Anthony Edwards rubbed many NBA fans and former players the wrong way with his recent comments about how players back in the day were lightyears behind Michael Jordan in skill.
“I didn’t watch it back in the day, so I can’t speak on it,” Edwards told 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. Michael Jordan was the only one who really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe, they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has skill.”
Magic Johnson, widely regarded as one of the greatest passers in basketball history, took offense to these comments. As the player who helped create the “Showtime Lakers,” Johnson was a key figure in revitalizing the NBA in the mid-1980s. During a conversation at the Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in California, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith asked Johnson for his response to Edwards’ statements.
“Anthony Edwards just said that players in the NBA back in the day, outside of Michael Jordan, didn’t have skill,” Smith said. “Your response to that, Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson?”
“I don’t ever respond to a guy who’s never won a championship,” Johnson replied, drawing laughter from the crowd. “He didn’t win a college championship, and I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.”
Johnson, a winner at every level and a five-time NBA champion, has the credentials to make such a statement. Edwards, a rising 23-year-old star who recently won his first Olympic medal, has not yet achieved the same level of success. While Johnson typically doesn’t engage in such debates, he felt compelled to respond in this instance. Check out the video of the Hall of Famer’s response below.
