Former NBA player Kendrick Perkins has backed Anthony Edwards to win the Most Valuable Player award in the upcoming regular season of the NBA. Edwards has often been compared with legendary Michael Jordan and he played an instrumental role in taking the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Western Conference finals.

The Timberwolves also knocked out the 2022-23 champions Denver Nuggets in the previous season. Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards averaged 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 79 games in 2023-24. He was selected to play in his second All-Star games.

“The young man that we’ve been comparing to Michael Jordan. The young man that actually took his team to the Western Conference finals. The young man that knocked off the defending champs out of the postseason. His name [is] Anthony Edwards,” Perk said on ESPN’s NBA Today.

“Look, I think right now, from watching what I saw last year, especially in the Olympics, Edwards is out to get his. He wants to win, but this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if leads the league in scoring. He’s not waiting on anyone. I know he wants to win a championship, he has said that time and time again, but [he] also wants to stack up those individual accolades.”

Meanwhile, Edwards was also part of Team USA for the Paris Olympics. Edwards averaged 12.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg, and 1.3 spg in 16.3 mpg at the Games and thus played an instrumental role in taking the team to their 17th overall and fifth consecutive gold medal in the Olympics.

Minnesota Timberwolves will begin their NBA 2024-25 campaign against the Los Angeles Lakers on 22nd October at the Crypto.com arena.