Paul George on Anthony Edwards’ take on Michael Jordan’s era: ‘A very immature comment’

“I didn’t want him just to take anything,” George Sr. added. “So his whole thing is, he does stand up for what he believes in. And so he felt that that was a bunch of bull that they came at him with. And I wasn’t gonna sugarcoat it either. Yeah, I’m behind you 100%. If you’ve got to leave, we’re gonna leave. Of course, it kind of put us in a little bump and grind, but it’s all good. It’s all good. You love being at home, but then sometimes home can kind of slow you down. He put in work for it and I felt that he should’ve gotten paid for it. And so we didn’t stutter about it. Like what, they came at you like this? Oh nah, you’ve got to go.” -via Clutch Points / September 2, 2024

“It was hurting,” Paul George Sr. said of his son’s departure. “It was like… I felt like they stabbed us in the back because I thought Paul did a whole lot for the team, as far the fanbase, the fans was there. He was there. I think he gave them 110% and what he was asking, it wasn’t a whole lot. But they saw something different.” -via Clutch Points / September 2, 2024

After building a perennial contender around George and Leonard for the past five years, now the Clippers will try not to miss the postseason for just the third time in 14 seasons. “When you lose a guy of Paul George’s stature, instantly people [think] oh, they can’t win or they’re not going to be competitive,” Lue told ESPN last week. “But that just challenges me even more. OK, people are counting us out or people don’t think we’re going to be good. That right there just gives me an extra dose of [motivation]. “I can’t wait to prove everybody wrong.” -via ESPN / August 28, 2024

Timberwolves president of operations Tim Connelly spoke with our Darren ‘Doogie’ Wolfson on Tuesday at the Minnesota State Fair. They touched on Connelly’s time at the Olympics in Paris, Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels, whether another roster move could be coming before the season starts, and more. Tim Connelly: “We would like Rudy to be here for a really long time. We love his agent, he’s been our friend for a long time and one of the best guys in the League. Certainly, our goal with most of these guys is keeping them as long as they want to be here and everyone’s very happy. So ideally, continuity is one of the better strengths we’re gonna have going into this season, and we really like our core group.” -via KSTP / September 3, 2024

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards may only be 23 years of age, but he is already tasting quite a bit of success. This offseason, Edwards experienced the peak of his career to this point. He played an important role for Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics and emerged out of it as a gold medalist — quite the feat for someone as young as Edwards is. It seems as though Edwards is only getting started. Perhaps the gold medal he bagged will spur him on to greater heights, especially as he looks to lead the Timberwolves even deeper into the playoffs a year after coming up short in the Western Conference Finals. This is what the 23-year-old guard brother, Antony, believes, as the gold medal could provide the springboard that the Timberwolves star needs to fulfill his full potential. “I think winning a gold medal is just gonna make him more hungry to win for the Minnesota Timberwolves,” Edwards’ older brother said in a video posted by the official Timberwolves account. -via Clutch Points / August 29, 2024

Nonetheless, for Jrue Holiday, there’s an even bigger yapper on the Team USA roster. Durant can be incisive with his trash talk, but for the Boston Celtics guard and two-time NBA champion, Anthony Edwards’ mouth runs even more loudly than that of Durant’s. “Anthony Edwards [is the biggest trash-talker on the team.] 100 percent. 100 percent. He’s a great player and you see him trash-talking for a very, very long time,” Holiday said in an interview with media members during Raising Cane’s “Golden Birthday”, via Justin Turpin of WEEI. -via Clutch Points / August 28, 2024

Gilbert Arenas on GOAT debate: ‘They will never bring up Michael Jordan because he’s not real today. He’s real like we know who he is but the only people who bring him up is when LeBron James’ name gets mentioned. That’s the only reason Michael Jordan’s relevant. They’re combating the stats… Once LeBron James is solidified ‘you are the GOAT’, Jordan swindles. That’s why people are like yo ‘why nobody talk about Kobe being a GOAT?’ Because he got surpassed already. There’s no point of talking about number three, it’s only one and two now. -via YouTube / September 2, 2024

ClutchPoints: “I think Kobe [Bryant is] better than [Michael Jordan] skill-wise. He took everything Jordan did and multiplied it. He did it better.” Do you agree with Dwight Howard? 🤔 (via @GilsArenaShow ) -via Twitter / August 31, 2024

Avery Johnson: “You know, we can really peel back all of the numbers. You can even go with the eye test, but everybody else is a distant second behind Michael Jordan. Just a distant second. And there’s no disrespect on it, so please do not send me any hate mail. It’s my opinion, right? Michael, just for all the different reasons. But when you win six championships, you’re the MVP of all six, you never get to a Game 7, and all of the defensive —first team All-Defense, first team All-NBA, MVPs, regular season MVPs—I think there was another stat that you know, he didn’t have as many, it was a revolving door of free agents that he played with, and he did it with one team. And he had to go through the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics, the Lakers, the Phoenix Suns, and Clyde Drexler with that Portland team that could have easily won championships, and Karl Malone and Stockton with Utah. The rules were different—there was a lot more restricted freedom of movement and physicality. So yeah, it’s Michael. The clutch shots, two-way player—it’s just Michael. What they did with the Dream Team, yeah, it’s just Michael.” -via YouTube / August 30, 2024