I'm So Jealous
Man I wish I were a Minnesota Timberwolves fan... well not the whole we are stuck with the most overrated player on earth Rudy Gobert part of being a Timberwolves fan but all the rest would be great.
You see, the Timberwolves have Anthony Edwards. At just 24 years of age, Edwards is the same age that Michael Jordan was when he won his first MVP. As a Bulls fan who watched over 500 of Michael Jordan's games, it would be absolutely absurd for me to say anyone is as good as Jordan. I still have not seen that. But in the all of the years since Jordan, there has only been one player that made me say "Damn that guy reminds me of a young Michael Jordan". Anthony Edwards is that player.
Now mind you, I am going off a far smaller sample size. I don't watch many of Edwards' regular season games, but I have watched almost all of his playoff games over the past three years. His tenacity alone reminds me of Jordan. He will attack until the other team begs for mercy. His ability to finish at the rim is amazing. He seems to hate losing more than he enjoys winning (something very rare these days) and he wants the ball in his hands when it matters most.
But this isn't really the reason he reminds me of Jordan and why I am so jealous he is not a Chicago Bull. This week, Edwards said that his goal was to "reach a point where I'm unstoppable". and he means it. Unlike many other players who already thing they are God's gift to basketball, Edwards is constantly working to reach the unstoppable level. Last year he saw how defenders were able to sag off of him at the three point line so they had a better chance of stopping his drives. So Edwards spent the off season perfecting his three point shot. Last year he took 10 per game and made 39.5% of them. But he didn't feel that made him unstoppable yet.
This year he noticed that he had already dominated the inside game at the rim and now the long range game behind the arc, but he was missing a piece. He was not satisfied with his mid-range game which had an efficiency of 36.2% (lowest among all players with at least 100 shots). So you know what he did this summer? He dedicated a ton of time and effort to master that part of his game. He even worked with the GOAT himself Michael Jordan in order to try to improve his game. Edwards is n all NBA 24 year old player who said "I'm not good enough". That is Jordan-like. Could you imagine if Shaq had put in half that amount of work on the pieces of his game that were lacking... mainly free throws? Or if he had said "I'm not good enough" and put his pride aside and shot free throws underhand? he may have scored 50 points per game.
Now I'm not saying Edwards will score 50 points a game or even 35 points per game, but a guy as deadly as he already is working so hard to improve makes me so damn jealous. Word has it that second year Bull Matas Buzelis has a huge chip on his shoulder for slipping so far in last years draft. Reports are that he is busting his ass to show every GM they were wrong. Although this makes me hopefully, I haven't seen any results yet. Hopefully starting tomorrow night Matas will start showing the world what he can do.
I think all the players just had a better work ethic back then. I remember watching an interview with Rodman where he talked about all the time he spent studying the way the ball bounced off the backboard and rim so he could anticipate where rebounds would be.
Having talent seems to be par for the course these days. If you want to be great they have to have that hunger for greatness and utterly despise defeat. That is hard to find these days, which I think is why it is still so easy to reminisce about the "good old days" ...especially as a Bulls fan. I love when I see a raw talent get passed over or disrespected in some way by management, as that chip on the shoulder mindset is really fun to watch play out. You just hope that fire inside doesn't ultimately result in an injury and shattered dreams. Would be great for the Bulls to get one of these kinds of players ...I think we almost had one with Derek Rose, but unfortunately injury shattered that dream far too early.
Knowing your weaknesses and strengths is the best part, besides striving to work hard to try to improve yourself is something very rarely seen in NBA players because they believe themselves to be good enough in their game to not seek the necessary help to improve, an excellent detail is that this training partner is Michael Jordan himself, it is a luxury that very few can afford, hence why at just 24 years old the Twolves are favorites for that title although OKC also with its young core starts with a little advantage over the rest of the teams
Every player has to improve their game in the same way. When the whole team works hard and improves things, then only we see that the team wins and the next team has to lose. Because even if both the teams are working hard, then when one team starts making a mistake, then the other team wins. It is a fact that things can be improved with hard work. Now if a team loses once, then its players should practice more and come back to the ground and win and make their country happy, their city happy, their fans happy.
They really worked hard playing in the NBA, and you will expect the unexpected every time they play, which is why you are really excited for every game.
It's not envy, my friend, but simply admires Edwards' dedication to wanting to improve season after season. That's how it should be, not limiting yourself and always evolving in every facet of the game.
Anthony Edwards really is something special, His energy and mindset remind me of the legends. Timberwolves fans are lucky to have such a hardworking and talented player on their team.
It's rare to see a player like Anthony Edwards in this day and age who acknowledges their weaknesses and works so hard to improve them. But that's how great legends are made.
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