Magic Johnson Goes At Anthony Edwards’ Lack Of Championships Amidst ‘No Skill’ Debate

Despite a successful summer, winning the gold medal at the 2024 Olympics, Anthony Edwards has found himself in the middle of controversy. Edwards, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, claimed that players from the 1990s had no skill apart from Michael Jordan. While players from the older generation have expressed their disappointment in the Timberwolves guard for such an illogical statement, Magic Johnson has refused to waste his energy by giving him a reaction.

Magic was present at an event in the Yaamava Resort, in Southern California when he was made aware of Edwards’ comments. Everyone in the crowd expected the Los Angeles Lakers legend to be livid. However, Johnson seemed composed.

By pointing out how Ant hadn’t won a championship in high school, college, or the NBA, he simply claimed that he would not react to the actions of any player with no silverware in his trophy cabinet.

“I don’t never respond to a guy that’s never won a championship. Nothing to really say. He didn’t won a college championship. I don’t even know if he won in high school,” Johnson savagely answered Stephen A. Smith.

 

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Ant’s comments did cause a massive stir in the basketball community. Players such as Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who have previously expressed their admiration for him, publicly disagreed with the 23-year-old.

There were other players from the era, like Isiah Thomas, who didn’t mince their words when calling out Edwards’ take and hit back with criticisms of the NBA’s modern players’ skill levels.

Thomas refutes Edwards by criticizing modern players

Thomas, despite being known for his contributions to the NBA in the ’80s and ’90s, is extremely active on social media. A reaction from him was inevitable. As expected, the leader of the Bad Boy Pistons defended his generation.

IT initially agreed with the Ant-Man, claiming that the 3-pointer was an ability that players were better at than the older generation. However, he would then go on to condemn the explosive guard for being mistaken that the ability to knock down 3-pointers enabled players of today’s era to be more skillful.

“The only skill “emphasized” more is the 3 point shot, creating the illusion that athletes and skills have magically evolved into another athletic species,” the two-time NBA champion wrote on X.

https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1826635200824312054

He went on to take shots of his own, criticizing the modern big man. Except for Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić, Thomas accused modern bigs of being “less skilled” than their ’90s counterparts.

https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1826642390935097403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

With players and analysts providing a new response to Edwards’ take nearly every day, it’ll be a while before this line of conversation dies down. What we can be sure of is that Thomas will always have a say when it comes to defending his era.