Michael Jordan’s game has become the championship force that we mythologize it to be. When he came to the NBA, his game was vertical and getting to the rim, but he had to grow and change as the Pistons threw the “Jordan rules” (lots of double teams and physicality) at him. Jordan had to learn to trust his teammates and involve them in the offense, he developed a post-up game and much more. The result was rings.
Anthony Edwards has been frustrated this season as teams have thrown more double teams at him, eating up his space (partly because with Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle, the Timberwolves floor spacing isn’t as good ). “I’m only 23, I don’t want to just pass the ball all night, you feel me? … but the way they were guarding me, I think I have to do it,” he said Jon Krawcynski at Athletics.
This led Edwards to reach out to Jordan, ESPN’s Mark Jones said that during ESPN’s broadcast of Timberwolves vs. Nuggets on Saturday. o
“Someone in his circle told me that three weeks ago, Ant contacted Michael Jordan for advice on how to deal with some of the double teams and pitfalls he sees. He was extremely frustrated until ‘late.’
The speech seems to have worked, at least a little. In his last five games, Edwards is averaging 30.2 points and 6.2 assists per game (up from 26.3 and 4.4 for the season), and he is shooting 44% from 3. Minnesota has a record was 3-2 in those games, with losses to the Grizzlies and Cavaliers, but it beat Denver comfortably on Saturday.
Ultimately the Timberwolves need to build around Edwards, he is the future. That means getting the right players around him – like the Bulls did with Jordan bringing in Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and numerous shooters (including Steve Kerr) – but also Edwards evolving as a player to take advantage of all that talent. Jordan is the perfect person to talk about this development.
