If there’s one star who wouldn’t back down from a self-imposed challenge in the NBA, it’s probably Anthony Edwards. His proclivity towards wanting to put people on posters is a bit contradictory given that he doesn’t really like to dunk. Though, when it comes to legends like Yao Ming, he means business.
Advertisement
“I don’t like to dunk at all, to be honest. Because it hurts,” said Ant in Netflix’s ‘Starting 5’. That’s fair given how painful repeated slams against a metal rim could feel on the palm and wrist.
His caveat that trumps all this pain? “I like to dunk on people.” Once more, this simplistic mentality towards dunking is incredibly fair and what most should aspire to attain as an uber athletic guard.
It also makes sense that Ant recorded the highest dunk score of the 2025 Playoffs with a score of 100.3. Putting Kevon Looney on a poster earned him the honor of being the sole dunk with a 100+ score for the entirety of last year’s postseason.
ANTHONY EDWARDS BODIED KEVON LOONEY pic.twitter.com/9Ubw4VXdro
— 0808 (@broimnotzeph) May 11, 2025
Perhaps he’s still chasing that high and hence, while on his Adidas tour in China, issued a challenge against Rockets and Chinese basketball legend, Yao Ming.
“I would dunk on Yao. Shout out to one of da greats,” said Edwards on a post on Threads. He was seen chopping it up with Yao as well for a bit and it would be interesting to know if he told Yao this to his face.
Regardless, would 6’4 Ant be able to put Ming on a poster, assuming the latter was in his prime. Well, Ja Morant dunked on Victor Wembanyama twice so it stands to reason that Ant, with similar, explosive leaping capabilities, would be able to do the same to a man of similar physical stature.
Edwards’ competitive spirit would also play quite a role in him accomplishing this feat. This is the same man who said, “H*** no,” when asked if he felt bad for dunking on people. “I wish I could dunk on every f***ing body. I wanna dunk on everybody, I swear to God.”
Yao has also been dunked on by players during his NBA career quite a few times. Kobe Bryant and Amar’e Stoudemire are two of the most iconic posters that he had to go through so Ant sounds like someone who be able to reach the heights those two did as well.
