Aaron Gordon is the king of isolation defense

Three tales of players evolving beyond their reputations.

BY DAVID THORPE

Henry Edwards was a respected music critic for the New York Times in the 1970s. One evening he went to see an act that was getting raves despite poor album sales for their first two releases. Edwards was unimpressed. His review the following day called the lyrics “an effusive jumble,” and the melodies “either second-hand or undistinguished,” with the lead singer’s performance “tedious.” Edwards’ answer to why the singer appeared to be heading to stardom was a simple one: “vigorous promotion” by Columbia Records. 

That singer was Bruce Springsteen. That album was called “Born to Run.” It sold nearly 10 million copies and was recently in the top 20 of Rolling Stones’ recent listing of the top albums in history. 

So that’s a swing and a miss by Edwards. Projecting the future is hard, as every NBA team knows. One of the reasons it’s so hard: People change.