Anthony Edwards is Starting to Bite Off More Than He Can Chew

“When you’re in your prime, you’re like 26. The s--- that I’m doing, I’m doing this s--- at 22. Imagine when I’m 25, 26, when this s--- is perfect, everything is perfected.”

That’s one of the messages that Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards shared with the world during “Starting 5,” Netflix’s 10-episode docuseries that came out on Wednesday.

Surely this can’t backfire.

Edwards has every reason to be confident. He averaged 25.9 points last season, finished seventh in MVP voting and had Minnesota three wins away from its first NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. Yes, all pretty impressive for a 22-year-old. 

A promising young star falling off certainly isn’t unheard of in the NBA.

A 20-year-old Jahlil Okafor once put up 17.5 points per game as a rookie. Brandon Jennings looked like he was going to be the Milwaukee Bucks’ franchise centerpiece in his early 20s. And don’t forget Andrew Bynum, who broke into the league at 18, was an All-Star by 24, and was out of a job before 27.

We want to make it very clear: Edwards is far better than Okafor, Jennings and Bynum, and the chances that he ever faces such a drastic collapse are slim.

There’s another side of the spectrum—the side where you can do everything right just to have the lack of a ring tarnish your legacy.

It feels like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Steve Nash and Allen Iverson should all be champions. They aren’t, and the absence of that title has always threatened to overshadow their individual accomplishments in at least some capacity.

A more modern example: Chris Paul. One of the greatest distributors of this generation will always be targeted for his inability to help lead a team to the promised land.

Getting a title is truly the icing on the cake for any Hall-of-Fame-caliber player. They need at least one to truly be respected. After all, who enjoys a cake with no icing? Winning matters. Big time.

So, how would we look at Edwards 10-15 years from now if he talked all this talk only to walk away from the NBA empty-handed. Someday you’d tell your kids just how incredible of a player “Ant-Man” was, but when their eyes open wide and they ask how many championships he won, you can bet they’d be a bit taken aback when all you can say is “zero.”

Having players in this league with chips on their shoulders makes the game more entertaining. Polarizing players get fans talking. Rivalries become stronger. Everyone wins. 

At the same time, watching a guy with four seasons under his belt, zero rings and two All-Star appearances act like he’s already the second coming of Michael Jordan gets sickening.

Taking shots at your opponents or the league every now and then is fine. Every player does it to some degree. But to say that you’ll have the game of basketball “perfected” by the age of 26 is too far, and if Edwards regresses at all within the next couple years, he’s certainly going to hear about it.

If you can dish it, you better be able to take it, too.