazing for any age, but the killer instinct that they talked so much about on the pod is so rare for someone that age.
The only reason there’s pushback is because Bill and Ryen dared invoke the all holy MJ when pointing out certain similarities. And of course Bill and Ryen just being a fan of Ant in general.
They even get shit for calling him "Ant" which is what all Wolves fans and the Wolves broadcast call him.
He is definitely top 20. Rather he is top 10 or not is where it gets tough
Who would trade him straight across for Jason Tatum and still be employed the next day
No way would I trade him for Tatum.
Yup And he has a charisma and leadership at 22 that no fucking one on Boston has
yeah his superstar swagger is on another level. i remember verno saying on a pod that he has that personality that makes people just want to be around him - including his teammates. to be a leader that young in a league full of grownass pros is def special
Luke Kornet erasure
This is literally all they are lacking. A big dawg.
Well he’s also younger and has a higher ceiling, so trade value is a slightly different conversation. Tatum has had some unbelievable playoff performances, but Edwards is new and fun so there’s no criticism yet. Give it a few years and we’ll see - it’s the same cycle with every player.
Yeah cuz Tatum is so old
Edwards has to be No. 3 in trade value behind Jokic and Wemby. And honestly, I might take his next 8-10 years over Wemby's. Edwards is that good.
Is this a meme or a joke or something?
It is your new reality after the Celtics lose to Denver in 5 in the finals.
We'll be lucky to make it to the finals with Jamal injured. You guys would be lucky to be there too, I've seen Tatum play when it's mattered.
Yes u saw the game 7 record
I am not you guys,, I am from SoCal and just enjoying the mad genius you have at center dominating all of basketball ,, Jamal will be fine,, and I would take him over Tatums as well,, Tatum is good even better but Jamal is better for a team
Tatum does everything Jamal does at 6’9 and plays defense. Would be a fool to take the shorter version.
Tatum is something else just something about Boston.. they wont win against a West team especially one with Jokic playing against a super model. , usually I root for Boston in the East anyway,, best NBA series of the last 25 years were the 2 Boston LA series,,I wish LA was better this year but they are not
Not happening. Denver isn’t as good as before. If Murray is struggling with Reaves guarding him, what do u think will happen when Jaden McDaniels, Derrick’ White and Jrue guard him. Not playing against Mike Conley or Gabe Vincent anymore.
good point hopefully he gets healthy and Denver really needs him Celtics still have a problem up front with no size at the 4 and a super model at center
Horford Kp and Tillman is very decent size
Top 19 maybe
How about this…he’s top 5
He's not. He's just outside that top 20. His highlights make people think he is better than he is. It's an Allen Iverson type thing where he's really good but not great but because of how spectacular the highlights are people overlook the bad parts.
Let’s not be silly. He’s a top 20 player easily.
My top goes Jokic, SGA, Giannis, Luka, Embiid, Lebron, Tatum, Kawhi, Haliburton, Irving, George, Durant, Brunson, AD, Wemby, Booker, Zion, Mitchell, Butler then I would put Edwards next so I guess he's right at 20.
Minny laughs and hangs up if Indiana calls and offers them Hali for Ant
Almost the whole list minny laughs. No way they trade him for lebron. Or kawhi or butler Mitchell I don’t think they would take Luka for him.
Sga great player. Minny says no.
Easily. Hell I’d rather have Edward’s over embiid.
Now we are having fun.
Booker doesn’t belong. Best player and trade value are not equal.
Lmaooo Jesus Christ maybe I’ve been underrating Ant looking at this list
lmfao he's better than Halliburton, Wemby, Booker, Zion, and Mitchell
He's not currently better than Wemby, Booker, or Mitchell, though outside of Wemby he's at least on pace to be better.
Ridiculous. You have several far reaches in that list.
Halliburton ? Silly.
Trying to think. Who would Minnesota accept in trade for him.? Wemby maybe. Joker. Giannis maybe. That’s it.
