Mike Conley likens Anthony Edwards to 'young Michael Jordan'

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley was named the 2023-24 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year on Wednesday, and perhaps pretty unsurprisingly, he took the opportunity to shower a teammate with praise during an interview with TNT’s Inside the NBA. 

Shaquille O’Neal asked Conley who teammate and All-Star guard Anthony Edwards reminds him of, and Conley made a comparison that keeps getting brought up more and more as Edwards continues to ascend into an NBA superstar. 

“I think a young Michael Jordan, bro honestly. He’s unbelievable,” Conley told the Inside the NBA crew. “I think more than anything with him has been his mentality. I’ve never met a guy, or been a teammate with a guy, who believes more in himself than Anthony Edwards. 

“I think he thinks he’s the best player ever to play the game, to walk on earth. You can’t tell him any different. He’s gonna go out there, he has a mean streak to him, and what’s most impressive about him is the way he competes on the defensive end. Not a lot of guys have that ability to take over games on both sides of the floor. Just super excited to have him as a teammate and you can learn from him just being around him.” 

That’s pretty high praise from a longtime starting point guard who’s seen more than his fair share of talented NBA players in his 17 years in the league. 

Edwards thus far has proven the comparisons right as he averaged 31 points, 8.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the Timberwolves Western Conference first-round series against the Phoenix Suns, who Minnesota swept 4-0. He's emerging as one of the most exciting players in the league.

Edwards has certainly caught the attention of NBA fans and the league, too. The NBA revealed that Edwards has generated the second-most views across its social media channels this postseason behind only Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James. 

And the posts from the NBA are only getting more and more frequent as the Timberwolves prepare for a second-round series against the defending champion Denver Nuggets.