Hailed as the second coming of Michael Jordan, Anthony Edwards has made it a point to blaze his own path. Though, the comparisons did lead him down the road of getting in touch with MJ. Unfortunately, at the moment, sprinkles of advice from ‘His Airness’ haven’t led to a fully-fledged relationship.
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The first comparisons between Ant and Jordan began during the 2023-24 season when the former was merely 22 years old. Sweeping the Suns in the first round, Edwards did so with his own stylistic offensive play, reminiscent of the mid-post, mid-range/slashing scoring that MJ put on display.
Of course, knowing NBA fans, mere comparisons weren’t enough. Besides, Kobe Bryant was the first to lay claim to ‘Michael Jordan 2.0’ chants. Fans decreed that Edwards was in fact MJ’s son. Hilarious. While they do have similar facial symmetry along with an air of cockiness around them, they aren’t related.
In a recent interview, the Wolves All-Star was asked about his relationship with Jordan. His response? “It’s not really a relationship right now.”
Despite them not having a personal relationship with one another, Edwards has used the contact to his advantage ad nauseum. Most recently, he took help from the Bulls legend on the intricacies regarding mid-post scoring.
“One thing about Mike in the post, he leans back. Most people go like this and use their butt. He gave me some tips on why he does that. I learned something in the post this year for sure.”
Earlier this year, Ant reached out to him yet again but this time on facing double teams. He’s famously had trouble navigating through them, even complaining about not being able to drive into crowded spaces due to constant double teams.
The admiration isn’t a one-way street however. Michael, through Stephen A Smith, has stated, “That brother is special. No question about it,” when speaking on Ant.
With MJ coming in as a ‘special contributor’ to NBC this season, he’ll surely have opinions on Edwards and his ascension. Despite what most people believe, Jordan’s return to television is to help prop up new-age NBA players and so praise towards Anthony Edwards will be quite common.
