Anthony Edwards isn't making many friends in NBA circles.
The first overall pick in the 2020 draft recently criticized previous generations of NBA players, saying he didn't think “anyone” except Michael Jordan had “skill.”
“They say it was harder then than it is now, but I don't think anyone had the ability back then,” Edwards recently told the Wall Street Journal. “So when they saw Kobe Bryant, [Bryant]”They said, 'Oh my God.' But now everyone has ability.”
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Anthony Edwards, #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves, celebrates a three-point basket during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets in game seven of the Western Conference second round playoffs at Ball Arena on May 19, 2024 in Denver. (C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images)
It's safe to say that the old folks didn't like this.
Hall of Famer and five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson was pretty blunt in his response.
“I never respond to a guy who never won a championship. He never won a college championship, I don't even know if he won a high school championship,” Johnson said recently during an appearance in Los Angeles.
Even Kevin Garnett, a legend on Edwards' current team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, thought Edwards was a little out of place.
“If I'm being honest, bro, I don't think anyone from this generation could have played 20 years ago,” he said on the “All The Smoke” podcast.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards celebrates a foul against the Phoenix Suns during the first half of Game 4 of an NBA first-round basketball playoff series on Sunday, April 28, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
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“Let me tell you something, bro,” Garnett continued. “Twenty years ago you couldn't get to a step-back three, and then if you threw that shit, it had to go in. You know why? Back then we had efficiency, man. It was so fucking hard, it was too physical. The league had to get rid of that so that the flow of motion could make the scoring go up, which is why we like to sit here and watch the rat race of the high-paced game.”
However, veteran ESPN host Tony Kornheiser may have been the harshest, saying Edwards “sounds like a fool.”
“He's got to take care of these people because they're destroying NBA legends,” Kornheiser said Tuesday on “Pardon the Interruption.”
“He's a guy, he's a talented player… He should have stopped with this statement: 'I didn't see it, I can't talk about it.' That's where he should have stopped, because you're throwing generations of NBA stars into the trash.”
“This is the lack of interest in looking at history”
Edwards has lived up to the hype since he was in college, averaging a career-high 25.9 points per game last season and putting up spectacular dunks. He just won an Olympic gold medal in Paris.
He helped the T-Wolves reach the Western Conference Finals, and they are expected to be in contention to make a deep playoff run once again.
Anthony Edwards, #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves, looks on during the game against the Dallas Mavericks during Game 5 of Round 3 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs on May 30, 2024 at Target Center in Minneapolis. (Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
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Edwards also shot a career-high 46.7% from the field in the 2023-24 campaign, while his 5.1 assists were a career-high.
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