“I’ve never seen so many people be so happy to see an athlete fail”

Anthony Edwards is one of the best scorers in the NBA today. He’s faced many defenders since he entered the league and has also ‘cooked’ a lot of them with his elite offensive abilities. But as Edwards’ highlight reel continues to grow, there is one particular NBA superstar that he wants to ‘cook’.

In an interview with Complex, Ant-Man says that the player he wants to ‘cook’ is Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.

“I always try to do that versus LeBron, but it never goes as planned because they always double-team me,” said Ant-Man. “I always try to cook LeBron because he’s the best player in the league right now, he’s been the best player for a long time, so I think that’s the main person who I try to cook, him or KD. But LeBron, they never guard me one-on-one…Yeah, he’s definitely the best player in the league so that’s probably the only person I look forward to cooking.”

Ant-Man says LeBron definitely the best player in the league

Edwards wanting to cook LeBron James is one thing. But for a young superstar like him to call the soon-to-be 39-year-old LeBron the best player in the league right now is showing massive respect to the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.

The aging LeBron has not won the NBA’s MVP award since 2013, during his Miami days, and hasn’t been on the All-NBA First Team since he last won the championship in 2020. With the likes of Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jayson Tatum, James isn’t even considered among the Top 10 best players in the NBA right now in many people’s books.

But James continues to defy father time and is having an unbelievable Year 21 season where he was recently named the NBA’s first-ever In-Season MVP and is currently still the best player on a contending Los Angeles Lakers team that is ranked in the Top 5 in the Western Conference team standings.

Edwards stood up for LeBron before

Anthony Edwards giving LeBron James his flowers isn’t something new. In 2021, when James’ Lakers failed to defend their 2021 NBA championship by losing to the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs, A rookie Ant-Man was one of those who stood up for LeBron amidst the heavy criticism James got after getting eliminated in the postseason.

“I’ve never seen so many people be so happy to see an athlete fail more than LeBron,” said Edwards. “His whole career, he’s been hated on constantly and slandered to no end to the point where when he retires nobody would have appreciated his greatness. I will be glad I will be one who did.”

Anthony Edwards is one of the most confident players in the NBA. He has the ultimate belief in his abilities that no one can stop him on the basketball court. His wanting to ‘cook’ LeBron sounds very cocky at first but it’s also a way of appreciating greatness and showing respect to one of those who helped paved the way for young stars like him.