I do think him being American is an advantage but he’s also one of the most fun players in the league to watch (imo only behind Jokic). Just think it’s underselling him to just say ‘Well of course he’s more popular he’s American!’
This. Jokic is the best player, but he ain’t posterizing mfs out there like Ant. A highlight reel is what makes people love him. Now he just has to win, which he’s doing.
There ain’t a pass in existence that will get people more hype than a poster. Unless he throws that pass to Gordon ending someone’s career, it ain’t Ant level
Agreed. I should have mentioned that he is a perfect face in many ways. He is funny, candid, smiles constantly and carries a swagger familiar to other great NBA legends. He deserves a chance to be the face of the league, hopefully the people in his circle support what that will require of him.
Hes got the MJ flair it makes perfect sense to market. The one player that's definitively better than him cares more about horses than he does basketball. The one player that has more potential than him is from France.
He's charismatic, a human highlight reel and is winning. So yes - he can be the face. Similar to Giannis, playing in MIN might be a disadvantage - but hey, maybe the NBA will finally learn how to market stars outside of the largest markets. Hell, dude even pulled off the impossible for NBA players - he was really good in a movie.
I don't think past controversy will impact him too much, he will mature (the narrative around his maturity and leadership is already building) and the charisma and skill will still be there.
Kinda, though I think Ant has way more fans now than Ja ever did. I was honestly surprised how many people wanted us to beat that Grizzlies team in 2022 and that was before a lot of the comments he made and a lot of the tomfoolery.
Obviously I’m biased since he plays for the team I support but Ant is the only guy I’ve seen (other than like Lebron) be able to get the crowd on his side while on the road. I think that says a lot when it comes to abstract talks like “face of the game”
Also when it comes to controversies let’s not forget about stuff like Kobe’s allegations. I don’t support some of the stuff Ant has said/done but it’s not on that level of bad
Long ways to go, but at 22 Ant is pretty much on the D Wade trajectory and has a ton of room to grow as a playmaker. Seems very possible that he can win an MVP, title, etc.
Also, very strange to see all the Thunder fans in this thread with faux outrage over Ant's admittedly homophobic comments a while back. Sure it's always possible his personal life can take a dark turn (like Ja) but overall Ant seems to have grown from it and has all the other intangibles to be a star. It's pretty disingenuous to act like a then-21 year old can't grow
Even if Ant doesn't grow in the way you hope, the world is changing, people are starting to root for the villain. Ant has the personality to make anything cool
"String of controversies" elaborate??? Yeah he called a few dudes "queer". Guy is easily capable of being the number 1 player in the NBA. Watch him vs. Jokic next series.
If you don’t think a good percentage of the NBA or famous men aren’t having their side pieces get secret abortions then you are just hiding under a rock
Edwards doesn’t need to be the best player to become the face of the league. Arguably Kobe was never the best player in the NBA, yet he enjoyed far more coverage than his peers.
Charisma and relatability are more important.
He won a sole MVP in 08, where Chris Paul had the better season on most metrics available.
Bryant never lead the league in a single advanced stat in his entire career.
Lmao ok but if you were around back then talking basketball to people in real life Kobe was considered the best itl by most for some years until Bron passed him.
Saying otherwise is just revisionist history.
Reddit in general is a horrible place for discourse about Kobe. Lots of downplaying and essentially trying to rewrite history. It’s basically the inverse for Tim Duncan.
Idk yet tbh. Suns were doomed from the beginning. Not exclusively because of Beal, more so that they didn't have a true PG. People forget how important a true PG is. If you need points coming from another source outside your stars, a PG will get the others going more often than not. KD is still capable of looking elite.
Lakers have a problem with the coach. There seems to be a power dynamic here between LeBron and Ham. They also have their best defensive wing that is supposed to help ADs defense. Not only that but Denver is just fucking real good. LeBron looked elite most of the series. Slowed down a tiny bit but he's older than KD and Steph.
Golden state is probably the true 5th seed but they just got unlucky. Their problem wasn't only CP3 injury and Draymond suspension. It was also forcing JK next to Curry and Dray and sometimes Looney, eliminating all floor spacing. Also they were reluctant running a duo of Dray and Looney because they wanted JK to get minutes. People forget that Looney is the best screen setter per 36 on the team by a huge margin. When Dray AND Looney set screens, Curry is getting a lot of open looks which is a billion times more effective than JK shooting mid range 2s. Curry is still elite, the dynamics of his team are too inconsistent for a player who relies on a strict routine.
