Anthony Edwards was on his trip to China for his Adidas promotions when 2K Sports officially released the player ratings for its upcoming NBA 2K26 video game. According to 2K Sports, Anthony Edwards is a top-five player in the NBA and is rated 95 in the game, whereas Kevin Durant is ranked tenth in the game with a rating of 93.
Edwards found out about this during an interview on his trip. He gave a five-word candid reaction to being ranked ahead of his ‘big brother’ Durant.
“I’m glad I beat him,” said Edwards in response to his rating.
Anthony Edwards and Kevin Durant have shared a close relationship, especially since the 2024 Paris Olympics. When Edwards was drafted to the league, he was asked in an interview who he thinks is the greatest player of all time, and his response was Kevin Durant.
Edwards has seen Durant as a role model player while growing up playing basketball. From his shooting motion to his footwork, the inspiration from Durant is visible in his game. Therefore, it must be an elated moment for Edwards to know that even the world acknowledges he is better than Durant at the moment.
Durant dominates their head-to-head record, but Edwards has come up more recently in this matchup. In their history, Edwards takes the slight advantage after sweeping Durant’s former team, the Suns, in the 2024 Playoffs. In 13 games played against each other, Durant won six games while Edwards won seven.
It is noteworthy that Durant won all of their first six games against each other, but Edwards has come out on top in their last seven games. The trajectory changed after the Suns swept the Timberwolves in the 2023-24 regular season.
Edwards came back for his revenge in the 2023-24 Playoffs and swept the Suns out in four games of the first round. Following this, Durant called Edwards the “Baby Goat” as a sign of respect after the 2024 Olympics.
Subsequently, the Timberwolves swept them again in the regular season series in the 2024-25 season. Therefore, presently, Edwards has the edge over Kevin Durant in terms of who has been the better player recently.
Edwards averages 26.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the 13 games he faced Durant. Meanwhile, Durant averaged 25.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in those games.
Durant is nearly 37 years old and near the declining end of his career, whereas Edwards is only 24 years old and has nearly a decade left in what could be the prime of his career. Therefore, this takes nothing away from Durant’s legacy but marks the point in time where Edwards took the baton from Durant as a potential face of the NBA in the future.
