Anthony Edwards and the Mindless Quest to Find the “Next Jordan”

There’s this thing that happens when Anthony Edwards, a very talented young basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, launches himself toward the rim. We, the basketball-watching public, collectively lose our minds.

We gasp. We gawk. We swoon. We shriek. We leap off the couch. We frantically text our friends. And then we invoke The Name—though we know we really, probably shouldn’t.

“Man, that was just like …” (No, don’t say it.)

“You know, he sorta reminds me of …” (Stop, please.)

“He even looks a little like …” (Oh, for the love of Naismith, here it comes.)

MICHAEL JORDAN! (Sigh.)

The enthusiasm is certainly warranted, the comparison understandable. Edwards, like the guy whose name we can’t help but invoke, is absolutely electric. He doesn’t leap; he explodes. He doesn’t…