ESPN has ranked Anthony Edwards below San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama on its top-10 NBA players list for the upcoming season, and American fans are losing it. The Spurs star from France with unicorn potential was ranked 5th overall. The dynamic and proven Edwards was ranked sixth.
ESPN Ranks Ant-Man Behind Wemby On Its Top 10 NBA Players For 2025-26
While the NBA has been trying to push international players for almost a decade and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has expressed his desire to continue to take the NBA global, Wembanyama has shown nightly flashes of the championship-caliber superstar he can be. However, injuries and a mid roster have prevented him from achieving those heights so far.
“Wemby being top 5 is crazy when he hasn’t played a full season yet. Ant was robbed,” said one NBA fan on x, formerly known as Twitter.
Wemby being top 5 is crazy when he hasn’t played a full season yet. Ant was robbed. https://t.co/SuZ6YxVlZl
Anthony Edwards, just 24 years old, has already been to a Western Conference Finals and has established himself as one of the game’s elite. And if he can get his off the court trials and tribulations in order, a possible face of the league. The Timberwolves star averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game last season.
Social Media Reacts To ESPN Top 10 List: Wemby 5th?
No offense to Wembanyama, but he has yet to prove himself in a postseason. Wemby may have a greater upside than Ant, but to currently rank Wemby in the top 5 and leave a perennial MVP candiate like Edwards outside of that tier is crazy disrespect to the T-Wolves star.
ESPN is a joke. LeBron 8th and Wemby 5th.
LeBron is top 30 at very best. I'ma get back intudat
Aint no way in 10 hells that Wemby is the 5th best player in the league.
If Barkley nem don't get this network's sorryass NBA coverage together, f…ck them guys too
“Wemby at 5 is so F— absurd what are we actually doing here man???,” asked one shocked fan.
“He went from exciting prospect to overrated even though he’s achieved nothing. I get it. He WILL be a top 5 player at some point if trajectory holds up. But right now, he’s just not that impactful to winning,” said another dissenting commenter on X.
“They are disrespecting Antman again. Always trying to boost the foreign players,” said another netizen, who didn’t like Wemby being ranked ahead of Edwards.
“Wemby should be nowhere near top 10, lmfao. Has literally done nothing,” said one amused fan.
“The way that they try to force Wemby is just so corny to me lmao. What has he done to be ranked at 5? He’s played 1.5 seasons on non play in teams,” quipped another fan.
Anthony Edwards Fined Over $400K & Has Numerous Paternity Issues
Ant-Man’s reputation in corporate circles has taken a bit of a hit in the last season. Entering the campaign, the former Georgia star was drawing comparisons to Michael Jordan. Personnel changes, early season chemistry struggles and personal issues led to a failure to get back to th WCF.
“Edwards led the league with 18 technical fouls last season and was fined over $400K by the NBA for a variety of violations and behaviors including obscene gestures, explicit language, and failing to leave the court after an ejection,” per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
“Not exactly great for his image,” the veteran reporter added. “And his candidacy as the future face of the league and the best American-born star.”
Is Wemby Better Than Anthony Edwards Right Now?
All of that is true, but it has nothing to do with where Edwards ranks as a superstar in the league. It’s not behind Wembanyama, who had a great season averaging 24.3 points per game and 11 rebounds for a team that won just 22 games. He only played in 46 of the 82 games. The upside might be higher for Wemby, especially considering he lives a more reserved lifestyle, but to think that he’s going to make a leap over Edwards this season is a reach. It smells like a narrative being pushed.
The NBA has invested a lot of its hype machine, time and energy on Wembanyama and setting him up to be the next great international superstar and a player who takes the center position to an even higher level than Nikola Jokic has allegedly taken it.
The NBA has been waiting for a freak of nature; a player with Manute Bol’s height, Dirk Nowitzki’s shoooting touch, Hakeem Olajuwon’s defensive prowess and Patrick Ewing’s fadeaway mid range game off the spin. Some have bet the house that Wemby is that guy.
NBA Pushing International Players
Anthony Edwards isn’t a choir boy, but his skills shouldn’t be diminished because he doesn’t fit a certain image or objective. It is no secret that the NBA has slowly eliminated players from inner city public school and used prep schools with ivory white walls to prepare the next generation of NBA stars on what the league expects from them.
The infatuation with international talent – from Greak Freak to Joker and Jamal Murray to Joel Embiid to the most recent MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander — and the NBA’s blatant campaign to promote foreign players and a European brand of hoops has led to this moment. Where are American born players are seen as inferior, simply because they weren’t born in another country. Last season, ESPN already had Wemby at 11, ranked above Top 75 player Anthony Davis of the Lakers. Plenty of fans had a problem with that.
How times have changed. The Victor Wembanyama media campaign is in full swing and the first victim is an American-born superstar who shouldn’t be taking a back seat to anybody this season.
