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Ant and Shai NBA Rivals in the Making: The NBA's Young Elite Guards

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We dive into the intense competition between NBA young guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards, examining their playing styles and historic matchups. The discussion reveals layers to their rivalry, connecting them with legendary figures from the game’s past. 

• Overview of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards 
• Jalen Green's current POSSIBLE value in the NBA
• Breakdown of their playing styles and team contributions 
• Analysis of head-to-head matchups from 2021 to 2025
• Historical comparisons to past NBA greats like Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas 
• Discussion of the future of their rivalry in the NBA landscape 

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody? It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trayton, as usual. I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Now. I've been having a good day so far because this is some good content. I think I'm about to drop with y'all real quick.

Speaker 1:

Young guard rivalries in the NBA. We're going to get a little specific because we got Shea Gildress, alexander and Anthony Edwards. Them boys have been hooping, but there's also some other players as well too, that I want to throw into the mix. But I want to focus on Ant and Shea for right now. And I say rivalry because I think the NBA is realizing these are two of the top premier guards in the league and they're only 26 and 23,. Respectfully, shea is 26, ant is 23. The NBA has realized this so much, ladies and gentlemen. They made the Wolves and Thunder play three games out of four. Let me say that again, there were four games in a row and the Thunder had to play the Wolves three of those four games. Yeah, we got good marketing sense in the NBA's eyes. And again, let's go down what the players are actually like archetype-wise, shea Gilders, alexander. He's a 6'5" lanky combo guard who attacks downhill while also has a knack for getting to the free throw line. Plus, buddy is a mid-range specialist. Cool, anthony Edwards he's a 6'4 stocky shooting guard with elite athleticism and strength, who can get trigger happy but will attack with vengeance when need be.

Speaker 1:

I got to say, ladies and gentlemen, these are two solid guards and again, youth is on their side. And we got the history to boot. We have a wonderful back and forth between the two, going back from 2021 to now. Well, let's talk about it. 2021, the Thunder and Shea outplayed the Wolves and Anthony Edwards, shea actually outplayed all those games in 2021. 2022, the Wolves won.

Speaker 1:

Now, keep in mind 2021, I think it might have been a jump ball on who had the better team. If you want to lean the wolves, though, I do hear it, because again, okay, see, it just got into the fold of stuff. So I, I do hear it right, but 2021 is a jump ball, but shea did win out top a tip of the cap. 2022, though wolves got the bread and butter. I'm sorry, okay, see, y'all were still trying to make some things shake. So that's why I say I do hear it if you felt as though the Wolves were a little bit better.

Speaker 1:

2023, yeah, the Wolves had the better team and they won out. Like 2022 and 2023 were the Wolves' years, because they won seven out of the possible eight games. So clearly, clearly, it's team-oriented in terms of this rivalry. Who's going to win? Because this year and last year, I think it's fair to say it's been a tie. Now, this year you can lean OKC, but it was a tie in terms of the regular season bout. Like they both got two wins and two losses this year and last year. So the NBA is showing us a wonderful rivalry between these two young stars, in which their teams and themselves are battling head-to-head and doing quite well.

Speaker 1:

Now, keep in mind, by my estimation, I do believe SGA is beating Anthony Edwards in the individual category. But again, when we realize this too, don't look back at it. He might have had to because the Wolves have been the better teams over the last couple seasons, um so so. So now, ladies and gentlemen, when I'm looking at all of that, all of that little history, right them five years. And let's not forget, too, that one of those years counting the play-in, where anthony edwards actually outplayed shea gilch alexander in the play-in. So that's a, that's a narrative that we may want to pay attention to as well too. When I hear player comps, like when I hear player comps like Anthony Edwards is a Michael Jeffrey Jordan, right, like that's who we want Anthony Edwards to be, okay, cool. So then does that mean that Shea Gildress Alexander is Isaiah Thomas? Because we got to remember now Isaiah Thomas was a bad boy himself no pun intended Like he was and is considered a top 10 player of all time by some players, by some people.

Speaker 1:

And if you make the notion that you know the game is easier as you get taller, right, and there's only one player under 6'1 or 6'1 and below, that has led his team to a championship, that is Isaiah Thomas. Steph Curry did it, but he's 6'3. Chauncey Bellows did it, but he's 6'1 and below that has led his team to a championship, that is Isaiah Thomas. Steph Curry did it, but he's 6'3. Chauncey Billups did it, but he's 6'4. Ai got close to doing it, but, too bad, we're not playing horseshoes. So, again, if we want to look at Isaiah Thomas as the MVP candidate that way, or an all-time great that way and he was on the MVP candidate, by the way, he did not win it, but he was on the listing. So because of that, if you want to compare him to SGA, I can understand that notion.

Speaker 1:

Keep in mind, anthony Edwards has to get over the Shea Gildress Alexander hump, same way Michael Jeffrey Jordan had to get over the Isaiah Thomas hump. There's actually a few more comparisons between the two. If you think about it, isaiah Thomas was actually two to three years older than MJ. I don't know if y'all remember it or not, but Shea is 26,. Ant is 23. So for you math heads, that's about a two, three year gap. Isaiah was someone who eventually won a championship that NJ had to overcome that hill that I was talking about. So Anthony Edwards is going to have to overcome Shea Alexander.

