NBA
Magic Johnson burns Anthony Edwards: did the T-Wolves star win a high school championship?
The Lakers icon has responded to Edwards’ claims Michael Jordan was the “only one that really had skill” in the NBA in the past.
Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards sparked controversy a few days ago by sharing his view that Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan was the only skillful player in the NBA in the past. Now, Magic Johnson has responded in cutting fashion.
What did Edwards say about Jordan and the NBA?
“They say it was tougher back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had skill back then,” Edwards told the Wall Street Journal. “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.”
Magic Johnson fires back with Edwards burn
LA Lakers legend Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, one of the most prominent NBA stars “back then,” has now fired back at the T-Wolves star, throwing a burn in for good measure in an interview with the ESPN’s Steven A. Smith
“Well you know, I don’t never respond to a guy that’s never won a championship. Got nothing to really say. He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t know if he even won a high school championship.
“So for him to say there were no athletes or no great players, just Michael Jordan, what they don’t understand Michael Jordan didn’t win until his sixth, seventh year. So I guess there were some great players before Michael Jordan.”
Johnson and Edwards’ careers: a comparison
NBA Hall of Famer Johnson played for the Lakers between 1979 to 1991 (as well a brief return in 1996) and won five NBA championships with the Californian franchise. He was named Finals MVP three times and was part of the ‘Dream Team’ that won the gold medal for the United States in the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.
Edwards is still a rising star in the NBA, which makes it difficult to compare the two’s careers. In his four seasons in the league, the Timberwolves have made it past the first round of the playoffs only once, losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the conference finals in 2023/24.
The 23-year-old also won gold with Team USA at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and he did indeed win a high school championship. In 2018, he won the Georgia Independent School Association Class AAA state championship with Holy Spirit Preparatory School in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
By the age of 23 (before the start of the 1982/83 season), Johnson had already won two NBA championships, and been named NBA Finals MVP twice. Both players had, and have, played in two All-Star games, although Edwards will need to play in 10 more to match the former Lakers star’s tally of 12 selections.