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Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson had some things to say about Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards. Though Edwards did not directly call out Johnson, the latter revealed why he doesn’t respond to young players like Edwards.
“I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship,” Johnson told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith at an August 21 “Legends Dinner” event at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino near San Bernardino, California. “He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t know if he even won a high school championship.”
In an August 19 Q&A with The Wall Street Journal, Edwards denigrated the players from Johnson’s era.
“I didn’t watch it back in the day, so I can’t speak on it,” he said, according to the outlet. “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 has been considered one of the nicest NBA personalities, so it is rare to hear him say something so snarky. He is also widely considered among the best NBA players ever, having won five championships, three Most Valuable Player Awards, and three Finals MVPs, among his many other accolades.
Johnson’s skills made him a multifaceted point guard who made the Lakers relevant throughout the 1980s.
Magic Johnson Wasn’t the Only Player Who Responded to Anthony Edwards
Johnson was not the only player who did not take Edwards’ words lying down. Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas responded to Edwards on X, writing, “Propaganda works, so be careful what you choose to believe.”
Thomas perhaps insinuated that Edwards had been swayed by ESPN’s “The Last Dance,” a 10-part documentary that celebrated Jordan’s career and the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s.
Thomas is also considered one of the best players in NBA history. One of Johnson’s titles came against the Pistons in 1988, but Thomas and the Pistons got them back the following year. They repeated in 1990 before the Bulls took over.
Magic Johnson Believes Kobe Bryant Should Be in ‘GOAT Convo’
Though Johnson fired those shots at Edwards, he still recognizes greatness in other players who came after him. In an interview with Nitecast Media, Johnson explained why he believes fellow Laker legend Kobe Bryant should be in the conversation for the greatest basketball player of all-time.
“Yeah, because we know Kobe belongs in that conversation even today. Kareem, Kobe and they all wore the purple and gold. So I think about what Kobe meant to the game of basketball worldwide, and to me offensively he’s the second-best dude in terms of at that shooting guard, small forward positions behind Michael Jordan,” Johnson said in mid-August. “When you think about scoring-wise nobody could stop Kobe just like nobody could stop Michael Jordan.”
Johnson returned to play for the Lakers for the 1995-96 season, one year before Bryant entered the NBA.
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