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It's safe to say that NBA legend Magic Johnson isn't an Anthony Edwards fanboy. Edwards' lack of respect for the league's “old heads” is a turn-off for the five-time champion, specifically Edwards' claim that Michael Jordan was the league's only “skilled” player in his era.
Johnson repeated his criticism of Edwards, via The Jimmy Kimmel Show.
“I think he should've asked somebody, his father or grandfather, about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dr. J, Isiah Thomas, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Clyde Drexler, Dominique Wilkins… We had some of the most dominant players who have ever played,” Johnson said. “You might wanna talk trash when you won something… You haven't won anything.”
While “Ant” is a two-time All-Star and the face of the Minnesota Timberwolves at just 23 years old, he's yet to make it further than the Western Conference Finals, as his squad lost to the Dallas Mavericks in five games last season.
“If this came from some of the guys on the Celtic team, okay, you might wanna look at it, but you haven't won anything,” Johnson repeated. “If I'm Anthony Edwards, I'm concerned about the Dallas Mavericks, about OKC, about Boston, about all these great teams in the West…concentrate, because you got beat by the Mavericks. You didn't make it to the championship, so I'm concentrating on that instead of a time you weren't born.”
Should Edwards listen to Johnson's wisdom, or is the former Los Angeles Laker overreacting?
Magic Johnson has a point about Anthony Edwards
The generational debate in basketball has gone on for decades. Fans tend to favor the era they grew up watching, with the old guard complaining about the modern league's “softness,” and the younger crowd pointing to the uptick in athleticism.
Edwards, of course, is in the latter camp, via The Wall Street Journal's Lane Florsheim.
“I didn't watch it back in the day, so I can't speak on it,” Edwards said. “They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don't think anybody had skill back then. [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.”
As talented as Edwards is, brushing up on the game's history helps to understand it more deeply. As the Georiga alum ages, diving into the NBA archives may be in his best interest.
