Anthony Edwards Spills the Tea on His GOAT – It’s Definitely Not MJ!

Typically when current NBA stars are asked the question, “Who is your GOAT,” the response is one of three names: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James. Twenty years ago, this exercise would’ve produced slightly different results. I assume that in 2004, the common answers to this question would’ve likely been MJ, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and maybe you get a few stray votes for old-timers like Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain. This is all to say that there are often baked-in generational biases that exist within any discussion of who the GOAT may be, and that should be both understandable AND acceptable.

Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards was born in 2001, meaning that he wasn’t alive for the entirety of Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls career, and he certainly wouldn’t remember any of his time with the Wizards. Even Kobe Bryant, who peaked as a player in the 2006-2011 range, may be a little too old for Ant. That’s why Edwards’ choice may be surprising to most, but again, if you think about the generational bias of someone who is his age, his selection actually makes perfect sense.

Now you could make a case that Kevin Durant is only the third-best player of his generation, behind LeBron James and Stephen Curry, but I’m not going to sit here and try to pick apart Kevin Durant’s resume — mostly because I’m afraid KD might come after me on Twitter if I did. Instead, I’m going to opt to celebrate Kevin Durant’s career achievements.

Durant is a four-time regular season scoring leader who is the 10th-leading scorer in NBA history. He’s made 1st-Team All-NBA six times, and 2nd-Team thrice. He’s won Rookie of the Year, regular season MVP, and two NBA Finals MVP’s. He’s one of just 11 players in NBA history with at least 14 All-Star Game appearances.

By any measure, Kevin Durant is one of the fifteen-or-so best players who have ever stepped on an NBA floor. His career accomplishments have put him in the pantheon on NBA greatness, so if this is who Ant wants to rock with, I respect what is nothing but a subjective opinion, no matter how badly anyone wants to argue that there is a correct answer to this question.