A Timberwolves employee allegedly stole a hard drive from a high-level team executive allegedly containing proprietary information.

People, this is big news.

A team once known for David Kahn, Jonny Flynn and Ndudi Ebi had intelligence worth stealing, something on a computer that offered insights other than "Pass on Steph Curry in the draft."

This is a milestone in franchise history. The Wolves should erect a statue to the alleged thief outside of Target Center. He has brought unintended glory to his former employers, and established that the password to files containing sensitive Timberwolves information is no longer "1234.''

The Wolves should hire Anthony Edwards to investigate. He's doing just about everything else for them right now.

Even before the theft, Edwards was making this a memorable week for the franchise. With the team's star big men undergoing a variety of injuries, Edwards led them on a strong West Coast road trip, threw down a dunk in Utah that will be remembered as long as dunks are remembered, and displayed the kind of on-court leadership and dominance that makes him one of the league's few current candidates to match the greatest legends in league history.

Ant-Man has a chance to become Mic-Mike — as in, Micro Mike. As in, a modern-if-unfinished version of the great Michael Jordan, who this week told NBA reporter Chris Broussard that Edwards reminds him of himself.

Former Timberwolves standout and coach Sam Mitchell echoed those sentiments, saying of Edwards: "He's the closest thing I've seen, mentally and physically, to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He has that same mentality.''

Edwards is already the second-best player in franchise history, behind Kevin Garnett, and while Garnett was undeniably great, Edwards has an advantage over him.

Edwards is an athletic, scoring wing, like Bryant, Jordan and LeBron James. Wings are naturally more explosive and entertaining, and, counterintuitively, easier to relate to, because they're closer to the size and proportions of an average human.

Who would you rather root for, Spider-Man or Godzilla?

That's why there is an opening for Edwards to become the next face of the NBA, if he can lead his team to postseason heights.

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Nikola Jokic is the league's best and most valuable player. He also cares nothing about popularity or marketing, and is a big man from another continent. He should be the face of the league, but he is not and will not be.

Luka Doncic? See Jokic, Nikola.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a great and likable player who has led his team to a title, but that didn't make him the face of the league, we're probably going to have to accept that no one with a foreign accent is going to get that job, no matter how unfair that is.

Jayson Tatum is the best player on the league's best team this season, but he'll have to play better in the postseason than he has, and he may need to add some flair to his game, to become the face of the league. Charisma matters.

Edwards is a spectacular athlete who makes highlight-reel plays at both ends of the court, and may dislocate his or your fingers when he dunks on you. He doesn't take games off for "load management," plays through injuries and seems to care more about winning than padding stats.

Location is not an impediment to fame. LeBron became a star in Cleveland. Peyton Manning became a star in Indianapolis. The Warriors of "Golden State" played in the oversized suburb known as Oakland when Curry made his bones.

Edwards has another advantage on the competition: He's 22 and still improving, and this season he's been an unselfish leader on an excellent team.

This weekend, the Wolves will play two games at Target Center. Sunday night, they'll face Curry and the Warriors, and Edwards will get another chance to measure up to one of the greats of the game.