Ant-Man Is Ending Our Childhoods Round-By-Round

The NBA over the last few years has been looking for its next group of star players to carry them in the post-LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant era. With a lot of the best young talent across the league being from overseas, the NBA has struggled to have one domestic player stand out, but based on the last two playoffs, I think it is safe to say that Anthony Edwards could very well be that US-born star the league has been looking for.

Throughout the last two playoffs, Edwards has not only become one of the faces of the NBA through strong play, but he has done so by taking out some of the best players of all time, including some of my generation's favorite players.

Last year, Edwards and the Timberwolves swept Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs and then somehow took down Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets in seven games, including coming back from down twenty points in game seven.

Ultimately, Minnesota's run ended at the hands of Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference Finals, but this year, Edwards is on the verge of getting his revenge by having Doncic's new team, the Los Angeles Lakers, on the brink of elimination, who, oh yeah, also have LeBron James, the face of the NBA over the last two decades.

As you can see, Edwards is building himself quite the resume by beating some of the greatest players of all time and some of the best players I grew up watching. Unlike most young players who would be facing off against some of his childhood heroes, Edwards doesn't run away from the challenge or get starstruck; he embraces it. Edwards plays with a confidence level that you typically only see from some of the all-time greats like Michael Jordan or Larry Bird, to name a couple.

By beating these icons round-by-round, Edwards isn't waiting for the LeBrons or Durants of the world to pass him the torch; he is taking it away from them.

What makes this even more fun? He might not be done yet.

If the Timberwolves can finish the job and eliminate LeBron and Luka's Lakers, it is all but certain that we will be getting a second-round series between Edwards' Timberwolves and Steph Curry's Warriors, who are also up 3 games to 1 in their first-round series. If this happens, Edwards would have the chance to add another all-time great to his hit list in Curry and would add another chapter in the making of perhaps the NBA's next all-time great.

For Edwards, the last two years have not just been about showing what's to come; it's about showing the league and its older stars that this league is his now and he's not waiting for the likes of LeBron, Steph, or KD to leave.

If he can finish the job, it would be quite the start to an all-time playoff legacy by taking out some of the players a lot of people my age, including Edwards, grew up idolizing.