Some say the 1980s were the NBA’s golden era with Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers creating one of the best rivalries in sports history with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. It also saw Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan burst onto the scene before winning six championships in the 1990s.
The skill level in the league today is the best it has ever been though, which is a natural occurrence as time progresses.
Anthony Edwards may have gone too far when making that point though as in an interview with Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street Journal, he took at shot at older players by saying Jordan was the only one with skill back then:
“I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it. 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.”
Johnson was asked about Edwards’ comments in an interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and in true Magic fashion had a hilarious response:
“I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship. He has nothing to really say. He didn’t win a college championship, I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.”
Johnson’s accolades speak for themselves as after winning a National Championship at Michigan State, he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Lakers. In his 13-year NBA career, Johnson won five championships, went to nine NBA Finals, was named an All-Star 12 times and All-NBA 10 times. He also won three NBA MVP awards and three Finals MVPs in addition to being a four-time assist champion and two-time steals champion.
Johnson accomplished all that despite his career being cut short, so who knows how many accolades he would have been able to rack up if he was able to continue playing.
All that to say that he definitely had a lot of skill, as did a lot of other players in that era like Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins, to name a few.
Edwards is a very young and talented ascending NBA player and has every right to speak his mind. Johnson had the perfect response though as Edwards can only dream of accomplishing what the Lakers legend did in his basketball career.
Lakers have sights set on Luka Doncic?
One of the most skilled players in the NBA today is Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. And naturally, recent reports have indicated that the Lakers have their sights set on eventually acquiring him once LeBron James’ career is over.
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