It Was Only a Matter of Time

[Coolbreeze44]

Before Ant said or did something stupid that would damage his brand. His take that MJ was the only skilled player in his day is one of the stupidest takes one could have. With multiple baby mamas across the league and the new-found attention he is getting, his knuckleheadedness was bound to reveal itself. Guys, he's just not that bright. I know the reaction will be who cares, as long as it doesn't affect his performance on the court, all is good. There have been some good players who have been knuckleheads. Names like Stephon Jackson, Shawn Kemp, Demarcus Cousins, Michael Beasley, Darius Miles to name a few. But I don't remember a true superstar who was one, with the possible exception of Isiah Thomas of the Pistons. And even he ended up paying for it by not getting selected to the Dream Team.

I'm going to keep my expectations in check for Ant. His type seem to always short circuit their careers or fail to live up to the massive potential. I hope I'm wrong, and between the lines I will root for him as hard as anyone. I'm just seeing a negative pattern and don't believe he has the smarts to overcome future problems, whatever they may be.

[60WinTim]

Ugh! You're right! We should trade him sooner than later for a bunch of draft picks so we can spend the next 20 years searching for the right guy who brings excitement and a chance to win a championship...

[AbeVigodaLive]

I don't remember Isiah Thomas being a knucklehead... sans agreeing with Rodman about Bird that one time.



[Note: As for Edwards... yeah... dumb statement.]

[FNG]

This has been a concern of mine for some time. There is little question in my mind that Ant has the physical skills and drive to be a superstar...maybe even to become one of the all-time greats. But I worry about his head. When I review the list of the 30 greatest players of all time, I see men with a gravitas that I worry that Ant lacks. By the way, this is also part of his charm and why he is in the national spotlight. Nobody would argue that Karl Malone is more entertaining than Ant. What some may label a lack of gravitas, others may label as pure joy.

Anyway, I keep reminding myself that Ant is still young, and to Cool's point, not very smart. Every couple months or so he is going to do or say something that will concern me. And in between those moments, he will bring us lots of joy with his play and boyish charm. Time will tell which direction he will go. As he grows up, can he retain the qualities that lead us and many in the national scene to love him? Or will he go the other direction, and allow his lack of discipline to derail a potential top 50 career? My sense is that his behavior will become more reasonable as he matures. But I agree there is some risk here that I don't see with other young superstars like an SGA. I guess we will just have to see.

[Carlos Danger]

Is there a link to his full interview/comments? I've only read clips. And we all know how the media is in today's world...they clip out what they want so that everyone can be outraged - "OMG - he said what?". I'm just wondering if his full comments soften it up a little - IDK.

I guess either way, Edwards just turned 23. So if he says something stupid - it shouldn't really shock anyone. I'm guessing most of us said stupid things in our teens/early 20's.

You have to take the good with the bad. Edwards has done many interviews where he came off as confident, funny, charming young man. He's the face of our franchise. Get him a media coach...think Bull Durham clichés:
* We've got to play them one day at a time
* I'm just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club
* I just want to give it my best shot, and the good Lord willing, things will work out

[FNG]

Is there a link to his full interview/comments? I've only read clips. And we all know how the media is in today's world...they clip out what they want so that everyone can be outraged - "OMG - he said what?". I'm just wondering if his full comments soften it up a little - IDK.

I guess either way, Edwards just turned 23. So if he says something stupid - it shouldn't really shock anyone. I'm guessing most of us said stupid things in our teens/early 20's.

You have to take the good with the bad. Edwards has done many interviews where he came off as confident, funny, charming young man. He's the face of our franchise. Get him a media coach...think Bull Durham clichés:
* We've got to play them one day at a time
* I'm just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club
* I just want to give it my best shot, and the good Lord willing, things will work out

You know, Anthony...I'm not sure I want him to get a media coach. First of all, I don't know that he is teachable in that regard. And secondly, I'm not sure we want to suppress some of the fun things that come out of his mouth. Didn't we all love "Bring y'ass!"?

He may end up just fine and mostly keep his nose clean. But he may not...as I said, we'll have to see. But to Cool's point, he does seem to lack the demeanor of most if not all of the top all-time players. Where is he right now? As young players go, I would say much closer to SGA than to Ja Morant. But he could go in either direction. The mentoring of guys like Mike Conley will continue to be important in his development as a man.

[BloopOracle]

How does it damage his brand? The vast majority of youngins believe the same thing right or wrong. That's crazy to put him alongside Stephon Jackson come on now Cool. The kid doesn't drink, photos of him partying only happen once a month at most. I don't want him to have 10+ kids but some of the greatest men in our nation's history were allergic to condoms. The only time I've ever viewed him as a dumbass was when he posted a story making fun of those gay dudes, now that's brand damaging 101.

[Wolvesfan21]

He almost has a point though. Certainly Jordan had crazy skills being the GOAT. So he got that right. Jordan was far and away the best player. Even Magic and company would say so.

Not too his point but the avg guy to bench warmer back in the 80's and 90's wasn't really that skilled like in todays game. The depth of talent is super high now especially with so many international superstars. If you just took Americans of today and played NBA it would still be higher skilled but pretty close, but with the addition of so many good guys from all over the world, the talent increase is huge.

Certainly the Birds, Magic Johnsons, Isaiahs, not to mention Shaq, etc. would still be sensational now. But the difference between them and say Durant, LeBron, Steph. I still would take the latter by just a bit (except Shaq was probably better then Durant as far as domination, nobody could stop him kind of like Jokic but with the physicality versus all pure skilled footwork and moves, passing, decent handle). Then we add in Giannis, Jokic, Luka, Embiid, etc... Todays game is way more skilled across the board.

[Coolbreeze44]

He almost has a point though. Certainly Jordan had crazy skills being the GOAT. So he got that right. Jordan was far and away the best player. Even Magic and company would say so.
ai
Not too his point but the avg guy to bench warmer back in the 80's and 90's wasn't really that skilled like in todays game. The depth of talent is super high now especially with so many international superstars. If you just took Americans of today and played NBA it would still be higher skilled but pretty close, but with the addition of so many good guys from all over the world, the talent increase is huge.

Certainly the Birds, Magic Johnsons, Isaiahs, not to mention Shaq, etc. would still be sensational now. But the difference between them and say Durant, LeBron, Steph. I still would take the latter by just a bit (except Shaq was probably better then Durant as far as domination, nobody could stop him kind of like Jokic but with the physicality versus all pure skilled footwork and moves, passing, decent handle). Then we add in Giannis, Jokic, Luka, Embiid, etc... Todays game is way more skilled across the board.

Nah he doesn't have a point. The 3 pointer is the biggest difference in today's game, and that's because bright minds like Rick Pitino saw the mathematics and promoted shooting a lot more of them. There were a lot of unreal shooters back in the day who never relied on the 3 point shot. You take Jokic, I'll take Olajuwon. You take Giannis, I'll take Duncan, you take Luka, I'll take Magic, you take Tatum, I'll take Jordan, you take Shai, I'll take Isaiah. We can go on and on and I'll bring just as much skill as you can.

[rapsuperstar31]

I'm sure it's already been forgotten, kids these days don't have much of an attention span.