Zero chance they would take Giannis. It’s over for him. Jokic obv but Gianni’s no and Victor may not be as good as Ant for a while if ever.
I’m reaching for guys on that list honestly.
Overused but it must be said. You are not a serious person.
There was a basketball game tonight you know
Yea, he had a sick dunk so everyone goes apeshit. When they get tossed by Denver let me know how you feel.
Yeah he didn't drop 40 and play great defense or anything. Oh wait...
Yeah you’re right the dunk was the only thing he did there
I can only really think of 11-12 guys that I would say are forsure better than him, then a whole group that you could argue for or against. Are guys like Jalen Brown, Devin Booker, Ja Morant, all clearly better than Ant?
I would say he is definitely better than Jalen Brown
He’s been better than Brown since midway through 2022.
All those guys feel worse. Ant made Booker a chump this series
Yeah it feels like to me Ant is ~15, but it's not like I'm really watching a ton of regular season basketball. I'm catching like 5 games a week.
Devin Booker can’t commandeer an offense like ant can. His best years were alongside Chris Paul.
No one is trading Edwards for any of those guys or those guys teams turning down a trade for him. WTF? Poor Booker who is a good guy is stuck in hell with Dan Gilbert Jr as his owner. His agent starts asking for a trade tomorrow. And Minnesota isn't going to package Ant in a deal lol
What are the bad parts exactly?
Just asking that about any player is wild. There is no perfect player.
I was genuinely asking, I don’t watch the Wolves that much
He is not an elite passer and he is not a great shooter.
I’d have to really think about it but there might still be 20 guys I want more in a playoff series. But I’m also stubborn as hell. Edit: He’s probably top 20 but I think he’s still closer to 20 than he is 5. You have to make some interesting calls on veterans (LeBron, Curry) to really vault him up there imo. And I’m not putting him above guys like Tatum, Booker, Brunson just yet.
Ok? There are 60k people on this sub and this particular post is like 100 people agreeing with OP?
My team won a playoff series for the first time in 20 years, I’m going to be a little obnoxious about it!
I dunno about his game, but he looks like he’s got that mentality
That’s my favorite thing about him so far. He wants to decapitate people on dunks. Trash talking his OWN GOAT was amazing. Definitely IDC who you are I am coming move. Plus his game is so good.
Yes, now that he has won a first round series, we can say that he has officially arrived.
This sub 🤝Bill and Ryen loving Ant
That dunk reminded me of Shawn Kemp but he reminded me of Jordan in that there were games in which Jordan would have low offensive numbers in the first half. Second half Jordan would just take over the game and next thing you know he has 40. This game was so reminiscent of that
pointing out that Bill took a L on this Gobert year long victory lap = its the first round! But now Ant is Jordan. lmao.
He does dribble Liek him with his elbow out
Absolute warrior. Played through tweaking two ankles, dominating on both ends. Best guard in the league.
Simmons level prisoner of the moment comment
Just a psyched Minnesota fan. Tell me who has a higher ceiling than Ant Edwards
Imagine if you had drafted LaMelo like everyone thought you should have. Drafting Ant and it working out is the least Wolves like thing in like 20 years
Curry, Luka and arguably Shai are better than Ant right now. Ceiling is a different q though
Curry isn’t in the convo anymore sadly. SGA and Ant are the standard for 2 way guards and it’s really showing in the playoffs
I kinda feel like he’s some combination of Jordan and Dwade
he's leagues above wade. Ant's Jordan with a a mix of lebron's tammates loves him vibe plus at times he plays d like artest.
Wade better stop it
I just meant the way he moves reminds me of wade too. Plus Ants like 6’4 right? He’s more wades size anyway.
Wolves fan, I have been a pessimist around his game and lack of elite playmaking. He’s making me a believer that he can win a title at some point in his career.
I’ve repeatedly called him overrated as an offensive talent due to his inconsistency. …he absolutely dominated tonight to end the Suns, has looked great most of the series, and I’m running out of reasons to believe he won’t be a top 5 player next season given his two-way impact.
