Anthony Edwards is only one-and-a-half seasons removed from being selected No. 1 overall in the 2020 NBA draft. He is averaging 20 points per game this season, completing high-flying dunks, and providing league-best interviews. But if you ask some people outside of the Minnesota Timberwolves fan base, they still view Ant as the inefficient shot chucker. He carries with him the perception of a player who doesn’t love the game of basketball and his pre-draft comparisons to Dion Waiters.
Why?
Simple. The NBA does a poor job marketing its stars in small- and mid-market cities. If your favorite team isn’t out in California, New York, or Chicago, it won’t be getting the national TV attention it deserves.
This season, the Timberwolves had two nationally-televised games, both against West Coast teams. If the limited number of national TV games weren’t bad enough, the NBA has one of TNT’s most popular TV personalities saying that Karl-Anthony Towns should be taking fewer threes and should get in the paint more.
Towns is a singular, generational talent. But you want him to shoot fewer threes? KAT just won the 3-point contest, but earlier this season, you wanted him shooting fewer threes?
The NBA needs to address that type of analysis. If the league wants more people to care about more of its teams, maybe make sure national commentators know the name of the former 1st overall pick on national TV. They should refer to him as Anthony Edwards, not Anderson, nor the “the kid from Georgia.”
I’m not pretending that it would solve the NBA’s big-market bias if Charles Barkley knew Ant’s name. But it highlights the continued lack of respect teams like the Timberwolves receive.
It’s not just the Wolves. Multiple good teams in smaller markets don’t get the attention they deserve. Players like Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Brandon Ingram highlight the NBA’s marketing problem.
Think about it, have you seen a Murray clip on Bleacher Report? He’s averaging nearly a triple-double on a relatively shallow San Antonio Spurs roster. He got an All-Star nod, but do that many people really know what he’s doing?
For the longest time, any player drafted to a smaller-market team seemed to leave once their rookie deal was up. LeBron James took his talents to South Beach. Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors after they beat him in the playoffs. Then LeBron returned to Cleveland, only to leave again for the Los Angeles Lakers.
It seemed like history was doomed to repeat itself. Then a hero arose. Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Greek Freak’s contract was about to expire, and he was fresh off a loss to the Miami Heat in the bubble. Rumors swirled about his departure from Milwaukee that offseason.
Fast forward a year, and he leads the Milwaukee Bucks to the NBA Finals.
That’s hope.
Hope that Giannis just paved the way for future stars in small markets. Hope that young stars will start a new era to follow in his footsteps. Perhaps a young star like Edwards.
Comparing Edwards and Giannis off the court is an interesting case study. It’s hard not to love both guys. They provide us with hilarious postgame interviews, funny social media content, and antics on the court.
One loves McDonald’s:
The other loves Chick-fil-A:
Fast-food aside, players like Edwards have a real chance at changing league dynamics, much like Giannis did. Although Edwards hasn’t taken that Giannis-like leap yet, it’s not far-fetched to think he will soon. If Edwards leads the Wolves on a playoff run and inks an extension to stay in Minnesota long-term, you could see other players follow suit.
If Edwards leads the Wolves on a playoff run, the NBA has to market it. It’s not like they don’t know how to. House of Highlights has essentially lived off the likes of Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball, Luka Doncic, and Ja Morant for the past four years or so. With the exception of Luka, all these players play in small markets. Since Zion has had such an injury-ridden start to his career, his hype has understandably fallen off. But the problem arises when you look at a situation like Ball in Charlotte. Melo’s level of fame has only increased as time goes on, yet the media seems to be covering him less. Morant had all the hype, but the marketing quickly moved off him. And we only hear murmurs when Luka drops a 30-point triple-double.
NBA media would bring it until Easter if Russell Westbrook dropped a 30-point triple-double tonight. If someone like Murray dropped a 30-point triple-double, you wouldn’t even see a post.
It’s not all on performance, though. It’s about marketing. Trust me. I became a displaced Wolves fan when I saw Derrick Rose drop 50 points on the Utah Jazz. It’s not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to follow this team. As someone who lives near Philadelphia, I have seen zero Timberwolves jerseys that weren’t on my back in my lifetime. It’d be easy to forget they exist.
Edwards can shift all of this in the future. If he can lead the Wolves on multiple playoff runs, they may get national attention outside of the draft lottery. Maybe smaller-market stars start to look up to Ant like players do with Giannis and Damian Lillard. Maybe young kids from Philly will take an interest in the Wolves when the Sixers aren’t playing.
Players like Edwards can get people to pay attention to Minnesota. Same with LaMelo in Charlotte, Dejounte in San Antonio, and Brandon Ingram in New Orleans. Players of their caliber even the playing field in the NBA for the first time in a long time.
