If there's one thing NBA fans have learned about Anthony Edwards, it's that the rising superstar is not one to hold his tongue.
After helping the United States men's national team win its fifth consecutive gold medal, Edwards raised some eyebrows with a bold take during a one-on-one interview with Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street Journal.
During the interview, Edwards talked about his Olympic experience, his penchant for trash talk and several routines, but it was a claim about the skill level of players in the 1990s that set NBA Twitter ablaze.
What exactly did Edwards say? Here is what the Timberwolves star guard offered about the older era of NBA basketball.
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Anthony Edwards throws shade at Michael Jordan's generation
As the interview progressed, Florsheim asked Edwards how this generation of basketball is different from older generations. Edwards' answer did not disappoint.
"I didn’t watch it back in the day so I can’t speak on it," Edwards said before speaking on it.
"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."
Edwards, who was born in August 2001, recently celebrated his 23rd birthday and, as he admitted in his answer, is too young to have watched Jordan and his contemporaries in the late 1980s and 1990s.
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Of course, Edwards' assertion is a matter of opinion — his opinion is seemingly rooted in the talking point of the amount of physicality present during Jordan's era. Beyond the Bad Boy Pistons, the Celtics and Knicks are among other teams heralded for a level of physicality that isn't necessarily a part of the modern-day game.
What Edwards does overlook, however, is the number of all-time greats who suited up during that era.
In addition to Jordan's 1984 draft class being considered one of the best for also producing Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and John Stockton, over 10 members of the NBA's 75th Anniversary Team were drafted within three years of Jordan, a tangible representation of the skill in that era.
Edwards' answer is particularly interesting in that he has often drawn comparisons to Jordan because of striking similarities in their appearance, mentality and the aesthetic of their games. With that in mind, it makes sense that Edwards also used Bryant's name to make his point.
Whether or not Edwards will come back to clarify his words remains to be seen but the boldness of his claim has understandably been a major talking point.
