Through his first six seasons in the NBA, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves has already cemented himself as one of the best players in the league today, as most recently seen with his dominant performance over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series.
Edwards is one of the most athletic players in the NBA and finished third in scoring during the regular season, but while still early in his career, though many of the individual accolades are there, he has yet to reach the pinnacle of success in basketball by winning the NBA Finals.
The Timberwolves and Edwards have been on a strong playoff run so far, and according to one former champion, if he can lead the team to a championship, it would solidify him as one of the best shooting guards of all time.
Kendrick Perkins On If Anthony Edwards Leads The Timberwolves To A Championship
GettyMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – MAY 08: Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves reacts against the San Antonio Spurs during the first quarter in Game Three of the Second Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Target Center on May 08, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Speaking on his podcast, Road Trippin Show, former NBA champion and current analyst with ESPN, Kendrick Perkins, said that if Edwards lead the Timberwolves to a title this season, he would become one of the top five greatest shooting guards in NBA history.
The 2008 champ had Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, and James Harden all atop his list, but according to Perkins, if Edwards can finally get over the hump he’s failed to reach in the past two seasons and lead Minnesota to their first title in franchise history, he’d cement himself as one of the best.
“If Anthony Edwards wins a championship this year, he’s going to already enter top-five greatest shooting guards of all-time,” Perkins said. “You can name me three, right now that you’d take over him, but you can’t name five.”
Perkins then listed the four other players mentioned above as his best shooting guards ever, but added that Edwards hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy would put him next to the best two-guards to ever play in the NBA.
Perkins’ co-hosts were reluctant to agree with him, as Edwards is still just 24 years old, has yet to win an MVP award, and lags in several other statistics and categories that fans tend to use when talking about the best players in the history of basketball.
Still, as seen in the Timberwolves’ series against the Spurs, and through the past few years of his career, Edwards has been playing like one of the best shooting guards in the league.
Anthony Edwards Top 5 Shooting Guard Case
GettyNEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 05: Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on November 05, 2025 in New York City.
Going with those four legendary players Perkins named, most lists ranking the best shooting guards of all time tend to have each of them near the top.
Others like George Gervin, Allen Iverson, Clyde Drexler, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Klay Thompson, both Jerry West and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (if they are considered shooting guards), and a few others have strong cases, but through the first six seasons of his career, Edwards is making a good case as to why he could go down as one of the best in that position.
Here’s what the Timberwolves’ star has accomplished since entering the NBA in 2020:
4x All-Star
2x All-NBA
2026 All-Star Game MVP
2020-21 All-Rookie Team
2x Conference Finals appearances (only two in Timberwolves’ history)
Career averages of 24.6 points (24th all-time highest in NBA history), 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals on 45.3/36.9/80.2 shooting splits in 442 total games.
Edwards is coming off a career-year averaging 28.8 points on 48.9% shooting, but will miss out on end-of-season awards due to a late-season knee injury. He has also set several niche scoring records, a few of which came in Game 4 against the Spurs, but overall, he’s proven to be one of the top players in the league today.
A playoff run that would see him beat the Denver Nuggets, Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and whoever comes out of the East would also likely be one of the toughest roads to a championship in recent NBA memory, but that remains to be seen.
But overall, Edwards is far behind in career accolades, especially when comparing his career to that of Jordan or Bryant. Still, if he can lead the Timberwolves to their first championship in franchise history, he’ll likely be seen as Minnesota’s best player ever, and if he continues his run, ending as a top-five shooting guard of all-time doesn’t sound too out of the realm of possibility.
Edwards and the Timberwolves play the Spurs in Game 5 on Tuesday night, with tipoff set for 8 pm EST for a matchup that will be live on NBC and Peacock.
NBA Champ Has Strong Words For Anthony Edwards Before Timberwolves’ Game 5