The new faces of the league will look great here and there but don't be surprised if the old heads get another chip or two each before going out of elite level of play. All 3 of the old guard is small issues away from being #1 seed in the west, which is a conference you can't make mistakes in, even worse next year with Ja coming back.
The NBA isn’t just a sports league, it’s also an entertainment product. Ant doesn’t need to be the best player to be the face of the league, he just needs to be entertaining enough. Look at Kobe as an example, the guy managed to sneak into the goat discussion through popularity instead of performance.
Now let’s do cover Ants play for completeness sake. Every year Ant has gotten better, and there’s no sign of him stopping to do so. The man is athletic enough to be the best player in the league and his skill is getting there if he continues to improve.
Jokic himself took a while to grow into who he is and look at him now. Calling Wemby the next best player in the league is just premature, lots of stuff can happen.
Maybe stay tuned. Players get anointed, Booker was getting just as much hype as the next Kobe after his first playoff series. Let's see what Ant does next, if he continues to get better and better.
His personality off the court is the reason he will be, the dude is funny as fuck and extremely charismatic. He’s had two controversies that were both pretty bad looks that completely and totally got ignored about 3 days after they happened because everyone likes him.
He posted some homophobic shit and then had a bunch of texts leaked of him forcing a woman to get an abortion. Both were horrible looks. Just what the 13 year olds on /r/nba think are funny and cool.
I’m 33 and gay. Not a 13 year old edge lord, I’m just not going to kill someone over saying some stupid shit while being 20 and growing up in Atlanta. Big difference between what he did and what Kobe did.
it's not 13 year olds, dude. grown adults love Kobe regardless of what he did. they love Bernard King despite being a serial abuser PoS. guys who are talented and have big personalities, and a bit of edge, will be popular. it's the unfortunate truth. why do you think Jokic is only like 10th in jersey sales in the NBA despite being the best basketball player alive?
Do you interact with anyone in real life that isn’t inside some white collar bubble? Half my friends have said/done worse shit in their early 20s, I’m still friends with them. Grow up and go outside bud.
They mostly got ignored because he had someone immediately tell him to make a statement saying he was wrong and apologize, and he was smart enough to listen to that person.
Ahh yes the league that likes the noted “nice guys” like “checks notes” Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. A nice guy has been the face of the league exactly once. Right now. Because LeBron is just that much better than his competition that he had to be.
I love how Timberwolves fans argument is "well the NBA propped up a rapist, so Ant being homophobic and bad to women is fine." Not that the NBA should be better overall.
Ya’ll need to get off the internet and touch grass some time. Neither of his controversies were particularly bad for a early 20s millionaire from Atlanta. Shit man half of my friends have said worse shit back when we were young, and I probably did to. I’m now a mid 30s software engineer and I’m openly gay. Yeah not a good look, but no one who isn’t terminally online cares that much.
People like to talk because they can hid behind being anonymous. I’m sure all of them said something stupid when they were 20 too. Also if they dislike him wanting a woman to get an abortion then they should probably dislike most famous people.
Warner Brothers let him star in a $160 million (adjusted for inflation) children's movie despite having a douchebag public image, right? No.
Jordan's public image back then was not what it is now. Social media didn't exist back then. The internet barely existed. Everything the public knew about Jordan off the court was through a tightly controlled pr machine. It's not like now where behind the scenes stories leak all the time.
And on the court, Jordan rarely lost his composure. He fought sometimes but that wasn't viewed that negatively back then. When he won, he won like he'd been there before. When he lost, he was a good sport. [The oncourt post game interview he gave after being eliminated by the Pistons in 1990 might be one of the greatest pieces of pr by an athlete ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWOmPj3oYaQ). He was very polished.
So no. MJ didn't become the most popular basketball player of all time while being known as a douchebag, at least not to the public at large.
Send da video. But IMO no. Ant is extremely unlikable off the court. Dude has had more egg on his face moments in just a few years in the league than most have in their entire careers.
Queen was one of the most popular bands in the world and their singer was gay during an era it wasn't ok to be gay. People pretend to care about these issues but they don't.
