The NBA has Caitlin Clark. His name is Anthony Edwards, or Ant-Man.
Unlike Clark, most people have probably never heard of him. He plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that hasn’t had much success in the postseason. Minnesota drafted Edwards with the No. 1 pick four years ago. To be honest, for the first two years of Edwards’ professional career, I confused him with Anthony Bennett, the 2013 No. 1 draft pick who exploded in Cleveland and was then traded to Minnesota. Every time I heard Edwards’ name, I wondered if Bennett had stepped into the association.
Feminists and enemies of the patriarchy do not want young people to grow up properly. They don’t want to create any more male icons.
Obviously I was wrong. Edwards and Bennett have nothing in common. Edwards is a 6-foot-4 shooting guard. Bennett is a 6-foot-8 power forward currently playing in the Canadian Basketball League.
anything. Edwards is poised to become basketball’s next big star. On Sunday, behind his 40-point outburst, the Timberwolves defeated Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns in a four-game sweep, winning Minnesota’s first playoff series in 20 years. In fact, this is only his third playoff series win in his 35-year history of the franchise.
Casual basketball fans are about to be introduced to the most exciting and transformative player since Michael Jordan. Or should I say the first since Caitlin Clark?
I’m serious. Clark, 22, currently enjoys a far greater profile than Edwards, 22.
Why? Because Clark has gone through a proper branding and development program. She played basketball in college her four years. She made two long appearances in the NCAA Tournament. She connected with the most passionate fans in all of sports: college fans. She started locally and exploded nationally. She grew up in the game, the old-fashioned, better way, the way things were developing before social media amplified talentless fraud.
Remember the good old days when bands like Hootie and the Blowfish would play every little bar in South Carolina and then get signed to a major label? I lived in Rock Hill, South Carolina in the early 1990s . Hootie was performing at a local college bar, The Money.
That’s what Clark has been doing for four years, traveling from college town to college town and building a rabid fan base.
Edwards drank coffee in college basketball. He played one year at the University of Georgia before declaring for the NBA. For four years, he has struggled in obscurity. Avid NBA fans were aware of his talent and potential. Casual sports fans are just learning about Edwards.
That’s why I believe the NBA should pay prospects between the ages of 18 and 21 to stay in college for four years. It’s easy. The single destruction of men’s college basketball ultimately damaged the NBA’s raison d’etre. Caitlin Clark is a superstar entering the WNBA. She’s bringing in a huge audience. Anthony Edwards is early in the process of bringing crowds to the NBA.
I may sound a little conspiratorial here, but I think the destruction of men’s college basketball was planned. Feminists and enemies of the patriarchy do not want young people to grow up properly. They don’t want to create any more male icons.
Even if Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, and Zion Williamson had played four years of college basketball, Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese wouldn’t have been as popular as they are now. Over the past 20 years, we’ve focused more and more on the women’s game, largely because men’s college basketball has been so weak and the players so transient.
More than a decade ago, I started shouting that Brittney Griner and Skyler Diggins were two of the biggest stars in college basketball. This goes back to 2012 and 2013. Griner played at Baylor and Diggins played at Notre Dame. They were the most well-known of the male players. That trend continues unabated.
Men’s basketball at the college and professional levels has been negatively impacted by the one-and-done rule. The NBA may be able to solve this. This will not happen because everything that supports strong men is being destroyed.
It’s a controlled demolition.
Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Isaiah Thomas built huge brands in college basketball, then passively watched their relevancy decline due to a reliance on one-shot players. How else to explain a league that benefited from that?
The right mix created a rivalry between Magic and Bird. Jordan Brand, Air He created the Jordan sneaker and set television ratings records. The current system cannot recreate the traction and passion of previous eras.
Why allow this? Why allow women to replicate a superior system?
It makes sense when you realize that anti-patriarchy opponents want to cherish Caitlin Clarke more than Anthony Edwards.
I still like Clark. I’m fascinated by her story. But in terms of real basketball entertainment, she’s nowhere near Edwards. He plays above the rim. he is charismatic. He has a strong passion for the game. He congratulates his teammates. His backstory is fascinating.
He has overcome a difficult upbringing. Apparently he has nothing to do with his father. On social media, people are speculating that Michael Jordan is his father. This is irresponsible speculation. But on the court and in appearance, it certainly resembles Air Jordan.
All Edwards needs is a little public relations polish. He swears too much at press conferences. That’s my only complaint. He constantly throws out MF and other profanities when speaking to the media.
If the Denver Nuggets eliminate the Lakers later this week, Edwards and the T-Wolves will begin a seven-game series against Nikola Jokic and Denver. Jokic is the best player in the NBA. He will win his third MVP trophy in four years.
A highly competitive Nuggets vs. Wolves series could catapult Ant-Man to stardom.
