{"id":76570,"date":"2024-05-07T19:22:30","date_gmt":"2024-05-07T23:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=76570"},"modified":"2024-05-07T19:27:53","modified_gmt":"2024-05-07T23:27:53","slug":"nba-legend-believes-anthony-edwards-is-more-explosive-than-michael-jordan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/07\/nba-legend-believes-anthony-edwards-is-more-explosive-than-michael-jordan\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Legend Believes Anthony Edwards Is &#8220;More Explosive&#8221; Than Michael Jordan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/edwaran01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Edwards<\/a> of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been dominant in the 2024 NBA playoffs, and his play style has garnered comparisons to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompmy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mychal Thompson<\/a>, a former Los Angeles Laker and father of four-time NBA champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a>, believes he might be even better.<\/p>\n<h2>NBA Legend Believes Anthony Edwards Is &#8220;More Explosive&#8221; Than Michael Jordan<\/h2>\n<h3>Thompson Compares Edwards to Jordan<\/h3>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I swear Anthony Edwards reminds me of the 22 year old Jordan I played against\u2026But Ants STRONGER and even MORE Explosive\u2026SCARY aint it?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mychal Thompson (@champagnennuts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/champagnennuts\/status\/1787889151926562838?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>High praise from a player who witnessed Jordan&#8217;s Chicago Bulls prime firsthand.<\/p>\n<p>Thompson is now a Lakers radio color commentator. The former Lakers center played against Jordan 12 times in his career. In those contests from 1984 to 1991, Thompson averaged 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. Jordan, on the other hand, averaged 33.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.9 assists.<\/p>\n<h3>Edwards&#8217; Performance in the Playoffs<\/h3>\n<p>Edwards has yet to lose a game in these playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>After a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/29\/timberwolves-star-receives-high-praise-after-sweeping-suns\/\" target=\"_self\">dominant sweep<\/a> of the Phoenix Suns, the Timberwolves shocked the 2023 champion Denver Nuggets by taking both games at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards scored 43 points in Game 1 to lead Minnesota to a tight 107-99 victory.<\/p>\n<p>Game 2 was a statement performance from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/07\/timberwolves-anthony-edwards-jaden-mcdaniels-x-factor-game-2-blowout\/\" target=\"_self\">entire Timberwolves team<\/a>, as they lambasted Denver 106-80 in spite of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/goberru01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rudy Gobert<\/a>&#8216;s absence due to the birth of his child. Edwards scored 27 points on 11-17 shooting, to go along with seven assists.<\/p>\n<h3>Similarities Between Edwards and Jordan<\/h3>\n<p>Edwards has a long ways to go to catch up to Jordan, who many feel is the greatest of all time.<\/p>\n<p>The two do share some uncanny similarities however. The Timberwolves star defies gravity, with the ability to hang in the air to finish contested layups and dunk over much bigger defenders. His post game and footwork may not be as developed as Jordan&#8217;s was, but it&#8217;s already among the best in the NBA at such a young age.<\/p>\n<p>His unwavering confidence and swagger are reminiscent of MJ as well, as many were quick to point out during last night&#8217;s game against Denver. The former Georgia Bulldog sank a deep three-pointer over Denver&#8217;s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holidju01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Justin Holiday<\/a>, before responding to a fan seated court side.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">ANTHONY EDWARDS JUST HIT THE \u201cMICHAEL JORDAN SHRUG\u201d AFTER A SIDE-STEP THREE IN GAME 2! \ud83d\ude33\ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>Is he really MJ\u2019s son? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oK7zQiY7LA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/oK7zQiY7LA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CourtsideBuzzX\/status\/1787698453167890700?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 7, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Edwards Shuts Down Jordan Comparisons<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;Ant-Man&#8221; is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/06\/minnesota-timberwolves-star-wants-player-comparison-to-stop-anthony-edward-michael-jordan\/\" target=\"_self\">not a fan of the comparisons<\/a> however.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Anthony Edwards wants everyone to stop the Michael Jordan comparisons:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want it to stop. He\u2019s the greatest of all time. I can\u2019t be compared to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thoughts? \ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n<p>Via. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/melissarohlin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@melissarohlin<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/78GY4bw78a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/78GY4bw78a<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CourtsideBuzzX\/status\/1787529924028342475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s easy to get caught up in your own hype, but Edwards has proved time and time again that he is as mature an athlete as one can be at 22 years of age.<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota will attempt to take a commanding 3-0 lead on their home floor on Friday. If Edwards is able to sweep the defending champions and advance to the Western Conference Finals, don&#8217;t expect the Jordan comparisons to go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves has been dominant in the 2024 NBA playoffs, and his play style has garnered comparisons to Michael Jordan. Mychal Thompson, a former Los Angeles Laker and father of four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, believes he might be even better. NBA Legend Believes Anthony Edwards Is &#8220;More Explosive&#8221; Than Michael [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4773,"featured_media":76575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62,1608,2,21,3],"tags":[49186,2109,607,214],"class_list":["post-76570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-basketball","category-featured","category-timberwolves","category-news","tag-2024-nba-playoffs","tag-anthony-edwards","tag-michael-jordan","tag-minnesota-timberwolves"],"modified_by":"Adam Echchaibi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4773"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}