Speaker 1:

Shea also got to win a championship in this scenario too, but he is a little bit ahead of Anthony Edwards point in time and again, like I said, isaiah was in the MVP discussion. He was on a better team, shay's in the mvp discussion and currently on the better team. Oh, how about this? Both were in the same conference. Michael jordan was in, was on the bulls, isaiah was on detroit right? I don't know if y'all peep, but the wolves and thunder are in the same conference, same division. I'm just saying we got some similarities there.

Speaker 1:

So, for me, I like this matchup, I like this rivalry, and there was only one thing that I had like a slight gripe to is when Ant says something about how she's been playing at the MVP season this, this season, and it's like you know what. Maybe Jordan might not have said that about Isaiah Thomas, but then again, that's a different relationship, it's a different era, so I might be okay with it too. I get it. Hell, maybe Jordan might've said that for a little gamesmanship. You know what I'm saying. Maybe make Isaiah take the edge off a little bit, who knows?

Speaker 1:

My point is this though there is a comparison, and let's go a little step further too, ladies and gentlemen. If we're going to say that Anthony Edwards is Michael Jeffrey Jordan, right, shea Gilders, alexander Isaiah Thomas, is it fair to say that Jalen Green now is Clyde the Clyde Drexler? Because, again, when I'm looking at glide right and joe day, about six, six, like I thought clive was actually just the extra oomph away from being jordan. If we being honest, hell, jordan might not have been in the league. Maybe we look at clive a little bit differently. Remember, clive does go to the finals and lose to jordan, but he led that team to the finals and then was the second fiddle to Akeem Olajuwon.

Speaker 1:

So by that estimation, if Jalen Green can emerge from this Rocket squad a little bit stronger than what some people might view him to be, hell, we could have a comparison with him versus Anthony Edwards. Again, they both play the same position. Two guards, clyde and Jordan, were the same height, 6'6". Anthony Edwards and Jalen Green are the same height, 6'4". Both are similar players. It just seems like Anthony Edwards might have that extra oomph to him when it comes to the game of basketball similar ages, similar-ish play styles. I think it's fair to say Jordan was the better defender out of Clyde, but I don't think Clyde was ass and keep it a buck with you I can't say Jalen Green is ass of the defender either.

Speaker 1:

So again, when I see these comparisons, I think it's fair and I could have brought up Jalen Brown, donovan Mitchell, devin Booker. I think Devin Booker might have been the closest comparison for Clyde to Clyde Drexel in this situation because he did take his team to the finals and lulled. But from a game perspective, when I'm looking at him versus Anthony Edwards, there is a bit of a difference. Athleticism-wise I do view Jalen Green a little bit higher Age-wise, jalen Green and Anthony Edwards are about a couple months away from one another Guess what? So we're MJ and Clyde the Glide Drexler. So again, I look at Jalen Green more as Clyde the Glide than I do a Devin Booker or Donovan Mitchell or Jalen Brown, and the comparisons are there. Even if you want to look at the head-to-head matchups, the way MJ battled against Clyde, mj won those battles, game highs, regular season MJ typically won that matchup and that's what's happening between Anthony Edwards versus Jalen Green. Anthony Edwards is typically winning that matchup.

Speaker 1:

So if I'm y'all, ladies and gentlemen, I'm tuning in to these rivalries that are forming up right now and paying attention to them, because the NBA actually might be a little smarter than what we give them credit for. They're paying attention to these rivalries and they're seeing. All right, let's package these up and showcase these gentlemen Again Anthony Edwards, shea Gildress, alexander and even a Jalen Green. If you look at the Rockets right now, they have a bunch of talent on that spot, but Jalen Green is still in the mix for the lead dog. It's an exciting time to be thinking about the NBA.

Speaker 1:

Nba season's still been a little lackluster for me. I ain't going to hold you, I ain't going to lie, but I will say, if you pay attention to certain things, you can start to get a little reinvigorated with the season. And again, they played OKC versus the Wolves. They played three times out of four in a row. That's got to mean something, ladies and gentlemen. That's got to mean something. So definitely be paying attention to these upcoming rivals and you might even be seeing all three of these players in the playoffs this very season. And I'm so happy too, because the Rockets I said last year were going to take off and they did. And I said last year that you need to be paying attention to Sengun and Jalen Green and the All-Star nods that started happening. So definitely start paying attention, like last year, to these rivalries because they are entertaining.

Speaker 1:

But I want to hear from y'all, ladies and gentlemen Do y'all agree with me now that you done heard me talk? I know some of y'all probably heard earlier and they were like nah, you off your rocker there, trey. And now that y'all heard me, maybe you can see a light at the end of the tunnel where, hey, basketball is a little more entertaining now Because I'm trying to get myself a little excited, my daggling self for NBA. Again, it's been lackluster. But if y'all are listening, there is somewhat of a silver lining to these players. So definitely keep tuning in because I'm going to try to keep making sure I'm getting the season reinvigorated with y'all reinvigorated with y'all. So that's the end of the show, ladies and gentlemen. So please like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Thank you all for listening. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all have a good one, take care.