Jay Williams firmly states Anthony Edwards’ ‘coronation was premature’ at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s expense 

After Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves made their way into the Western Conference Finals for the second year in a row, fans around the basketball world were ready to crown the 23-year-old as the next “face of the league”. After losing twice to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder, though, Jay Williams put the breaks on that conversation.

The Thunder won the first two games at home on by double digits. Oklahoma City walked away with a 114-88 win in Game 1 on Tuesday and secured a 118-103 win on Thursday night in Game 2. Gilgeous-Alexander has out-played Edwards so far in this series, averaging over 30 points per game.

Williams is a basketball analyst for ESPN that covers both the NBA and college basketball, drawing on his experience playing at both levels during his career. He offered his thoughts on the fanfare that has followed Anthony Edwards around for the last couple of seasons, suggesting that Gilgeous-Alexander’s name was getting lost in the shuffle of young stars ready to take the league over.

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Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder to a 68-14 record during the regular season and became the third player to win the MVP award since the team relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008. The 26-year-old has led the young roster around him to back-to-back seasons as the West's top seed, and Williams recognized him for his high level of play in this year's Western Conference Finals so far.

On Friday's episode of Get Up!, Williams said that the NBA world was too quick to annoint Edwards as the next face of the league over Gilgeous-Alexander. According to him, this year's MVP is reminding everyone that the conversation isn't over just yet.

"I think that this playoff series is over," Williams said. "...and I firmly believe that the coronation of Anthony Edwards was premature. I think you saw a sizeable gap last night...between a guy who's a MVP, who has a mental basketball IQ that is high and exceptional and a young player who is on his way to potentially becoming that down the line..."

Through two games in the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves have lost both by double digits, including a 114-88 blowout in Game 1. Game 2's performance was marginally better, but after a 118-103 loss on Thursday, Edwards heads back to Minnesota down 2-0 in the series.

Anthony Edwards declared himself better than Gilgeous-Alexander earlier in his career

Ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, fans revisited an old interview ESPN's Stephen A. Smith had with Anthony Edwards last season. In their conversation, Smith compared Edwards to Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, asking the Timberwolves star where he stands compared to each one of the them. Edwards was confident, saying that he is better than both of them.

Through the first round of the playoffs, Anthony Edwards proved himself right. He and Minnesota dispatched Doncic and the LA Lakers in five games, adding more big names to the list of stars that Edwards has sent home in the postseason. However, Oklahoma City presents a new challenge that Edwards and Co. have struggled to figure out.

The series is still very much salvageable for the Timberwolves, but they need a strong showing on their home floor to get back into it. Before Thursday's loss, the team hadn't lost two games in a row in more than two months. Saturday's Game 3 tips off at 8:30 p.m. ET, and all eyes will be on Edwards as he tries to back up what he said and cement himself as one of the league's future superstars.

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About the author

Zachary Howell

Zachary Howell is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University and over a year of experience in the field.

Being introduced to the digital side of content inspired Zachary to become a writer, and his love of basketball made this an obvious transition.

His favorite team is the OKC Thunder, and Zachary started following them in 2011 when they were on the rise with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. His favorite basketball players from the past are Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. Those three came to define their eras of basketball and were dominant without beating their chests too much. Zachary is a big fan of quiet greatness and these three players are good embodiments of that.

When not writing or watching sports, Zachary enjoys reading and exercising, as well as gaming. He loves to be outside and spend time with friends and family, including his three dogs.

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