3 reasons why Anthony Edwards is not the next Michael Jordan

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards is getting a lot of buildup. He was oftentimes the best player on Team USA at the World Cup this summer. The hype train may have traveled further if he led the U.S. to a gold medal instead of a fourth-place finish. He also starred in a 2022 Adam Sandler-led feature film. Things are going well for the 22-year-old.

He may be one of the NBA's best young players, but he is not Michael Jordan. At least not yet. It is too soon to compare Edwards to “His Airness.”

Let’s take a look at how the two differ.

The main differences are obvious, of course. Edwards is not the greatest plyer of all time. He still has plenty of his career to play.

We can take a look at how the two compare at this point in their careers. So, let’s see how Edwards stats fall short of what Jordan was doing at the same age and time of his own NBA career.

Three reasons Anthony Edwards is not at Michael Jordan’s level yet

Anthony Edwards falls short of Jordan’s resume. Almost every player to ever don an NBA jersey doesn't measure up to the GOAT’s career.

Edwards has zero rings to Jordan’s six. Edwards has made one All-Star game so far while Jordan had 14 appearances. Plus, Jordan won an NCAA title with the North Carolina Tar Heels as a freshman and a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics before entering the NBA. The list goes on.

So, let’s instead focus on ways the two can be compared. We can look at where Jordan was after his third season in the NBA and how it compares to the career of Anthony Edwards so far for example.

Here are three reasons why Edwards is not the next Michael Jordan.

#3: Anthony Edwards does not score like Michael Jordan

Jordan is one of the greatest scorers in basketball history. He had perhaps the greatest midrange jumper of all time. He could leap over any big man who dwarfed over him. His finishing at the rim was smoother than a jar of creamy peanut butter.

Edwards has a fully finished game as well. He can drain 3-pointers and finish with ferocious dunks. However, he does not have the finishing abilities and same midrange efficiency as Jordan. He also is not quite the volume scorer Jordan was.

Last season was Edward’s third year in the league. He had a career year scoring 24.6 points per game. He played in 79 games. In Jordan’s third year he played 82 games and also had a career year.

His Airness led the league with a whopping 37.1 ppg in his third season (after dropping a single-game playoff record 63 against the Boston Celtics in the 1986 playoffs in the Boston Garden against one of the greatest team's in NBA history). Edwards has not touched those scoring numbers yet in his career and likely never will.

As it was, Jordan has the highest scoring average in NBA history (30.12 ppg) and led the league in scoring in 10 of the full 11 seasons he played in Chicago.

#2, Jordan was a better defender

Jordan was known for his abilities on both ends. Anthony Edwards has not become an elite defender yet. The Minnesota guard has a defensive rating of 113.7 in his career.

The Bulls legend had a defensive rating of 102.7. The all-time NBA record is 95.3, set by Gar Heard. MJ was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1987-88, his fourth season, and was on the All-Defensive team nine times in an era when defense was at a premium.

Edwards has a ways to go as an elite defender to live up to the formidable force Jordan was. Jordan averaged more than two steals per game in each of his first three years in the league. Edwards has averaged 1.4 spg thus far.

#1, Jordan would outrebound Anthony Edwards

Both players are high-flying guards. Jordan used his leaping abilities to rebound in a way that Anthony Edwards has not quite mastered yet.

Last season, Edwards hit a career high of 5.8 rpg. It is a respectable number. However, Jordan averaged a number higher than that nine times during his career.

Of course, this is a skill Edwards can improve upon much like Jordan did throughout his career. It may be harder though as in today’s game players like Edwards spend more time on the perimeter away from rebound chances.

Comparing anyone to Jordan is unfair, save for a select few. However, it is clear that Edwards may not be the heir apparent to GOAT. The guards may have some similarities, but Edwards falls short of Jordan’s greatness so far.