This gives these playoffs an additional level of intensity, and makes them a wildly exciting, pivotal moment in basketball history. The dudes listed above aren’t just competing for the 2024 NBA title—they’re competing to become the new faces of the league. Anyone who’s been paying attention knows that Edwards has charisma out the wazoo, making him the obvious candidate. All that’s left is for him to put together the type of iconic playoff run—think LeBron singlehandedly beating the Pistons in ‘07, Durant bringing the Thunder to the Finals as a 23-year-old, or any of Curry’s heroics from the Warriors’ gold-plated dynasty—to turn his status from could be to very much here. Luckily, for the purposes of legacy cementing, Edwards’ current opponent is none other than the defending champion Nuggets, who he dismantled on their home court in Minnesota’s Game 1 win on Saturday, dropping a cold-blooded 43 points. This series provides the toughest test of Ant’s young career, and gives him a chance to plant his flag at the top of NBA mountain—but it will also showcase the immense personality clash between the crotch chopping Edwards and Denver’s top dogs, who clearly have no interest in being the face of the league.
In the other corner, we have Jokic and Murray, subscribers to the “let your play do the talking” mentality. Great for grabbing the Larry O’Brien trophy, not exactly ideal for the type of star making that transcends basketball. Edwards, on the other hand, has already held his own alongside Adam Sandler in a movie, has his own signature shoe, and is pretty clearly the funniest dude in the NBA. He’s one of the rare people that can be identified as a potential face of the league and actually embody the spirit necessary to be one. Watching him inevitably try to poke the bear against Denver is sure to be high-level cinema—especially because Denver knocked the Wolves out of last season’s playoffs with a gentleman’s sweep in the first round.
If Edwards can pull off the upset, not only does the remaining competition in the Western Conference get easier, there’d also be very little resistance for him in becoming the league’s main character. There is a world, of course, where Edwards and the T-Wolves meet Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. That battle of young, handsome hoopers would certainly get the league office excited, but also do wonders for introducing both players to the casual fans that only really lock in for the playoffs. Gilgeous-Alexander’s incessant “What A Pro Wants” commercial is unavoidable on broadcasts right now, which seems like a not-so-subtle effort to get the Thunder point guard on as many television screens as possible. Because, for as great as they’ve played this year (and as great as SGA looks wearing luxury clothing), the fact of the matter is that neither he or Edwards are quite household names yet for people who don’t have League Pass. A trip to the Finals, though, would go a long way toward changing that.
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