As early as when the basketball god Michael Jordan retired for the first time, the world began to look for someone who could take over the torch from him. At that time, Anthony Hardaway, Grant Hill and others entered the league one after another with the title of Jordan's successor. They were full of talent, but most of them were trapped by injuries before they reached their peak, which was very regrettable. Until Kobe emerged and became one of the league's top superstars, the topic of Jordan's successor gradually ended. However, with Kobe's retirement in recent years, the topic of who plays like Jordan in the league has been turned up again. To this day, there is such a player in the league, who is very similar to Jordan in terms of technical play and character, and even his appearance has 70% of Jordan's charm. He is the head of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the new generation of wolf king Anthony Edwards. So how can he be crowned the new king of the Timberwolves at such a young age? What are the similarities between him and Jordan? Today, let us walk into Edwards' basketball life. Edwards was born in Atlanta, Georgia in August 2001. Unlike many famous stars, he chose the path of basketball when he was young. On the contrary, he was not interested in basketball for most of his childhood, but focused most of his energy on catching the basketball. He had a good understanding of the position of running, and was already a well-known figure in the United States at the age of 10. However, after watching his brother play basketball by chance, he became obsessed with basketball because he thought the sport was more interesting. Sure enough, interest is the best teacher. Although he did not start formal basketball training until he was 15 years old, Edwards, who had grown to 188 cm, had a high level of understanding. Under the careful guidance of coach Justin Holland, his skills improved rapidly. Coach Holland taught him respectfully: "Boy, use your physical advantage to attack the basket more, that will be your sweet spot." This laid the groundwork for Edwards to become a breakthrough demon like Jordan.
By his senior season, he was already averaging 29 points, nine rebounds and two assists per game, and was successfully selected into the All-American High School First Team. After graduation, he went to the University of Georgia instead of prestigious schools like Duke and UCLA. It is reported that he did it to be closer to home, but more importantly, the head coach at the University of Georgia at the time was Tom Crean. This famous coach single-handedly handed over two excellent shooting guards, Wade and Oladipo. The former led the Heat to three championships, while the latter, although less famous, was selected to the All-Stars twice and led the Miami Heat to a seven-game battle with the Cavaliers in the first round of 2018. At that time, the leader of the Cavaliers was LeBron, who was in great form that season. In his freshman season, Edwards averaged 19.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. After the season, Edwards announced his participation in the draft and was selected by the Timberwolves with the first pick in the first round of the 2020 draft. Lea Wiseman and Lamelo Bow are the two favorites to become the new No. 1 pick of the Timberwolves. Considering that Iverson played the No. 1 position when he first debuted, Edwards also became the second No. 2 pick in more than 40 years, following Doug Collins in 1973. This is because in the early years, the No. 2 position was inferior to the inside players in terms of combat power, tactical position and defensive ability. After all, basketball is a game for big men. The reason why Edwards, who changed his career halfway, was selected as the No. 1 pick is due to his super talent. In comparison, we will find that he is very similar to Jordan in many ways. Because of his experience in rugby when he was young, his body is very strong, with thick calves, long arms and wide knuckles. Although he is only 193 cm tall, his arms are narrow enough to reach 207 cm. Like Jordan, he has an excellent body born for basketball. At the same time, he has a rapid explosive power. When breaking through, the first step starts very quickly. During the breakthrough, he can maintain a low center of gravity and move quickly. He can be called the next generation of breakthrough demon.
