One opinion and the NBA community has been losing it. Not that the legends of past vs modern-day players is a new debate. But Anthony Edwards putting it with a point of view that Michael Jordan was the only skilled player from his era was bound to bring in a lot of heat. While Magic Johnson already came down on the Minnesota Timberwolves star, ex-Warriors star Gilbert Arenas has sided with Ant Man.

During a recent episode of Gil’s Arena, he argued that whenever even the podcast crew has talked about MJ; they have often asserted that MJ was more skilled than everybody else. Based on the same logic, Arenas says, “I agree with Anthony Edwards, and we all agreed with him.”

This comes from the 3x All-Star even though he once did not include Mike on his Team USA’s all-time starting five. However, his argument was that MJ was not exactly “the Michael Jordan” during his Olympics performances.

But it seems Arenas’ take on Jordan is clear when it comes to the NBA. Edwards had earlier stated that he did not think anyone else other than Michael Jordan had skill back then. “So that’s why when they saw Kobe [Bryant], they were like, ‘Oh My God’. But now everybody has skill,” he said.
While Arenas already agreed with the ‘MJ’ opinion, for Kobe Bryant, he mentioned how Black Mamba attracted comparison with Jordan at just 18. So he believes if MJ was a 10 in skill level, then Bryant being an 8 in skill at 18 was moving around the league better than most. But the former Warriors star’s opinion did not go unopposed with his crewmates.
Rashad McCants, for one, believes the skills are being mixed up with talent. McCants stated Bryant was pure talent when he entered the league, but he acquired more skills along the way. The argument is not completely false, as Kobe was recognized to be a great talent upon his arrival in the league, off the high school as Player of the Year. But he strived to only get better in the league, spending hours in the gym, and hours studying his opponents; including MJ for a few skills.

McCants goes on to use the same argument for MJ that when His Airness became less reliant on just his athleticism; he became more skillful.

But Arenas is not much convinced. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Hakeem Olajuwon made the handful of names during their eras. If their era was to have 350-400 players, Arenas opines only about 20 were skilled enough. So those 20 people should not be coming in the way of Edwards’ claim to save the rest. “I hate when the talented people come out and you try to be offended. Like, the rest of your people were skilled,” Gil said.

What exactly did Magic Johnson say to counter Edwards’ Michael Jordan argument?
No matter how Gilbert Arenas perceives Edwards’ claim, the fact that it targets all players from the Jordan era cannot be denied. Now, it’s important to highlight that Johnson shares a close bond with His Airness. But the 5x NBA champ was in no mood to take disrespect to his entire generation of players. Although Buck expressed his love for Ant Man’s game, he believes the Wolves star needs to achieve something before making such bold claims.

“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,” Johnson said. He believes current players give out such controversial opinions just to stay more relevant in the online world.
As for Edwards’ claim that no other player than Michael Jordan had skills, Buck highlighted the time period it took for the Chicago Bulls legend to claim his first championship. “What they don’t understand, Michael Jordan didn’t win in his 6th, 7th year. So I guess it was some great players before Michael Jordan,” he said.

Now, a lot of Gilbert Arenas’ arguments may seem right. But even he did not touch upon this angle of Johnson’s argument. While Mike, without a doubt, was an exceptionally gifted player right from his entry in the league, his initial struggles against Celtics and Pistons are well known. It’s clear that even though not superior, the league then had enough skill to prevent a player like MJ from winning his first championship. Until he found a line-up that could back him up.