Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards. Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Lakers legend rips Anthony Edwards for his 'skills' comments

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Aug 26, 2024 8:08 AM ET

Magic Johnson is the personification of a winner who emerged victorious at every level he played basketball — high school (Everett, state championship), college (Michigan State, NCAA title) and the NBA (Lakers, five rings). Some would say he continues to win in his post-playing career, as evidenced by his many successful business empires and other ventures.

As such, Johnson has earned the right to dismiss the opinion of a non-winner. On Sunday, Johnson did just that as he viciously called out Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards for his recent comments about the lack of "skills" in the NBA during the 1980s and 1990s.

"I never respond to a guy who's never won a championship," Johnson said during an interview at the Yaamava Resort & Casino. "He didn't win a college championship, I don't even know if he won a high school championship."

Magic Johnson goes off on Ant

"I never respond to a guy who's never won a championship... He didn't win a college championship, I don't even know if he won a high school championship."

(h/t @ClutchPoints )

pic.twitter.com/mwDLeQO9B3
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 25, 2024

In fairness to Edwards, he was torn between football and basketball as his primary sport through his formative years and only started to make noise in Atlanta's AAU circuit by the age of 17. However, once he committed to basketball, he quickly rose to prominence and finished his freshman season in college on a high note, leading him to go No. 1 overall to the Timberwolves at the 2020 NBA Draft.

And since entering the NBA, Edwards has almost singlehandedly made the Timberwolves relevant again. This past season, he led the franchise to its first conference finals appearance in 20 years.

Edwards may not have Johnson's storied resume, but he's got all the makings of a winner, too. It's perhaps why his comments irked Johnson as much as they did.

"They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don't think anybody had skill back then," Edwards told WSJ recently. "[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."

Expect Ant-Man to fire back at Johnson imminently. It'd be unlike him not to.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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