It has been just a few days since Anthony Edwards was asked by the Wall Street Journal about the topic of different eras in NBA history. Minnesota Timberwolves fans have witnessed the intense backlash by many in the basketball community ever since Edwards' answer went viral.
That is because Ant's statement was incredibly bold - he asserted that Michael Jordan was the only player with skill to play in his respective era. Even Timberwolves fans can admit that he missed the mark here, and those around the world of basketball have come out to check Edwards.
After Isiah Thomas reacted to the statement from Minnesota's star player, another all-time NBA great has now given his response as well. While speaking with Stephen A. Smith over the weekend, legendary point guard Magic Johnson weighed in.
Magic Johnson reacted to Edwards' wild take
"I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship,” Johnson said. “ didn’t win a college championship, I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.” Of course, Magic responding by saying he's not going to respond is actually rather humorous, but his overall point remains.
By saying he is not going to reply to Ant with a counter-point or any kind of argument helps illustrate his overall point. He obviously disagrees with Edwards' wild assertion of there being just one truly skilled player from that era (Johnson would not throw himself under the bus here), and he chooses to remind Ant that he still has a long way to go before he is remembered as anything close to the kind of player Magic is regarded as.
Some may groan at a former player pulling the "I have more championships" card, but the fact is that Magic is still correct. There are plenty of debatable things we can argue about different NBA eras all day, but this is not one of them. The past greats of this league demand a certain baseline level of respect, and calling them unskilled is simply not a good look.