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Anthony Edwards Urged Not Follow Ja Morant’s Path to Become the Face of the NBA

Published 02/26/2024, 1:06 PM EST

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USA Today via Reuters

Anthony Edwards is a driving force behind the Timberwolves‘ success. The young star’s ability to provide defensive physicality and pierce the defense is his speciality. However, what makes him great is his ability to make the game fun to watch, an aspect that is mostly overlooked while assessing a player. This is a 22-year-old star brimming with potential to become the face of the NBA.

He almost reminds us of the Grizzlies star and former Rookie of the Year Ja Morant, who was touted to be the torchbearer of the present generation in the league. Ja has all the skills to be crowned as such, but his off-court shenanigans left a huge blot on his reputation as a role model, so to speak. Seeing that Ant’s off-court issues might take a similar shape, rapper Cam’ron advises him to keep himself in check.

Anthony Edwards needs to tone it down a notch off-court

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Host of the It Is What It Is show, Cam’ron admits that Ja could have easily been one of the faces of the NBA if not for his “off-court issues,” referring to his double suspension saga involving the possession of illegal firearms. He is afraid that Ant’s reputation could also be tarnished if he is not too careful. Skills-wise, Cam’ron credits Ant-Man as on a higher level than Ja’s, “Anthony Edwards does have the same explosiveness as Ja Morant, if not a little more because he’s taller, he has a great mid-range game.” Given Ant’s position as a young star with a substantial amount of money, some mistakes are bound to be made and Cam’ron understands that.

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However, to be the face of the NBA, he needs to avoid such controversies in the future. Ant needs to keep his off-court rep on track and keep honing his on-court skills. Above all, he needs to keep himself healthy. Chiming in, co-host Ma$e also says, “He could be the better player if he work on things off the court because that’s the only thing that scares me about Anthony Edwards.”

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Ant-Man got himself into deep water

Last year in December, Ant was thrown into a web of controversy after a series of text messages surfaced online that showed him encouraging an Instagram model to undergo an abortion. He had also wired her a huge amount of money for the procedure. The model, Paige Jordae, had shared the screenshots of the conversations, accusing Ant of not taking responsibility.

Reacting to Anthony Edwards’ Abortion Controversy, Gilbert Arenas Reveals How NBA Players Compartmentalize

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Later on, the 2X NBA All-Star admitted through a social media post that he had said some things under pressure that didn’t accurately represent his values of the kind of person he aspires to be. While that controversy has subsided for now, Ant needs to tread extremely carefully as he cannot afford to make a similar mistake for the sake of his NBA career.

Do you agree with Cam’ron’s assessment of Ja and Anthony? Are they as similar as he puts it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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Written by:

Tsuktibenla T Jamir

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Tsuktibenla is an NBA Writer at EssentiallySports, whose love affair with basketball began at the age of 16, sparking a passion that has kept her actively playing ever since. Representing her school and college in various tournaments, she earned the title of MVP in several instances despite contending with multiple injuries. A graduate in English Literature, she pursued a Master's in Journalism to solidify her place in sports journalism.
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Edited by:

Bilal Handoo