It remains to be seen if Anthony Edwards will truly become the face of the NBA, but he’s quickly stacking up big wins. Last year, he beat the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, and this year, he beat the Luka Doncic and LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers.
James is a player who knows all too well the pressures that come with being the face of the NBA. However, it’s hard to assume that mantle until you’ve won a championship.
James didn’t overtake Kobe Bryant as the face of the league until he won his first championship with the Miami Heat. Even the Lakers got spanked by the Minnesota Timberwolves, and James revealed the advice that he had given Edwards after the series.
“For me telling him to take the next step, it doesn’t always mean, okay, Western Conference Finals and now you’ve gotta be in the Finals,” James said on the “Mind the Game” podcast. “It’s like, take the next step for you as a person and you as a player. Continue to get better and better. Your time is going to come whenever.
“Sometimes we have no control over that next step as far as going to the Finals and winning. We don’t always have the opportunity to do that. But we do have control over making the next step in our own individual journey. And that’s what it was about because I love seeing him. … It’s a proud feeling for me being in the league for so long.”
James Wants to Give to the Next Generation
Over two decades ago, James was a hotshot young player who many thought could be the best player in the NBA. He was under immense pressure from a young age.
He sees players like Edwards under a similar kind of scrutiny, and he wants to do what he can to be a resource.
“I think that moment for me is understanding and recognizing the next generation and someone who can do it and be great for a long time in our league,” James said. “That’s what our game is all about is being able to pass it down to the next generation so they can continue to do great things.”
James Still Coming to Grips With Playoff Loss
The Lakers’ season wasn’t supposed to be over already. Following the Doncic trade, they played like one of the best teams in the NBA. Many predicted them to at least make it to the NBA Finals.
Instead, they only won one game in their first-round series. James is still trying to unpack the emotions surrounding the loss.
“Like you just said, you unravel all of those emotions,” James said. “And I’ve unraveled all of them in the sense of give me space, going back analytically seeing what I could’ve done better, what we could’ve done better, thinking about the individual matchups, thinking about their team versus our team, thing we could’ve done better. It all has entered my mind since Wednesday night when it was over with.”