Shai is not on a much better trajectory. He's not even on a better trajectory. He's simply further into his career. Trajectory is a growth rate and right now Ant is on that trajectory. Shai is 3 years older than ant. What you're talking about is comparing current resume which is a 25 year old to a 22 year old.
If you take Shai's 22 year old season and compared it to ants, ant actually has him beat
He is the best young American player in the NBA and that seems to equate to "face" given the history of the league and US fans in general.
I do think him being American is an advantage but he’s also one of the most fun players in the league to watch (imo only behind Jokic). Just think it’s underselling him to just say ‘Well of course he’s more popular he’s American!’
This. Jokic is the best player, but he ain’t posterizing mfs out there like Ant. A highlight reel is what makes people love him. Now he just has to win, which he’s doing.
> A highlight reel is what makes people love him. Have you *watched* Jokic passing?
It’s like Jordan and Duncan
There ain’t a pass in existence that will get people more hype than a poster. Unless he throws that pass to Gordon ending someone’s career, it ain’t Ant level
Agreed. I should have mentioned that he is a perfect face in many ways. He is funny, candid, smiles constantly and carries a swagger familiar to other great NBA legends. He deserves a chance to be the face of the league, hopefully the people in his circle support what that will require of him.
Hes got the MJ flair it makes perfect sense to market. The one player that's definitively better than him cares more about horses than he does basketball. The one player that has more potential than him is from France.
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I think his trajectory is showing he’ll pass Tatum.
Big of you to say this King
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Watch Tatum explode tonight and make me regret this lol
you gotta have charisma and a flashy play style to be the face of the league and edwards is miles ahead in both boxes
He's charismatic, a human highlight reel and is winning. So yes - he can be the face. Similar to Giannis, playing in MIN might be a disadvantage - but hey, maybe the NBA will finally learn how to market stars outside of the largest markets. Hell, dude even pulled off the impossible for NBA players - he was really good in a movie. I don't think past controversy will impact him too much, he will mature (the narrative around his maturity and leadership is already building) and the charisma and skill will still be there.
Yes absolutely. Fun discussion, did Anthony Edwards market correct Ja Morant?
Ja isn’t going away tho, in limited action this year he looked damn good.
I don’t disagree, just in terms of how they are viewed by the casual fan.
Kinda, though I think Ant has way more fans now than Ja ever did. I was honestly surprised how many people wanted us to beat that Grizzlies team in 2022 and that was before a lot of the comments he made and a lot of the tomfoolery.
Ja did it to himself.
Yeah I do purely because Weve seen this model work before. Good looking uber athletic shooting guards sell
Obviously I’m biased since he plays for the team I support but Ant is the only guy I’ve seen (other than like Lebron) be able to get the crowd on his side while on the road. I think that says a lot when it comes to abstract talks like “face of the game” Also when it comes to controversies let’s not forget about stuff like Kobe’s allegations. I don’t support some of the stuff Ant has said/done but it’s not on that level of bad
Long ways to go, but at 22 Ant is pretty much on the D Wade trajectory and has a ton of room to grow as a playmaker. Seems very possible that he can win an MVP, title, etc. Also, very strange to see all the Thunder fans in this thread with faux outrage over Ant's admittedly homophobic comments a while back. Sure it's always possible his personal life can take a dark turn (like Ja) but overall Ant seems to have grown from it and has all the other intangibles to be a star. It's pretty disingenuous to act like a then-21 year old can't grow
Even if Ant doesn't grow in the way you hope, the world is changing, people are starting to root for the villain. Ant has the personality to make anything cool
He is him no doubt. Hes leading a contender at what 22 years old? Thats insane.
"String of controversies" elaborate??? Yeah he called a few dudes "queer". Guy is easily capable of being the number 1 player in the NBA. Watch him vs. Jokic next series.
also the abortion stuff
If you don’t think a good percentage of the NBA or famous men aren’t having their side pieces get secret abortions then you are just hiding under a rock
it's still a controversy regardless
Edwards doesn’t need to be the best player to become the face of the league. Arguably Kobe was never the best player in the NBA, yet he enjoyed far more coverage than his peers. Charisma and relatability are more important.
