NBA legend and Hall of Famer Magic Johnson is arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. His resume is unmatched, and it speaks for itself. Johnson, along with the NBA legend and Hall of Famer Larry Bird, single-handily saved the NBA.

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The league wouldn’t be what it is today without these two guys, so when one of them speaks, the basketball world listens. Johnson recently spoke with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith and responded to Minnesota Timberwolves superstar Anthony Edwards.

Johnson ripped the 23-year-old Edwards, saying he doesn’t respond to guys who haven’t won champions at the highest level.

“I never respond to a guy that’s never won a championship,” Johnson said. “There’s not nothing to really say. He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.”

A couple of days ago, Edwards went viral for a controversial statement about Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan being the only skilled player of his era.
“I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it,” Edwards told Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street Journal. “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?”

Magic Johnson

Edwards is a young player and still has a long way to go in his career, but to unknowably say that Jordan was the only skilled player back in that era is lunacy.

Johnson is an all-time great and one-of-a-kind in the game of basketball. The Hall of Fame point guard is a five-time NBA champion, three-time Finals MVP, 12-time All-Star, 10-time All-NBA, four-time assists champion, and a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. Johnson is arguably the greatest all-time at his position.

His passing ability is second to none, and his leadership and overall skill are incomparable to only LeBron James.

As for Edwards, he is a nice player and should continue to grow and evolve. He is coming off a gold medal in which he played a big part in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Compared to Johnosn’s resume, Edwards is nowhere near all-time great status; however, he does have the potential.
At only 23 years old, Edwards is a two-time All-Star, 2024 All-NBA member, and 2020-21 All-Rookie team member. Time will only tell where Edwards will end up when it is all said and done. In the meantime, he should get familiar with the other all-time greats that came before him.