Isiah Thomas Responds To Anthony Edwards Saying Michael Jordan Was The Only Skilled Player | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas responded to Anthony Edwards’ claim that previous generations of NBA players lacked the skills.

In an interview with Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street JournalEdwards said Michael Jordan was the only player from previous generations who had “real talent” on the court.

Thomas responded to that sentiment in a post on X:

Edwards admitted in the interview that he “didn’t watch the NBA at the time” and therefore can’t directly comment on the talent level of the sport at the time.

“They say it was harder back then than it is now, but I don’t think anybody had talent back then. (Michael Jordan) was the only one who really had talent, you know what I mean? So when they saw Kobe (Bryant), they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has talent,” Edwards said.

Part of the discrepancy here could be because Edwards was born in 2001. He could go back and watch games or clips from previous generations, but that’s not a requirement to play in the league now.

If you were a person Edwards’ age — he just turned 23 on Aug. 5 — the highlights he watched on TV growing up would be heavily focused on Jordan. Maybe you’d get a clip of Larry Bird or Magic Johnson, but Jordan remains such a towering figure in the NBA, more than 20 years after his playing career ended.

Thomas and the bad boy Detroit Pistons were among the best teams in NBA history, but their success is often overlooked because it occurred between the end of the rivalry between the Showtime Lakers and Bird’s Boston Celtics and the beginning of Jordan’s dynastic run with the Chicago Bulls.

There have been many extremely skilled players before this current era of basketball. Thomas, Johnson, Bird and Hakeem Olajuwon are among the superstars whose games would likely fit well in this era.

But it’s also easy to argue that the level of skill and talent spread across the NBA has never been better than it is today. Part of the reason there are no dynastic teams today is because there are more great players available to teams.

Considering how long Thomas has left to exact revenge, don’t expect him to show up at a Minnesota Timberwolves game to cheer on Edwards anytime soon.