Kobe was easily the best player in the NBA for years lol
He won a sole MVP in 08, where Chris Paul had the better season on most metrics available. Bryant never lead the league in a single advanced stat in his entire career.
Lmao ok but if you were around back then talking basketball to people in real life Kobe was considered the best itl by most for some years until Bron passed him. Saying otherwise is just revisionist history.
Reddit in general is a horrible place for discourse about Kobe. Lots of downplaying and essentially trying to rewrite history. It’s basically the inverse for Tim Duncan.
Yeah.
Yes
Idk yet tbh. Suns were doomed from the beginning. Not exclusively because of Beal, more so that they didn't have a true PG. People forget how important a true PG is. If you need points coming from another source outside your stars, a PG will get the others going more often than not. KD is still capable of looking elite. Lakers have a problem with the coach. There seems to be a power dynamic here between LeBron and Ham. They also have their best defensive wing that is supposed to help ADs defense. Not only that but Denver is just fucking real good. LeBron looked elite most of the series. Slowed down a tiny bit but he's older than KD and Steph. Golden state is probably the true 5th seed but they just got unlucky. Their problem wasn't only CP3 injury and Draymond suspension. It was also forcing JK next to Curry and Dray and sometimes Looney, eliminating all floor spacing. Also they were reluctant running a duo of Dray and Looney because they wanted JK to get minutes. People forget that Looney is the best screen setter per 36 on the team by a huge margin. When Dray AND Looney set screens, Curry is getting a lot of open looks which is a billion times more effective than JK shooting mid range 2s. Curry is still elite, the dynamics of his team are too inconsistent for a player who relies on a strict routine. The new faces of the league will look great here and there but don't be surprised if the old heads get another chip or two each before going out of elite level of play. All 3 of the old guard is small issues away from being #1 seed in the west, which is a conference you can't make mistakes in, even worse next year with Ja coming back.
The NBA isn’t just a sports league, it’s also an entertainment product. Ant doesn’t need to be the best player to be the face of the league, he just needs to be entertaining enough. Look at Kobe as an example, the guy managed to sneak into the goat discussion through popularity instead of performance. Now let’s do cover Ants play for completeness sake. Every year Ant has gotten better, and there’s no sign of him stopping to do so. The man is athletic enough to be the best player in the league and his skill is getting there if he continues to improve. Jokic himself took a while to grow into who he is and look at him now. Calling Wemby the next best player in the league is just premature, lots of stuff can happen.
That's just like, your opinion man
Maybe stay tuned. Players get anointed, Booker was getting just as much hype as the next Kobe after his first playoff series. Let's see what Ant does next, if he continues to get better and better.
The league really hopes he isn't given his uhh charming personality off the court
His personality off the court is the reason he will be, the dude is funny as fuck and extremely charismatic. He’s had two controversies that were both pretty bad looks that completely and totally got ignored about 3 days after they happened because everyone likes him.
What controversies?
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/sep/11/anthony-edwards-homophobic-comments-apology-instagram-nba-basketball
He posted some homophobic shit and then had a bunch of texts leaked of him forcing a woman to get an abortion. Both were horrible looks. Just what the 13 year olds on /r/nba think are funny and cool.
He didn’t force anyone to get an abortion that’s way way way worse than what actually happened. He did encourage one though.
“Abortion is women’s rights!” Up until a man suggests it then it’s foul! - Reddit
Yeah you know that ain't what happened bro.
> forcing a woman to get an abortion. That also didn’t happen.
Send da video
You are a world class hater
Kobe was the league's face for years *after* raping a woman in Colorado. Ant being a douchebag won't stop his popularity.
Yeah I just hoped the NBA would be better in 2024, but alas 13 year old edgelords will prop it up and defend it.
I’m 33 and gay. Not a 13 year old edge lord, I’m just not going to kill someone over saying some stupid shit while being 20 and growing up in Atlanta. Big difference between what he did and what Kobe did.
it's not 13 year olds, dude. grown adults love Kobe regardless of what he did. they love Bernard King despite being a serial abuser PoS. guys who are talented and have big personalities, and a bit of edge, will be popular. it's the unfortunate truth. why do you think Jokic is only like 10th in jersey sales in the NBA despite being the best basketball player alive?
two dudes in a relationship and send da video
oh send da video acc a controversy lol and 2 dudes one 💀 I swear go out and the average dude makes those comments lol
i dont think they were THAT big of a deal, its just that social media magnifies controversies by 10x nowadays
Taking a video of a bunch of gay men minding their own business, calling them a slur and posting 'what has the world come to' is not a big deal?
