Those who saw the Timberwolves finish off the Suns in the first round of the playoffs and witnessed Ant-man’s 40 point explosion and this moment in particular:
We all had the same question pop into their minds: Where was Michael Jordan, nine months before Anthony Edwards was born? I have yet to confirm Jordan’s presence in Atlanta in December of 2000, but if the Internet is to believed, it will be confirmed soon.
While I can’t yet demonstrate the DNA link between the two players, I can confirm that Ant’s playing style is the most similar I’ve seen to MJ since Kobe. Is there a way to see this in the statistics? Where does Ant-Man 2023 rank on the “MJ Similarity” metric (the combined absolute value of the difference between last year’s stats and MJ’s career averages)?
Looking more closely at Ant-Man vs. Jordan’s statistical DNA, you may notice that at least in terms of the big three stats (points, rebounds, and assists), Anthony is very similar to Michael. He’s 90% Jordan. Next year, if he improves by 11% across the board and gets 29 ppg, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, the stat line will be very Jordan-like indeed. However, it’s in the defensive stats where he is the least GOAT-like. In terms of steals and blocks, he’s only 58% Jordan. Dad’s still got a few things to teach him about defense, but on offense, Ant-Man is indeed a superstar.
While we’re on the subject of defensive stats, let’s look at the league leaders from last season:
Looking at only two stats is an overly simplified way of looking at Defensive Player of the Year, but I’ll bet they’re a good indication that the DPOY will indeed be our favorite Alien. Wemby dominated defensively this season, but how good were his stats from a historical perspective? If you look at the best Blocks + Steals seasons over the last 50 years, it turns out he’s still got some room to improve before he’s at the Olajuwon / Robinson level. He’s only tied for the 25th best season with some defensive slacker named Michael Jordan. However, he did notch the best numbers on this list in almost 20 years!
Because of his combination of offensive and defensive statistics, I’ll still argue that Wemby is the future of the NBA over Ant-Man. Once again, here are the top 20 most productive players (MPPs) last season:
Notice that Ant Edwards and Wemby are in a virtual tie as the 11th and 12th most productive players this season.
However, as Wemby played six fewer games, Ant-Man drops further down the list when you compare their per-game productivity:
The biggest difference between the two is when you look at the per-minute productivity. Wemby skyrockets to 5th most productive in the league and Ant Edwards falls out of the top 20 with his 1.09 FPPM stat.
Time will tell which player improves more in the next few years, but it’s safe to say that at 20 and 23 years old, Wemby and Ant-Man have years ahead of them to reach their full potential. It’s a great time to be an NBA fan.