Breaking through is one of Jordan's specialties, and even his shortcomings are very similar to Jordan's. For example, the scout report pointed out that he is not a good three-point shooter. His three-point shooting percentage during college was less than 30%, and Jordan's three-point shooting ability was not very good. His organizational ability has a lot of room for improvement. During college, he only contributed 2.8 assists per game but made 2.7 turnovers, and the assist-to-turnover ratio was an inefficient 1.05. Jordan's assist-to-turnover ratio during college was even more pitiful at 0.91. His jump shot ability is still insufficient, and he often relies too much on breakthroughs. Coincidentally, Jordan was also questioned in the scout report whether his jump shot could be better? Of course, if we conclude that Edwards' personal ability in college is no less than Jordan's at the same time based on these alone, it would be biased. After all, Jordan was deliberately suppressed by his mentor Dean Smith in college and could not fully unleash his talent. In addition, Jordan's defense in college was much better than Edwards' at the same time. But in any case, being compared with Jordan is the greatest affirmation of Edwards. Of course, the media also made fun of his appearance. After all, the beauty of the No. 1 pick in the Stars draft does have a lot of Jordan's flavor. The 20-21 season is Edwards' rookie season.
Due to the outstanding performance of Lamelo Ball from the same class and Edwards' struggles in the early stages of the season, he was once labeled a "parallel import". In five consecutive games, he failed to score in double digits four times. However, with the gradual awakening in the second half of the season, Edwards won the Rookie of the Month three times from March to May 2021. On March 19, he scored 42 points in the game against the Suns, setting a new personal and Timberwolves rookie scoring record. He scored 20+ points 36 times in a single season, breaking the Timberwolves' rookie record of 20+ times in history and surpassing Christian Laettner, a member of the Dream Team. It is widely expected that Edwards will break more records in his career.
Throughout the season, Edwards maintained full attendance, played in all 72 regular season games, averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.14 steals per game, becoming the rookie scoring leader of the season. Despite his poor performance at the beginning of the season and LaMelo Ball's outstanding performance after returning from injury in early May, Edwards was slightly inferior in the selection of Rookie of the Year, but he was still undisputedly selected to the All-Rookie First Team.
Entering his sophomore year, Edwards continued to improve. In the game against the Nuggets in December 2021, he made 10 three-pointers and scored 38 points. At the age of 20 years and 132 days, he surpassed Irvin and became the youngest player in NBA history to make 10 three-pointers in a single game. At the same time, he surpassed Wiggins and became the youngest 2,000-point player in the history of the Timberwolves. After the regular season, in the first round of the play-offs, he scored a team-high 30 points and led the team to defeat the Clippers. As the seventh in the Western Conference, he entered the playoffs again after four years.
Despite being the absolute underdog against the second-placed Grizzlies in the Western Conference, Edwards scored 36 points in his playoff debut, creating the fourth-highest score in NBA playoff debut history. After this round of the series, his average score reached 25.2 points per game, surpassing the opponent's second-team star Morant and his own All-Star big brother Towns. His three-way hit rate was 45.5%, 40.4% and 82.4% respectively, accompanied by key steals and blocks, averaging more than one steal and block per game. Despite the injury, he continued to exert his strength on both offense and defense, far surpassing Towns. What's more rare is that he was not yet 21 years old. Although the Timberwolves lost after six fierce battles, Edwards left with his head held high. He showed his talent and talent to the world. People couldn't help but admire that in time, this boy will become a great man. The Timberwolves management has become more confident about this. They believe that if the team wants to make a difference, they must support Edwards.
This season, Towns has been recovering from an injury since December, so the Timberwolves have been training Edwards vigorously. Although he is only in his third year, Edwards' average points per game has skyrocketed to 24.9 points. At the same time, his averages of 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.64 steals per game are all career highs. Although this is his first time as a team leader, he was able to steadily lead the Timberwolves into the play-in zone and was not far away from the sixth place that went straight to the playoffs. Therefore, he was selected to the All-Stars for the first time.
What's even more amazing is that he has played in all 61 regular season games so far. Regardless of whether he can continue to complete the feat of full attendance this season, he is undoubtedly an iron man. In early February, he scored 25+5+5 in five consecutive games, not only becoming the first person in the history of the Timberwolves, but also the fourth player in NBA history to achieve this achievement before the age of 22. The top three are Jordan, LeBron and Danchic. At the same time, his total playing time and total steals this season are both the first in the league. Looking at NBA history, there are only two players who can do this at the end of the season, namely Iverson and Jordan.
