The Minnesota Timberwolves seem to have been all drained out from their grueling seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets. Chris Finch’s boys failed to put up the same level of production and lost in the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Anthony Edwards, among other members of the Wolves, had a lackluster series and Nick Kyrgios can only question whether he will receive the same amount of scrutiny as Jayson Tatum unnecessarily receives.
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Following the Minnesota Timberwolves elimination from the 2024 Playoff, Nick Kyrgios asked an interesting question on X (formerly “Twitter”). The tennis superstar wanted to know whether Anthony Edwards would receive the similar type of slander that Jayson Tatum has had to sustain over the past few years.
So will Edwards get the same slander as Tatum? – even tho Tatum wins more?
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) May 31, 2024
Jayson Tatum is one of the more successful youngsters in the league. Since joining the league seven years ago, Tatum has made it to the Eastern Conference Finals five times. He has also participated in the NBA Finals twice (2022 and 2024). But since he could not win the championship even once, naysayers often troll him for not showing up when mattered the most.
A similar case can be made for Anthony Edwards. The 6ft 4 combo guard was sensational in the first and second rounds of the postseason–averaging 29.4 points on 50.6% FG per game. However, his numbers took a massive dip in the WCF–24.6 points on 42.5% FG (per ESPN).
Ant is already being severely trolled on social media. After being touted as the Michael Jordan of the current generation, Edwards is now being mocked for being over-hyped. The 22-year-old has been pretty vocal about off-court chatter throughout his young career.
It’ll be interesting to see how he responds to the “over-hyped” claims. Edwards could take a page out of Tatum’s book by working on himself and not allowing the noise to get to him.
Anthony Edwards could learn how Jayson Tatum chose to ignore unnecessary criticism
Jayson Tatum has been one of the most criticized superstars in the league. Despite the illustrious resume he’s racked, he fails to receive the respect that he truly deserves. Showing incredible maturity, JT recently implied that he doesn’t need to prove anyone wrong. During the Celtics-Cavaliers series, he said (per Boston.com):
“I don’t always agree with the things that they say. When they’re fair and take emotion out of it, whatever way that they’re leaning toward when they’re fair, I respect it. I understand what the media has brought to our game. More eyes, more attention, and how everybody has benefited from that.
I wouldn’t say that I take it as disrespect, right? Like I said, I don’t always agree with what they say. Maybe I feel like they’re not watching everything else that I’m doing. That’s not my job to focus on that, right?”
Jayson Tatum has the golden opportunity of silencing his naysayers by lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy that he’s been chasing for far too long. While he can prove himself in the coming few weeks, unfortunately, Anthony Edwards will have to wait for five months (for the 2024-2025 season to start) to begin redeeming himself.
