LeBron James protects Anthony Edwards from media slander amidst ‘new face of NBA’ debate

Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a defeat against the Los Angeles Lakers on road.

LeBron James protects Anthony Edwards from media slander amidst ‘new face of NBA’ debate

LeBron James says he relates with Ant-Man being reluctant to be the face of the NBA

On Thursday, the Anthony Edwards-led Minnesota Timberwolves were set to match up against the Los Angeles Lakers. This battle of superstars was sure to gain more attention than usual, and it did. However, during the game, Ant-Man was hit with a controversial technical foul that resulted in his ejection in the middle of the third quarter. Consequently, Timberwolves lost the road game.

Recently, Ant made striking remarks about not wanting to be the “face of the league” during the 2025 All-Star Media Day. On the contrary, he said that he just wants to be the guy who “just shows up, hoops, kills dudes, and goes home.” After the game, when LeBron James was asked about Edwards’ stance.

YouTube video

Why do you wanna be the face of the league when all the people that cover our game and talk about our game on a day-to-day basis sh*t on everybody? To have that responsibility, it’s just weird…. Obviously, I didn’t ask for it…. I feel Ant. I understand. This is weird energy when it comes to that.

LeBron James told the reporters

LeBron James stated that he can relate with what the 23-year-old young gun is going through. He also highlighted how less enjoyable it is to be the face of the league when it’s free-falling, and the old heads bash the new generation of players over every minor mishap.

FS Video

The two personalities are also a bit of polar opposites. While James has maintained a remarkably clean slate throughout his athletic journey, Edwards, on the other hand, might come across as a bit crass and somewhat problematic off the court. He recently dropped an F-bomb on live TV after winning against the top-seeded OKC, which is frowned upon if one is next in line to become the poster child of the NBA.

Carmelo Anthony dismantles Anthony Edwards’ stance on not wanting to be the NBA’s face

On last week’s episode of 7PM in Brooklyn, future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony argued against Anthony Edwards‘ earlier remarks about not wanting to be the face of the league. Ant-Man later doubled down, saying, “They got Wemby” for that. However, the 40-year-old retired player wasn’t having any of it and basically said that one can’t run from his fate.

You can’t say I don’t want this, and then get Adidas, Sprite, this commercial, you can’t reject it. You got to pick a side. Either you just play ball, and you do what you do. This is what comes with being a superstar.

Carmelo Anthony said on his podcast

Whether the 23-year-old is the face of the NBA or not is debatable and yet to be crowned. But one thing is for sure—Ant is a superstar. This season, he is averaging a career-high in three-pointers made (4.1) and rebounds per game (6). He is in the top five leading scorers this year and is averaging a career-best 27.5 points per game.