We As A Society Need To Stop Suggesting That Every Good Young NBA Player Is The Next Michael Jordan
One of the more annoying parts of last season was how you couldn't go a day during the year without being told that Anthony Edwards was Michael Jordan 2.0. ESPN couldn't help themselves, it was all you heard about for weeks. Segment after segment, feature after feature, it was honestly embarrassing how desperate they were to make that a thing. Even Ant himself had to come out and try and calm that talk down, that's how out of hand it got.
Fast forward to the 2024-25 season and wouldn't you know it, ESPN is right back at it
I mean come on. I know some will say "this is just Stephen A Smith who cares" and blah blah blah, but that's sort of the point. This is how ESPN tries to create narratives and frankly, it's pathetic. What is the obsession with declaring that every good young current NBA player is basically the next Michael Jordan?? Do they not feel shame??
Aside from Stephen A completely ignoring the fact that Steph Curry put up 30 a game on 50/40/90 splits in 2015-16 which is a bit of an issue considering he's trying to suggest SGA is the only other guard in history to do that other than MJ, to suggest SGA is on an MJ like pace is patently insane. Just like it was when it was suggested that Ant was on an MJ pace last year.
This is what they're talking about
By Year in his age 23 season, MJ was putting up 37 a night. At age 26-27 (SGA's age), MJ was averaging 33+ points a night. In the playoffs, it was 36.7 points a game. Through his age 26 season (before his titles) MJ had won 5 different playoff series and made 2 Conference Finals.
SGA has 1 playoff series win in his entire career.
This is the problem with doing shit like this. All it does is force people to shit on SGA who by all accounts is having A HISTORIC season this year. One of the best seasons by a guard we've ever seen, no question about it. Why can't it just be left at that? What is this obsession with trying to make everyone Michael Jordan 2.0? We don't even do that with LeBron and he's probably the closest we actually have!
What happened to ya know….actually having to accomplish things in order to be even considered in that comparison?
I tend to believe if all these players are Michael Jordan 2.0, then none of them are actually Michael Jordan 2.0.
So much is made about the NBA product and what's wrong with it. Haters and losers of which there are still many keep obsessing about 3PT shooting for some reason when in reality, it's more about shit like this. It's the media landscape and how the league is covered. It's how the game is talked about on national TV networks. It's all narrative-driven bullshit that as a viewer, is insulting to watch.
I dunno, perhaps this is just me being an old man yelling at a cloud, but enough already. Stop trying to make Michael Jordan 2.0 happen just because there are some current players that are doing some awesome shit on the floor. They are not MJ, they will never be MJ. Nobody is and will be, that's why he's MJ.
With Ant and SGA already getting the comparison, who do we think is next? Wemby? Cooper Flagg? You know it's coming next season and it will be just as embarrassing as it's been these past two years.