Charles Barkley has fired plenty of shots at ESPN over the years, and he was at it again on Tuesday. Barkley called out the network on Inside the NBA for pushing Anthony Edwards as the face of the league and named the three players who are actually worthy of that title.
“Hey, ESPN, I love you guys,” Barkley said. “Don’t try to make Anthony Edwards the face of the NBA. 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.”
The media in general, not just ESPN, has been pushing Edwards as the next face of the NBA. While the Minnesota Timberwolves star has been involved in some concerning off-court incidents, his play on the court and his personality have made him the prime candidate in their eyes. The man himself doesn’t want that title, though.
Edwards stated he doesn’t want to be the face of the NBA, as he just wants to play basketball and go home. He doesn’t want to have to deal with all that comes with that title. Despite Edwards’ lack of interest, the media still isn’t looking elsewhere.
Barkley has presented them with three more deserving candidates. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have both won a championship, unlike Edwards, and have been widely regarded as two of the top three players in the NBA for a fairly long time now.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is now making a strong case to be mentioned in the same breath as Jokic and Antetokounmpo. Gilgeous-Alexander won MVP this year and has the Oklahoma City Thunder on the cusp of the NBA Finals.
The Thunder are up 3-1 on the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, and Gilgeous-Alexander outplaying Edwards is a big reason why. The Canadian is averaging 30.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in this series.
Edwards, meanwhile, is putting up 24.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. Those are solid numbers, but you expect more. The 23-year-old particularly came under fire for his performance in Game 4, where he had 16 points on 5-13 shooting from the field.
Edwards, though, stated postgame that he did not struggle. He claimed he made the right play all night, but the Timberwolves are not going to be able to turn things around if his scoring is limited to this extent again.
Kendrick Perkins Explained Why Anthony Edwards Can’t Be The Face Of The NBA
While many on ESPN have been pushing Edwards as the next face of the NBA, Kendrick Perkins isn’t one of them. Perkins explained why Edwards can’t get that title just yet.
“You got to be a role model. And things outside the lines matter. Now, if you go down the list of all the faces of the league in the history of the game, you look at Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, LeBron, Steph.”
“What did they all have in common? While they was playing in the league, they all were family men. They all were married with kids. And if you think that don’t play a role in force, the role model, this is facts.”
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but this seems a stretch. Would LeBron James not have been the face of the NBA all these years if he hadn’t married and had kids? It was his excellence on the court that got him that title, as was the case with everyone else Perkins mentioned.
