The USA Men’s Basketball team’s training camp for the upcoming Paris Olympics has hogged all the limelight in the offseason. The squad is stuffed with the best athletes in the world, but few have discounted Anthony Edwards’ potential to stand out even amongst those superstars. It is probably because his stone-cold-assassin attitude has often drawn comparisons with that of Michael Jordan. However, Skip Bayless recently declared that Edwards is still far removed from exuding the intangibles required to be on par with Michael Jordan.
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The veteran journalist’s comments came after Anthony Edward confessed to being nervous for his first Olympic practice game against Canada.
On UNDISPUTED earlier today, Bayless reiterated not being a fan of Edwards talking about his pre-game anxieties repeatedly in public. The FS1 host admitted that like many NBA observers, he has been guilty of comparing Ant-Man to MJ often. But he doubted if the comparisons were fair at all as Jordan rarely showed such vulnerabilities.
Bayless argued,
“I still haven’t seen enough of it, he hasn’t backed it enough to show me he is Jordan-esque, or Magic-esque, or Kobe-esque.”
Then the Fox analyst questioned whether Edwards really has the ‘It’ Factor to be called the future Face of the NBA. He recalled Ant-Man pulling off multiple disappearing acts during the 2024 playoffs. Bayless pointed out that Edwards took his foot off the gas pedal at crucial junctures, which allowed the Denver Nuggets to storm back in the Western Semis.
It was also a major reason why the Dallas Mavericks clinched three straight wins to bury the Western Finals. Bayless recollected Edwards’ post-game interview after Game 4 win, where he admitted lingering in the corner areas during the losses. These performances sowed doubts in Bayless’ mind about Edwards reaching to the level of someone like Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan in the future.
“You are admitting publicly that in the first three games, you ran to the corner in the fourth quarter, stood there, and opted to hide from basketball… I get that you are 22, and I get that you are supremely talented but do you have the right intangibles to be a Michael Jordan or a Kobe Bryant? That was an early admission of me that I am just not sure that you are THAT guy.”
.@RealSkipBayless questions Anthony Edwards’ IT factor after feeling nervous before USA vs. Canada pic.twitter.com/3OhJGzIfEX
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) July 12, 2024
But Paul Pierce had a strong counter-argument. He turned the attention back to the Olympic practice game against Canada, arguing that it was Ant-Man who acted as the sparkplug in a tricky situation.
The Truth reminded Bayless that in the squad that has generational talents like Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid, to name a few, it is pretty natural for the 22-year-old to feel as little unsure and nervous.
Then the 2008 champion put Bayless in a bind by asking him if this performance by Edwards reminded him of Jordan or Kobe. The veteran analyst had to concede that his impact in the practice game was indeed akin to those legends.
Overall, while Skip Bayless built an argument about Anthony Edwards lacking the mojo to reach the status of either MJ or the Mamba, he had to admit that Ant-Man has proven that he has what it takes to fetch such lofty comparisons. This contradiction proves that Edwards has increased expectations after a stellar start to his career and will be under heavy scrutiny for the rest of his career.
