'That's where we need to be': National pundits zeroed in on Anthony Edwards, Minnesota

Analyst and former NBA player says the market needs to 'follow him.'

Author:
Nolan O'Hara for Bring Me The Sports
Publish date:
Jan 20, 2024 7:13 PM EST

In this story:

Austin Rivers was asked on ESPN whether he was surprised about Anthony Edwards’ ascension this season as one of the best players in the NBA.

Rivers, who used to play with Edwards on the Wolves, said he wasn’t at all surprised and that he thinks Edwards, on his best nights, is the best guard in the league.

Then Kendrick Perkins took it a step further.

“He’s the future face of the NBA,” Perkins said. “Don’t come giving me this, ‘He’s in Minnesota, small market.’ No, the market need to follow him. He’s in Minnesota, damnit that’s where we need to be.”

Perkins then went on to say that Edwards has been able to get the most out of his teammates. He said that Edwards has brought something out of Karl-Anthony Towns that Jimmy Butler wasn’t ever able to do. Perkins said it was a similar story with Rudy Gobert, with Edwards bringing more out of him than Donovan Mitchell did in Utah.

“He’s got all the it factors,” Perkins said.

Edwards has been getting more and more national attention. Stephen A. Smith, on ESPN’s First Take, said that even though he hates the cold, he’d come to Minnesota in the winter just to watch Edwards and compared him to NBA greats Vince Carter, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

Smith reiterated that sentiment on his podcast, making similar comparisons and comments about the Minnesota cold. Then he also took it a step further.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m going to be premature with this: I think this brother is going to win an NBA championship one day in Minnesota,” Smith said. “I think he’s going to bring a championship to that team.”