Is Anthony Edwards The One?

It’s just after midnight and I can’t sleep.

It’s not because my bed is uncomfortable or that I’m not tired. Quite the opposite. The bed is a cloud and my eyelids feel heavier than James Harden’s first step a week before a new NBA season starts.

I can’t sleep because I made the classic mistake of scrolling Twitter in bed and came across a hot-off-the-press highlight of Anthony Edwards doing something on a basketball court that defies Newton’s unwritten laws of NBA greatness.

To write it down feels like a cheat code from your favorite childhood video game. Crossover, drive, crossover, crossover, step back, pause, contemplate the most absurd next thing to do, lean to the right while throwing the ball off the very top of the backboard, erupt into the paint while 5 defenders stare at each wondering if this motherfucker is really about to do what it looks like this motherfucker is really about to do, levitate towards the rim, catch the ball, and throw it down with both hands like you’re trying to smash a hole in the court.

And while all of that was so impressive it compelled me to leave that very comfortable bed, sneak downstairs, and turn my computer back on, it’s the calmness and composure of the pause that really gets me going.

In the heat of the game (28–5–5 in a W), the way he just stopped with the confidence of the Fonz ready to play a new song on the jukebox, freezing time, even if just for a second, like Neo in the Matrix, before everything snapped back to reality.

It’s the pause that has me convinced Anthony Edwards is “the one” we’ve been waiting for.

It’s the pause that gives me the confidence to put his name in a sentence next to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James.

It’s the pause.

Now I’m not going to literally pour over years of historical stats and data to try and force some mathematic argument down your throat about why Ant belongs in THAT category of player based on the first 3 complete years of his career — and it’s not because I’m afraid the data won’t say what I want it to say, so I’m just ignoring it altogether, or that I’m committed to publishing this now and don’t want to spend time on the research. The Basketball Reference tabs are open, people. An empty Google Sheet is loaded. I considered it. But sometimes the numbers don’t matter. Just watch the kid hoop and tell me he doesn’t have “it” — and then stutter and stammer and talk in circles until you finally admit that he does, in fact, have it.

Anthony Edwards has the swagger. The skill. The strength. The size. The confidence. The charisma. The charm. The shooting. The defense. The leadership. The shoe deal. The movies. The docu-series. The funny sidekick pet dog. The draft pedigree. Every single damn tangible and intangible thing you could ask for, in spades, without fail.

The NBA is loaded with supreme talent, from international imports like Jokic, Luka, Embiid, SGA, Giannis, and Wemby, to homegrown young studs like Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

But for my dollar, and in my opinion, none have the perfect package of every little thing that Anthony Edwards has, with so much time for it to explode into absolute superstardom and success.

Anthony Edwards is 22. He is an All-Star, and will be an All-Star again. He is the #1 guy on the Western Conference’s #1 team. He has made the Playoffs for two straight years and will probably never miss the Playoffs for the rest of his career.

He will get better and better and better, in the regular season, and the post season, and the offseason, until everywhere you look, you see Ant’s big grin, talking about his latest endorsement deal or show-stopping dunk or game-winning shot.

Anthony Edwards is inevitable.

Feel free to argue otherwise, but I recommend enjoying the show.

He is next.