After making light work of a stacked Phoenix Suns roster and sweeping a Kevin Durant-led team in the first round, Anthony Edwards proved that he may very well be the future of the NBA. Averaging a whopping 31 points in the series, pulling off highlight dunks and clutch shots, all while taunting his GOAT KD made the ongoing comparisons with Michael Jordan even stronger. It even got to a point when the fans started demanding a DNA test between MJ and Ant-Man to see if the two were related.

However, a person who battled Jordan for years during his prime, Charles Barkley believes that people might be making the comparison a little too early. When asked on The Dan Patrick Show if Edwards should be compared with Jordan, Barkley said, “In five to ten years.” Providing evidence to his claim, the Suns legend added, “People forget he (Jordan) averaged 38 a game back when you could really knock the hell out of people.”

During Jordan’s era, the game was not as kind to the offensive players as it is today. With rules like hand-checking, the games were way more physical and there was a lot more leniency on foul calls. Teams like the Detroit Pistons took advantage of those rules. With that, Barkley said, “He (Anthony Edwards) don’t have to go through the Bad Boy Pistons.” Covered extensively in The Last Dance documentary, the Isiah Thomas-led Pistons had special ‘Jordan Rules’ to stop MJ from dominating, which meant they would go to any extent to not let him score.

Despite getting banged up on nearly every play, MJ somehow won seven consecutive scoring titles, starting from his third season in the league. And Edwards is far for achieving a similar feat.

Even Anthony Edwards doesn’t want to be compared to Michael Jordan, yet

As it turns out, Charles Barkley is not the only person to think that we should wait a few more years before comparing Edwards to Jordan. Even Ant-Man had a similar response to the discussion when he was asked about it by ESPN’s Malika Andrews during an interview, “How would I look denying it? But I don’t wanna be compared with somebody of such calibre, I mean, I haven’t did anything on his level yet.”

However, Edwards believes that his time might be coming soon, “I love that they got faith in me for sure, I mean they not wrong.” And even if Edwards has not achieved much at Jordan’s level yet, he has that opportunity this year in the playoffs. Starting tomorrow, the Timberwolves will go head-to-head against the Denver Nuggets in the second round. If Anthony Edwards can somehow be the one to dethrone the defending Champions and then move on to the Conference Finals, he will have achieved something that even LeBron James couldn’t for the last two years.

Moreover, with Denver out, Edwards will have a chance to win his career’s first title at the age of 22. Not even Michael Jordan was able to do that in his Hall of Fame career. Do you think eliminating the Nuggets will bring Anthony Edwards closer to the level of Michael Jordan?