Most people believe it will take championships for Anthony Edwards to be the face of the NBA, but Kendrick Perkins thinks he needs something else.
Edwards scored just 15 points in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 128-126 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night. And after failing to put Minnesota on his back in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, ESPN’s First Take wondered whether everyone rushed to make Edwards the face of the NBA too soon.
But according to Perkins, it’s not playoff moments, championships, MVPs, scoring titles, or a boisterous personality that Edwards needs. If Edwards is going to be the face of the NBA, he needs a wife and kids.
“You gotta check the boxes when you’re the face of the league…Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, LeBron, Steph…they all were family men. They all were married with kids.” – Kendrick Perkins on Anthony Edwards pic.twitter.com/U8zFUZaYX2
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 27, 2025
“You gotta check the boxes when you’re the face of the league,” Perkins told Stephen A. Smith and the Morris twins on First Take. “Yes, we know you gotta have your signature shoe, you’re gonna be in commercials, you’re gonna have the highlights, you gotta have the game. But you know what else you gotta have? You gotta be a role model.”
“You look at Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, LeBron, Steph, what did they all have in common?” Perkins asked. “While they was all playing in the league, they all were family men. They all were married with kids. And if you think that don’t play a role as far as the role model, this is facts. This is not something that I’m making up. Now, what happened to them after they retired, that’s their business. But while they were playing, they were family men. Married with kids.”
Stephen A. Smith, who managed to become the face of ESPN while having two daughters without being married, agreed Edwards’ off-court persona plays a role in becoming the face of the NBA, but stopped short of urging the 23-year-old to settle down with a family.
Additionally, it’s a stretch to claim some of the players on Perkins’ list became faces of the league because they were “family men.” In his 2011 memoir, Shaquille O’Neal expressed regret for cheating on his wife. Magic Johnson contracted HIV while being unfaithful to his future wife. Kobe Bryant cheated on his wife and was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman in 2003. And Michael Jordan’s rumored cheating allegedly played a role in his $168 million divorce settlement.
Those superstar NBA players may have been portrayed as role models off the court, but that doesn’t mean they always were. And there have been plenty of pro athletes who proved you can be a role model without being married, see Derek Jeter.
Anthony Edwards does have a daughter with his girlfriend. He even famously left a game at halftime last season to be present for the birth of their daughter. But that doesn’t seem to be enough of a family man for Kendrick Perkins.