That's right. In addition to his initial technical characteristics, Edwards' ability to adapt and improve after entering the league is comparable to Jordan. Jordan was reported to have a weak left hand and a bad jump shot in the scout report, but after entering the league, he shocked the world with his actual actions. Then the media threw out the argument that Jordan's defense was not good. Jordan's response was to be selected into the annual first defensive team for four consecutive years. Even the voice that Jordan lacked organizational ability was apologized by the media for his performance of scoring 10 triple-doubles in 11 consecutive games when he was a substitute point guard. And what about Edwards? The defense that was criticized when he debuted improved in his rookie season, and he contributed at least 1 steal in 25 consecutive games. You know, the last rookie to do this was Chris Paul, who later made the annual first defensive team 7 times. After nearly three seasons of experience, Edwards's single defense and steals have reached the top of the league, and his help defense and blocks can also occasionally show their prowess.
With Towns out for a long time this season and Russell being sent away again, the team focused on developing his ball-handling ability. His air transport level has also risen to a new level, and his ability to attack with the ball has improved significantly compared to his rookie season. His shooting ability improved significantly and he became the youngest player in NBA history to reach the milestone of 500 three-pointers, earning praise from team legend Garnett. The reason why Edwards has been able to make so much progress is not only because he is good at learning, but also because he has a high enough ambition and is willing to work hard enough for higher achievements. He often sweats profusely in the offseason, but he has a low-key personality and is unwilling to show too much in public.
In addition to their technical style and physical appearance, Edwards and Jordan are most similar in their character and style as NBA players. You know, Jordan was still fully present until the last season of his career at the age of 40, and he was a famous iron man in the league, while Edwards' attendance rate since his debut has exceeded 95%. What's more rare is that Edwards recently expressed his views on the phenomenon of players taking turns to rest in the league. The trend of taking turns to rest is prevalent in the league today, and it seems that players always have to rest for a few more games regardless of the severity of the injury. Of course, this move is also necessary for the purpose of protecting the players. However, Edwards said that taking turns to rest is the only thing he doesn't like, and he should play even if he is only 80% of his condition. The audience may only have money to buy a ticket for one game, and that game may be their only chance to see you play. I am proud of trying my best to play every game.
Jordan is the one who has publicly expressed similar ideas. He said he is against resting because players are paid for 82 games. He also told reporters that many fans have saved money for a long time to watch me play. This may be their only chance in their lifetime. I don't want to disappoint them. It can be said that Edwards's remarks coincide with Jordan's views. We can see the style of old-school players in these two players. Perhaps this kind of thinking even exceeds his skills, which can be said to be the most lovable thing about Edwards.
Edwards still has a lot of areas to improve, for example, he still loses focus occasionally when defending without the ball, and his defensive position is average. At the same time, his ability to break double-teams when holding the ball is still lacking. In fact, as early as his rookie season, he was double-teamed by opponents because the double defense was ineffective. At that time, Towns was very protective of his younger brother and complained to the media that no other rookie would be double-teamed like him, and no other rookie would cause damage before the game started. However, the problem of passing the ball when facing double-teams can be said to be the last wall for scoring stars to become superstars. Both Antetokounmpo and Tayton were once forced to do nothing by this wall. At that time, their passing ability was even worse than Edwards's now, and they were targeted and lost the playoffs because of this.
Although they all eventually broke through this obstacle and then became superstars in an unstoppable manner. Edwards is currently only in the third year of his career and still has plenty of time to learn and improve. Perhaps in another two years, as his skills mature, Edwards will truly reach his peak. This third-year rookie, who is very similar to Jordan in all aspects, is not only the absolute core of the current Timberwolves, but is also likely to become an iconic figure in the future of the league. In the days to come, perhaps more and more people will see familiar shadows in him, but he must know that he is the unique Edwards.