Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards: present and future of the NBA
Morant and Edwards are made from the same wood. They are the 3.0 revolution of the NBA: stars who play above the rim, who arouse admiration in their followers and fear in defenses.
Ja Morant and Anthony Edwards bring the NBA back to its extreme fun mode. They run, jump, fly. Each journey to the land of giants is poetry in motion. They form, in their own way, a new rivalry made of reels, stories and posts on Instagram.
They are not the tallest, nor the most skilled shooters, they are not even – at least for now – the best players in the League. However, they are the favorites of new waves of fans. Because they do things that others can’t. Because they provoke sighs in each of their forays into painting. Because they are, in their own way, the two most spectacular players in the entire NBA.
Can, then, the illusion that both represent with the glory of winning a championship be embraced?
The future belongs to them. The League is beginning to say goodbye to an era with stars who are and will be unforgettable. After the belle epoque of LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant, it is the Morants and Edwards who will have to keep the flame of American basketball lit. In the NBA and in international tournaments. Because the transfer of command is no longer between men from the same country. Because the NBA (National Basketball Association) has already given way to the WBA (World Basketball Association). The best come from different places on planet Earth. See Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Morant and Edwards are, in their own way, similar. Because of how they play and because of the leadership challenges they bring. Both the Memphis Grizzlies (17-8) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (12-11) share the common factor of never having won an NBA title. Both Ja (25 years old) and Anthony (23) were compared to Michael Jordan himself for their aggressive, challenging style of play, with elastic legs to break defenses. But the point that arises to make a more serious comparison has to do with mentality: Does either of them have enough personality to lead their troops to victory? That is the big question that deserves an answer.
Last season, Morant played in just nine games. First, he had a 25-game suspension for off-field conduct problems and then a shoulder injury sidelined him for the rest of the season. Without him, Memphis literally disappeared from the map. Your challenge, then, is redemption. From his team as a group and from him as an elite athlete: concentrate on the game and believe again to lead the Grizzlies to the top of the West, something that is happening because they are second in the difficult Western Conference.
Edwards’ goal is different: after the departure of Karl Anthony-Towns, he needs to become the Sheriff of his own team. Nobody doubts his talent and projection, but his behavior is still confusing. At times he looks immature and out of place. Leadership is exercised by example and not by systematic complaint. You have time to correct it.
Something strange happens with both: on the rating scale, they are among the best in the League, but no one puts them in the Top 5. To enter that select group, you first have to win. Break a barrier, tear down the wall that separates humans from the demigods of the game. 21.7 points, 8.5 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game are Morant’s numbers this season, in which he reached a career high of 85% from the free throw line. Great news for a player prone to fouls. In any case, what is significant in the Grizzlies world is the balance of absorbing prominence and giving in. Beyond Jaren Jackson Jr. or Desmond Bane, rookie Jaylen Wells, veteran Marcus Smart and versatile Brandon Clarke gain prominence and space by overloading their star first and by the decision to give in later.
An example of trusting each other is the last game against the Wizards: Memphis won without Morant, has nine wins in the last ten games played and has a 7-4 record without Ja on the court. As you can see, too much is just as detrimental as too little.
Edwards’ case is that of someone who, forced by his talent and circumstances, sees no other options than to step forward. His change from one season to the next is in his three-point shot. He went from throwing 6.7 per game in 2023-24 to 10.5 in the current season. Ant-man also takes 20.3 shots per night, which clearly speaks to the responsibilities acquired. The shots that belonged to Towns are now also his: 26.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and four assists per game are the fantastic numbers on his personal scoresheet. Perhaps the outstanding debt is in the clutch: at times Edwards hides in the definitions of matches and his change of skin will come when he begins to make important decisions at key moments in the games.
Minnesota? It is still a very irregular team. Without Towns, the structure that reached the Conference Finals in 2023-24 seems to be different. Rebuilding with Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle in their ranks is the mission to be able to take the next step. The season for the Timberwolves will begin after the All-Star Game, when the postseason is more in sight. “No one liked how last season ended. We need to carry that feeling to motivate us to be better now. We can’t be a team that is happy just because it made the Conference Finals. We need to be the ones that are ready and determined to give the next step. I know that feeling is within us, but we have to keep it alive,” said Ant-Man on November 14, in the midst of a results crisis that fortunately for them came to an end.
Morant and Edwards are made from the same wood. They are the 3.0 revolution of the NBA: stars who play above the rim, who arouse admiration in their followers and fear in defenses. They always push the limits a little further than expected. That they have not yet won and as a consequence of that they retain the voracity of the sharks that smell blood and attack: the only mission in the challenging future that is presented to them is to lift the Larry O’Brien trophy. Let spectacularity embrace the fundamental objective of this sport. Let the form be twinned with the content.
Form teams, solidify groups, lead by example at an early age. All the great figures of this League, throughout history, traveled the same path full of thorns to embrace glory. Neither yesterday nor tomorrow: the championship mission is now.
Only those who resist fulfill their dreams.