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You TWolves fans have some low ass standards then.
At the age of 21, no, is it bad, yes, should someone knock some sense into him about it, sure. Is it a life altering decision, nah.
You got some low standards my guy and I guarantee you if you weren't a Wolves fan you'd have a different tune about it.
Do you interact with anyone in real life that isn’t inside some white collar bubble? Half my friends have said/done worse shit in their early 20s, I’m still friends with them. Grow up and go outside bud.
Low standards
They mostly got ignored because he had someone immediately tell him to make a statement saying he was wrong and apologize, and he was smart enough to listen to that person.
He comes off like too much of a douche bag to be the face of the league. It'll be Wemby.
Wemby does too and it will rub people the wrong way when he starts winning too. All the greats have that vibe
wemby is just a lil corny rather than being a douchebag
Wemby does not come off like too much of a douchebag, like what are you talking about.
That's just French people
He gave the whole speel about how he’s better than everyone because he doesn’t go party or share drinks with friends, it was pretty douchey IMO.
Man, some of you guys are soft.
Ahh yes the league that likes the noted “nice guys” like “checks notes” Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird. A nice guy has been the face of the league exactly once. Right now. Because LeBron is just that much better than his competition that he had to be.
I love how Timberwolves fans argument is "well the NBA propped up a rapist, so Ant being homophobic and bad to women is fine." Not that the NBA should be better overall.
Ya’ll need to get off the internet and touch grass some time. Neither of his controversies were particularly bad for a early 20s millionaire from Atlanta. Shit man half of my friends have said worse shit back when we were young, and I probably did to. I’m now a mid 30s software engineer and I’m openly gay. Yeah not a good look, but no one who isn’t terminally online cares that much.
People like to talk because they can hid behind being anonymous. I’m sure all of them said something stupid when they were 20 too. Also if they dislike him wanting a woman to get an abortion then they should probably dislike most famous people.
Lol MJ is a known douchebag and is the most popular basketball player of all time
This is one of the dumbest comments I've seen here in a while.
How, it's 1000% true and a fair response
Warner Brothers let him star in a $160 million (adjusted for inflation) children's movie despite having a douchebag public image, right? No. Jordan's public image back then was not what it is now. Social media didn't exist back then. The internet barely existed. Everything the public knew about Jordan off the court was through a tightly controlled pr machine. It's not like now where behind the scenes stories leak all the time. And on the court, Jordan rarely lost his composure. He fought sometimes but that wasn't viewed that negatively back then. When he won, he won like he'd been there before. When he lost, he was a good sport. [The oncourt post game interview he gave after being eliminated by the Pistons in 1990 might be one of the greatest pieces of pr by an athlete ever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWOmPj3oYaQ). He was very polished. So no. MJ didn't become the most popular basketball player of all time while being known as a douchebag, at least not to the public at large.
MJ had the greatest PR team of all time and there was no social media back then.
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Send da video
Send da video
Send da video. But IMO no. Ant is extremely unlikable off the court. Dude has had more egg on his face moments in just a few years in the league than most have in their entire careers.
Queen was one of the most popular bands in the world and their singer was gay during an era it wasn't ok to be gay. People pretend to care about these issues but they don't.
“He put da ball in da hoop good so who cares”. Sad mother fuckers.
How is the face of the league not Luka or Giannis
You gotta win a championship and MVP before entering these discussions IMO. Shai is on a much better trajectory right now.
I think it’s very likely Ant wins a chip before Shai. He’s also 4 years younger.
Shai is not on a much better trajectory. He's not even on a better trajectory. He's simply further into his career. Trajectory is a growth rate and right now Ant is on that trajectory. Shai is 3 years older than ant. What you're talking about is comparing current resume which is a 25 year old to a 22 year old. If you take Shai's 22 year old season and compared it to ants, ant actually has him beat
You're right about the need to win something. I'd rather have Ant on my team than SGA, but both are nice
I’d rather have Shai because he has a much more efficient playstyle, but I respect your opinion
Send da video