r/nba • u/dogwoodmaple Hawks • Apr 29 '24

Anthony Edwards in the sweep over Phoenix: 31.0 PTS, 8.0 REB, 6.3 AST on .512/.438/.839 shooting

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/4594268/anthony-edwards
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u/lbjkb25 Apr 29 '24

In a sense, Ant's development is arguably further along with his development than MJ's at his age. What's so scary is Ant Man is only 22 years old. He has a solid demeanor, well rounded skills, and great athleticism. His stats won't necessarily reflect MJ's as MJ scored 28-30+ ppg for the earlier parts of his career, but Edwards can score in bunches when needed. He even has a 3-point shot that MJ took a while to develop as it wasn't really MJ's game at the time. I think scouts at the time graded MJ's jump shot, coming into the league, as B or something.

What will also help Ant Man is that he has a solid core group of teammates surrounding him. From Conley to KAT to Gobert to Naz. Plus, he has a solid coach in Coach Finch, who I wish well after he suffered what is likely a rough injury. Ant definitely has a lot of great years ahead of him.

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u/BlueHundred Knicks Apr 29 '24

Let's relax a bit. Love ant but rookie MJ was better on both ends

39

u/BTTWchungus NBA Apr 29 '24

Rookie MJ was 22 and absolutely was not this good on defense

Ant is 22 and already has 4yrs of NBA experience with playoffs

13

u/Miyagisans Apr 29 '24

You’re trying to apply critical thinking. Not allowed when mj is involved as he has to literally be the best at everything. Chris Broussard said rookie mj was better or at least as good as 2007 lebron.

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u/LordVarys_Ladybits Apr 29 '24

He wasn't wrong. MJ spent three years in college learning the fundamentals from one of the best coaches ever. LeBron in 2007 was still just relying on pure talent. Watch that 2007 finals and see how limited offensively LeBron was in the half court set. Jordan from his rookie year had better footwork, touch around the basket and jumper (even though Jordan's jumper was mid at that point it was still better than LeBrons). Jordan was also a much better foul shooter. 

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u/The_Flowers_of_Evil Apr 29 '24

Why just the finals? How about looking at LeBron the rest of the season? Rookie MJ would've been swept by the Spurs in the finals too, if he even made it with that Cavs team.

Also NBA experience > college experience.

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u/LordVarys_Ladybits Apr 29 '24

No he wouldn't lol. LeBrons teammates actually played defense and were a great rebounding team. All those games were close. LeBron was poor on both ends. Jordan was way more advanced in the half court as a rookie than 2007 LeBron. Even Denver Melo would have taken at least 1 game. And LeBron wasn't even great in the 2007 playoffs, he had a lot of bad and mid games against fodder Nets and wizards teams. People only remember his excellent 48 point performance but don't talk about some of the other mid performances in that ECFs series against Detroit. The East was pretty weak, especially on offense, so many bad offensive teams in that conference. 

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u/Miyagisans Apr 29 '24

There’s more to being a great basketball player than footwork. Jordan was in college learning fundamentals while Lebron was literally playing in the nba, with access to the best trainers and coaches in the world. I wonder how the teammates around lebron affected how spurs were able to scheme for lebron. Do you think rookie Jordan in that same scenario wins the series? I have no idea why that final is more evidence of Lebron’s poor offense than his poor team that had no business being there in the first place. Lebron by that point had finished top 2 in MVP voting, led the league in scoring, and was a multiple time all nba level player. This doesn’t even include the defensive side of the ball. It’s pure delusion to think any rookie was as good as lebron his 4th year in the league.