Isiah Thomas is not happy with what Anthony Edwards recently said about his era of NBA players. The Minnesota Timberwolves swingman dismissed the ’80s and ’90s by saying Michael Jordan was the only skilled player from that era in a recent interview, which is egregiously wrong. Two-time champion Thomas sent a message to fans about believing propaganda.
“Propaganda works, so be careful what you choose to believe.”
https://twitter.com/IsiahThomas/status/1825925652341518656
Edwards was speaking to the Wall Street Journal when he spoke about generational differences in basketball. He disagrees with people who say the NBA was tougher back in the day because he believes Michael Jordan was the only real skilled player back then.
“I didn’t watch it back in the day, so I can’t speak 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 who really had skill, you know what I mean? So that’s why when they saw Kobe, they were like, ‘Oh, my God.’ But now everybody has skill.”
Thomas’ propaganda allegation could apply to the fact that people have dismissed the competition that Jordan had in the ’80s and ’90s as against players who weren’t as skilled. We’ve seen the likes of JJ Redick summarily dismiss the old era of basketball on national TV, so there’s been a growing belief in modern players being the pinnacle of skill.
Skill develops over time, so today’s players are naturally more skilled than the players in the ’80s because of human evolution. There are more ‘skilled’ players in the NBA now than in decades past, but that doesn’t mean old players were not skilled at all. They had the skills they needed to dominate in their era and pioneered many of the skills we see today.
Before the crossover started dominating highlight reels with the likes of Allen Iverson and Kyrie Irving, players like Isiah Thomas were regularly using a less-explosive version of the same move to create space to score.
Without Thomas, many dribble moves that we associate with small guards after him would’ve never come, so dismissing his and others’ skills to promote Michael Jordan is not something he’s going to sit quietly through.
Isiah Thomas Doesn’t Think Edwards Is Similar To Jordan
Anthony Edwards has been compared to Michael Jordan repeatedly over the last few seasons, with the Timberwolves star himself trying to downplay the comparisons. Thomas has previously commented on the similarities between MJ and Edwards, claiming he doesn’t see why they’re similar.
“They’re excellent athletes in terms of jumping, but in terms of their game, their games aren’t similar to me. Edwards, at this age, is a far better perimeter shooter, but Jordan, at the 22, 23 age, he was a far better driver getting to the basket and finishing around the rim.”
“And also, I would say Edwards, you know, at this age, you know, he will defer to his teammates a lot more and trust his teammates a lot more than Jordan did in his early stages. Now, that’s not a knock on any one of them, but just because they both jump high doesn’t mean that they’re the same players.”
Edwards will have a chance to prove he’s built in the same mold as Jordan next season as he hopes to take the Timberwolves to their first-ever NBA Finals, similar to what MJ did for the Bulls.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
