Anthony Edwards arguably has been the most dominant two-way player during the 2024 playoffs. While he made short work of Kevin Durant and his Suns in the First Round, Nikola Jokic and the reigning champs have had no answer for him in the first two games of WCSF. Being an outspoken personality, Ant has also developed the reputation of a trash talker on-court. Contrastingly, Jayson Tatum, widely regarded as the number one USA-born player in the NBA, has a much quieter demeanor.
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As per Jeff Teague, despite Edwards’ heroics, he’d still take Tatum over him. Teague and Tatum were teammates when the former PG played for the Celtics during the 2020-21 season. On his ‘Club 520’ podcast, the 2021 champion admitted to his ‘bias’ when picking between the elite athletes,
“It’s tough but nah, JT my ni**a so it’s all bias right now.”
Then, the former 6’3” guard juxtaposed both personalities. For him, Edwards is always acting as a hype-man making him more “likable”. On the other hand, as per Teague, Tatum is much more reserved and a man of a few words akin to Kobe Bryant.
“The different about them, ANT kind of a guy, his personality is more likable. Like, he, ‘I fu** with my guys’, JT, very Kobe Bryant-ish, I shouldn’t say Kobe RIP but you could relate to JT a little, but he kinda so reserved, that you like, man, ‘He’s so mysterious’,” Teague stated.
Thus, the 2015 NBA All-Star brilliantly highlighted the differences between the two personalities. While Tatum was being touted as the face of the league, he now has fierce competition from Ant-Man.
How have JT and Anthony Edwards fared in their careers?
While Edwards has been rolling out 40+ points performances, Jayson Tatum’s 2024 playoffs-high is 28 points. As Teague also pointed out in the podcast, Tatum has much more help around him so the scoring is distributed much more evenly and also, he has prior playoff experience. While ANT’s Wolves have gotten to the Conference Semis for the first time since his arrival, Tatum has led his Celtics to four Conference Finals including a 2022 NBA Finals appearance.
JT has also benefitted from the Celtics’ coaching system and management that was fielding squads capable of making ECF runs even without him. However, he certainly elevated their profile.
On the other hand, Ant-Man is fresh to the playoffs scene and still has a long way to go. While he has been a 20+ points scorer and lockdown defender from day one, this season, he came with much more fire than ever.
His personality has attracted a lot of fans as his Gary Payton-esque trash-talking style reminds fans of the old-school NBA. He didn’t shy away from calling Kevin Durant “old”, getting in his face repeatedly. Meanwhile, Tatum is more of a silent killer and nonchalantly destroys his opponents.
Even with all the differences in their personalities, both are fierce competitors and believe in giving their all on the court. Needless to say, the league is in safe hands as veterans like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry are approaching the end of their careers.