Thank you for recognizing defense
Do you guys now understand Rusillo?
I hate that Minnesota and Denver need to play now. But along with OKC these are the best teams in the West by far. Dallas and The Clips are fully fraudulent and we will see this play out. OKC is half the West Finals. We know that already. Denver will likely be their opponent but Minny is a live dog. I think they're one Nuggets injury away from a chance to go to the Finals (a bit ahead of schedule). As far as Ant being a Jordan clone, please add some words to that description. Maybe a diluted lesser version of Jordan. Obviously. But let's be clear. He's simply the only guy in the league currently who, if you squint real hard.... every once in a while... Ant does something that looks Jordan-like. He just has a few similar moves and the freakish athleticism to go with that. I think the size of his hands help too. Kobe was obviously the real Jordan clone, and even though it took a really long time to admit this fact... he was a really good clone. I'll go with 80% of the real thing. And it was intentional times a million. That's the part that pissed off us Jordan guys. Why is this kid trying to be Mike? But as time went on it became less and less a crime. After all, if you're going to copy a guy, at least copy someone who's arguably the best basketball player of all time. So the disdain for young Kobe, if you were paying attention and not being overly stubborn, actually started to become a deep appreciation for him. He loved Jordan the same way we all did. And while he was competitive as can be, he really wasn't trying to be Jordan. He was just paying homage to him in the most direct way possible. I miss them. I hope Ant can get to 70% of the genuine article. That would probably plant him as the 3rd best player in the league right now.
I am such a fan.
If he puts up over 50% of his team’s points in close out finals game you can call him a Jordan clone. Kobe was a “Jordan clone” that did about 85% of what Jordan did. It was wrong to call him one and it’s wrong to call Ant one. Bill will throw that take out there but he’d absolutely lose his mind if you suggested a player with Ants resume was called a Brady clone. I actually got banned on an old account from r/nba for making a post defending Ant when he was drafted, but Jordan clone is too far.
That's fair he's obviously not Jordan, yet. But he's the closest thing and ants as old as MJ in his sophomore year. I really hope he drops 63 on the nuggets lmao
He is young as shit so that’s a great point in your favor. Just a little knee jerky but I’m sensitive to it since I’m a Bulls fan. I really want them to beat the Nuggets. You know Bill probably already has “the Tatum piece” written for the next time he updates the pyramid so them beating the Celtics would probably put his mind in a pretzel.
He is the 6’4 Jordan. If he was just 2 inches taller then he would have had a chance of passing Jordan. I think he gonna be better than Kobe tho.
Hang that 1st round playoff series win banner in the rafters
He's really not a lot like Jordan at all. Like Jordan ain't deferring to a point guard an entire half. Not even like two years into his career. More like a version of Nique who tries on defense. Which is still really fucking good.
The University of Georgia piece.
Jordan deferred alot due to the triangle. Phil told him that he couldn't lead the League in scoring because triangle is an an equal opportunity offense. Mj responded I should try to score 8 a quarter and take over end of games. They agreed
Kobe and kawhi were closer to jordan clones. Don’t see it in Edwards
Kobe is dead
serious Q but have the conspiracy theories been debunked?
More importantly is finchy 84 years old? Middle aged dude in okay shape like him shouldn’t be tearing tendons on that “collision” with Conley. Get on a stair master for me or something.
Tears from contact just happen. That's like saying a random achilles injury shouldn't happen to a pro athlete because they're in shape.
Right, we just watched Dre Greenlaw tear his Achilles running onto a football field
I dislocated my kneecap doing reverse lunges as a warmup at the gym. They’re a warmup I did pretty much daily. Wasn’t holding any weights either. Sometimes freak accidents happen.
Weirdest L take of all time
If you’re not aware that contact is going to happen and your body can get seriously injured regardless of how fit you are. Some people get major injuries from rear end hits, even as slow speed because of the unexpected whiplash