With his talent and personality, many agree that Anthony Edwards is the future face of the NBA. And with how well he has played in the last couple of seasons, there are those who think he will win the league's MVP award in the next couple of years.
Former New York Knicks guard Iman Shumpert says that it is very much possible.
Ant-Man can very well win the Michael Jordan trophy within the next three years if he adds one particular dimension to his already impressive offensive package.
"I just need him to learn how to play back-to-the-basket so he can get to the playoffs. He'll understand how important that is," said Shumpert.
Edwards is coming off his fifth NBA season, during which he averaged a career-high 27.6 points per game and was named an All-Star and a member of the All-NBA second team. He also finished seventh in the MVP voting and third in the Clutch Player of the Year award.
Offensively, we also saw him expand his game beyond the three-point arc, making him a more dangerous scorer than ever.
Ant made over 300 three-pointers in a season for the first time in his NBA career and his total of 320 last season was the most in the league. He made an average of 4.1 3-pointers per game at an impressive 39.5 percent 3-point shooting clip.
Yet despite adding the three-ball to his arsenal, Shumpert believes he needs that post-game to become virtually unstoppable.
"It's that double team that bothered him," Shump added. "If he got this, where he see it coming to where he knows how to attack it, but he got your feet offset, where you're chasing in this position, as opposed to being able to slide, Oh my Lord. He's going to be so dangerous."
What Iman was talking about was Ant complaining about getting double-teamed during a January 2025 regular game against the Boston Celtics , where he struggled all night long, shooting just 5-16 from the field, including 2-9 from 3-point distance in a 115-118 loss. After the game, Edwards admitted to reporters that he was frustrated with the double team that the Celtics threw at him all night.
"It's not how I want to play," said Edwards. "I'm only 23. I don't wanna just be passing the ball all night. But the way that they're guarding me, I think I have to…Super hard, super hard, super hard, super hard, " he admitted. "Because I'm wired to score the ball…It definitely frustrates me a bit. Them doubling me definitely is like, 'Bruh, what is going on?' I'll be trying to figure it out, man."
Edwards' statement drew plenty of criticism from fans and talking heads alike, because while he was just being honest about his feelings, they felt that the young superstar was showing weakness by complaining. Ant-Man later claimed that he reached out to Michael Jordan for advice, while Stephen Jackson told him to seek help from Tim Duncan .
It's unclear what came out of those two situations, but Shump just added another valid suggestion that he might want to listen to.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
