Ever since the Minnesota Timberwolves drafted him, Anthony Edwards has developed into one of the NBA’s most exciting superstars. However, he hasn’t exactly shied away from controversy. Last summer, Edwards made a rather interesting claim about the stars before him while talking with The Wall Street Journal.
“They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then,” Edwards said. “(Michael Jordan) was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe (Bryant), they were like, ‘“’Oh, my God.’”’ But now everybody has skill.”
Shortly afterward, NBA legend Magic Johnson responded to Edwards while talking with Stephen A. Smith, criticizing Edwards for his lack of success.
“I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship,” Johnson said. “…He didn’t win a college championship, I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.”
Johnson followed up on his response to Edwards on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, going into more detail about why he took issue with Edwards’ comment.
“Don’t attack all the old-school guys when you haven’t done your homework,” Johnson said. “First of all—Michael Jordan. Kobe Bryant. Dr. J. Clyde Drexler. David Thompson, even before all of them! They could all fly. So slow down, bro. Slow down. That’s why I had to hit him with the reality check. I said, ‘Look, man, talk to me when you’ve won something.’ You show respect. That’s all. Just show respect. I don’t go at nobody. That’s not who I am. But if you attack us, like, ‘Oh, the game wasn’t exciting back then,’ then I gotta come back at you.”
It has been a running theme in recent years for both former and current players to fire shots at one another because of how different the game was then than it is now. The bottom line is that no one knows how current players would fare in yesterday’s NBA, just like no one knows how former players would fare in the modern NBA.
Edwards’ sentiment about previous NBA players may be right, but Johnson has a point.
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