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Charles Barkley does not want Anthony Edwards to be face of NBA
Charles Barkley does not want Anthony Edwards to be face of NBA
The Minnesota Timberwolves are staring down the barrel of their second consecutive five-game elimination in the Western Conference Finals, this time to the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
While Turner Sports (TNT) doesn’t have coverage of the West Finals (ESPN/Disney does), Inside the NBA co-host and Hall of Famer Charles Barkley made his feelings known about who he thought should–and shouldn’t–be considered the next face of the NBA.
“Hey, ESPN, I love you guys. Don’t try to make Anthony Edwards the face of the NBA,” Barkley said Tuesday. “The face of the NBA is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, [Nikola Jokic] and [Giannis Antetokounmpo]. You can’t give it to people. They have to take it, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is taking it.”
Edwards, 23, is perfectly content with not being the league’s next face. There isn’t a consensus about who will take those reins after LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant inevitably retire. But Edwards has been a player who’s been consistently brought up by many.
To Barkley’s point, Gilgeous-Alexander, Jokic and Antetokounmpo all finished in the top-3 for MVP this season. Those three also account for six of the last seven MVPs. But the counterpoint against them is that many want the next face to be American-born, which none of them are (SGA is Canadian).
Edwards is coming off a 16-point performance in Game 4, a two-point loss to give OKC a 3-1 series lead. He was making the right plays, but still didn’t look as aggressive as he typically would with his back against the wall.
He’s going up against one of the best defenses in modern NBA History, so we will see whether or not he responds and keeps Minnesota alive for one more game Wednesday.
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