The Minnesota Timberwolves equaled the accomplishments of their best season in franchise history this year led by 22-year-old Anthony Edwards. The All-NBA Second Team selection sent a message to fans of the Timberwolves on social media, thanking them for their support and letting them know they'll be back next year.
"What's up, y'all? It's your boy Anthony Edwards. I just wanna tell y'all, Minnesota fans, and everybody in Minnesota, we appreciate y'all. We'll be back next year. So keep pulling up to the show next year. Let's do it."
We will be back! pic.twitter.com/tvXfNNvnl5
— Anthony Edwards (@theantedwards_) June 4, 2024
Edwards finally had a true breakout season which has led to many viewing him as a superstar-level player in the NBA. The 22-year-old was named to the All-NBA Second Team for averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.1 assists this season and helping the Wolves secure the No. 3 seed in the West.
The postseason is where stars are made and that's where Edwards shone the brightest. He averaged 28.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.9 assists in the first two rounds, knocking off two-time Finals MVP Kevin Durant alongside Devin Booker by sweeping the Suns in the first round.
He followed that up by ending the title defense campaign of three-time league MVP and 2023 Finals MVP Nikola Jokic in a seven-game series on the road against the Nuggets.
The Edwards magic flatlined against the Mavericks in the Conference Finals, as he averaged 24.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 7.8 assists in a 4-1 series loss. This was the first signature Playoff run of his career, with the Timberwolves having enough reasons to be optimistic about what's still to come.
All throughout this season, analysts got bolder and bolder with takes which compared Edwards to Michael Jordan. It started with some scouts naming Jordan as a physical comparison to Edwards coming into the NBA, something more people started to agree with as his career continued. This season, those takes were solidified, starting with Kevin Garnett saying it.
As Edwards' performances improved, more and more experts on the biggest networks in the world started to take the same stance. ESPN's Mike Greenberg went so far as to say that Edwards would win more titles than Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic.
"I will give you the guy who I think right now you can include Luka, you can include Giannis, you can include Jokic, you can include anyone you want. Over the next 10 years, the guy I think will win more championships than any of them is Anthony Edwards. If you were telling me I could start a team with any of them right now, that's who I would take. He, by the way, is 22 years old. He does do it on both sides of the floor. And he is the heir to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant."
It'll be very hard for Edwards to replicate the winning the other names achieved, given he's in a small-market organization with no track record for success beyond this season. The NBA is also in a golden age of parity, making the three-peats Kobe and Jordan won much harder to achieve.
Rising above all of this to win might be exactly the kind of performance Edwards needs to make himself a credible name in the GOAT conversation down the road.
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