Anthony Edwards‘ play during the 2024 NBA playoffs has led to some comparisons to Michael Jordan. To be clear, there haven’t been people explicitly saying that Edwards is the second-coming of arguably the greatest player of all time, but there are things in his game that look a lot like the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards legend — Jamal Crawford, in particular, noticed something while he was on the call for a Minnesota Timberwolves game against the Phoenix Suns.
Not everyone is buying this, though, like Edwards, who really wants people to stop doing this. And prior to Game 4 of the Wolves’ series against the Denver Nuggets, Charles Barkley begged basketball fans to not compare the two.
Chuck wants everyone to stop comparing Ant and MJ
pic.twitter.com/jYPKDBxwHR
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 12, 2024
“Please, America, please stop the Michael Jordan stuff,” Barkley said. “This guy’s had one good playoff run. I think he’s gonna be a great player, he’s a really nice kid, we root for him, we want him to be…”
Barkley was cut off by Shaquille O’Neal, who asked if Edwards is close to Jordan, to which he replied “hell no.” Even when Shaq specifically asked if he is close to where Jordan was at 23 years old, Barkley wasn’t sold.
“I love Anthony Edwards,” Barkley said. “Do not do that.”
Kenny Smith then chimed in and made another common comp for Edwards, saying “his body type, and the way he plays, to me, reminds me more of D-Wade, young D-Wade, when he was carrying that team when he had Lamar Odom and he was going through the playoffs for the first time.”