Joe's Notes: Anthony Edwards, and a Difference Between Michael ...

Comparing good basketball players to Michael Jordan is nothing new. Kobe Bryant was compared to Michael Jordan. LeBron James is compared to Michael Jordan. In 2009, a significant number of publications called Hedo Türkoğlu the Michael Jordan of Turkey.

Most of these comparisons revolve around the overall ability of the player in question. Perhaps you’ve heard it asked (I jest) whether LeBron is better than MJ. Other comparisons, like Kobe’s, center more on competitive mindset. In Anthony Edwards’s case, the discussion commonly turns to Edwards and Jordan looking alike.

That last bit is beginning to change. More and more, the basketball world is comparing Edwards and Jordan not only on ability, and not only on facial structure, but on a very basketball-specific attribute: Shot creation. Here’s an example of the comparison being made. Here’s an example of why people are making it.

The term “shot creation” undersells what we see from Anthony Edwards, the loud echo of Jordan which runs through the Timberwolves offense. Shot creation is a functional thing. Nikola Jokić creates shots. What Edwards does and what Jordan did accomplish that task too. But they do it in a way that feels magical. It’s more than a fulfillment of function. It’s art.

Edwards, like Jordan two decades ago, turns basketball into beauty. It is beautiful to watch Anthony Edwards create an open look. This gets at a key piece of Jordan that’s often missed in those hideous LeBron/MJ debates:

Jordan was more than effective. He was more than physically impressive. He was artistic, and he was magical. LeBron’s is a superhuman body performing superhuman feats. Jordan and now Edwards are more human in their figure, and more beautiful in what they produce. There’s a reason basketball is so often compared to jazz.

Why Don’t We Like Arena Football?

Another group tried to resurrect the Arena Football League this year, and it hasn’t gone well. One team, the Iowa Rampage, has already folded, and others are rumored to be on their way to the same destination amidst mounting financial and logistical problems. Players have complained of not being paid. The Rampage complained of not receiving equipment on schedule from the league.

Most of the blame in this situation has been assigned to Commissioner Lee Hutton, who promised big things last year then failed to put teams in many of the promised markets. Hutton, to be clear, is doing himself no favors, staying conspicuously quiet while the saga unwinds. From appearances, though, it doesn’t seem like anyone else wanted the job. Hutton is failing. But it’s significant that no one else tried.

The biggest issue arena football faces is a lack of interest. Poor leadership has compounded the problem, but various entities have tried to make arena football work, and so far, the result has always eventually been bankruptcy. There were healthier years and years like this one. It’s always ended the same.

What this implies is that American sports fans don’t have an appetite for arena football. What’s more likely true is that American sports fans’ appetite for football, period, is satiated. We’ve got enough. We don’t need more. The AFL keeps failing. The XFL, USFL, and now UFL have struggled to grab sustained interest. There are fans of all these leagues. There are American fans of the CFL. But there aren’t enough.

Why is this worth our time? Well, the NFL and power conference college football continue to expand. They’re adding more games to their playoffs. They’re playing on more nights of the week. They’re adding more weeks to their regular season. By their judgment, there is an appetite for more football in America. Are they correct?

Probably. But only to an extent. It’s true that people will watch the NFL as the league expands to play on more days of the week. It’s true that people will watch the College Football Playoff as it grows from four to twelve teams this winter. It’s true that enough people will watch these games to make the expansion worthwhile for the NFL and for college football’s power conferences. These leagues face a different challenge than the AFL and the UFL. They don’t need to generate new interest. They just need to make sure existing interest expands into the new space they’re claiming.

Still, it’s telling that Americans keep rejecting attempts at building a fourth branch of football, beyond the NFL, high school, and college. Do we want more football? To a point. During a specific season, and involving teams we know. Beyond that, it’s too much. Even America’s favorite sport has its limitations.

The Rest

The NBA:

We talked about Anthony Edwards, but we didn’t talk about the Timberwolves as a whole. What the Timberwolves did last night was paradigm-shifting. Without one of their best players, they throttled the defending champions. They shut Denver down. Whether this is a function of Jamal Murray’s calf’s health or the Nuggets’ deteriorated depth or something more lasting remains to be seen, but the idea that the Timberwolves are capable of winning a title this year is now worthy of matter-of-fact acceptance. We knew the Celtics were a contender. We thought the Nuggets were too, and the Nuggets still might be. We were uncertain about the T-Wolves, and right now, they’re erasing all of that uncertainty. A whole lot of people are upset about the refereeing last night at Madison Square Garden, and I have no intention of pushing back on the decisions that were made. I wonder, having watched all of these issues in Knicks series specifically, whether refs are getting rattled by the moment at MSG, or rattled by seeing the mistakes their fellow officials are making during other games in the series. These “last two minute reports” are long and consequential. Is composure the problem? I have no strong expectation for the Mavericks and Thunder tonight, but I do think that series is happening at a lower level of basketball than what the Celtics, Timberwolves, and probably Nuggets are playing. It’s going to look better than it is.

The NHL:

Theoretically, if a hockey team’s goalie plays well enough, they will never lose. The Bruins have been testing that theory with Jeremy Swayman, and the trend continued last night in Florida. My question is what changed for the Bruins on offense. That was their best performance on the offensive end since Game 1 against the Leafs. The Panthers aren’t known for their defensive excellence, but they’re better than Toronto, and Sergei Bobrovsky did some special things in the series against the Lightning. The Bruins scored four goals last night while Bobrovsky was in the net. What changed? With the Rangers, Hurricanes, Stars, and Avalanche—those playing tonight’s two games—I’m most curious about betting markets. They’re high on the Canes, even on the road. They lean towards the Stars, but not by a lot. We talked yesterday about why we think the Stars might be overvalued by markets. The Canes piece is harder to pin down, and with the line moving slightly towards Carolina since opening, I’m curious if bettors are leaning into the idea that series naturally balance out, that Game 1 winners are likelier to lose in Game 2 in an even matchup, regardless of which team is which. We did not see that on the basketball court last night in Colorado.

IndyCar:

Roger Penske announced today that he’s suspended four people for two races apiece, including the Indy 500, in the wake of the recent Team Penske cheating scandal. He told the Associated Press that there was no “malicious intent,” but that internal processes had broken down. Is this true? We probably won’t know. Is this punishment significant enough? Again, we don’t know. Chevrolet has hired a law firm to investigate its own role in the situation. I’m not sure of the status of any investigation by IndyCar, which Penske also owns.

Chicago:

Big night for the Cubs, who get Cody Bellinger back in the lineup. Not a bad loss last night, all considered, but it was noteworthy to see where Justin Steele’s workload limit kicked in. Between him coming back at only that level of capacity and Bellinger coming back without a rehab appearance, there might be some urgency behind these decisions. In other injury news, Daniel Palencia is onto the IL with shoulder stiffness, and Keegan Thompson’s back to take his place on the active roster. Also! Seiya Suzuki is starting his rehab assignment tomorrow with Iowa. We’re publishing this right as the NHL Draft lottery begins, so by the time you read it the draft order will probably be locked in, with the Blackhawks selecting first, second, third, or fourth. Most likely, it’ll be third or fourth. More tomorrow on what their position means.