Pistons legend claps back at Anthony Edwards ridiculous comments

If you’ve been on social media over the last few days, then you’ve probably seen a lot of old clips of players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas. 

It’s part of the age-old argument about which era was best, a debate with no real answer, as it is impossible to compare players from vastly different times. 

It’s easy for old heads like myself to talk about the physicality, competitiveness and skill of the past while young fans will point to the increased athleticism and shooting of the modern game. 

The truth is that all eras of the NBA were filled with skilled players, it’s just that the game evolves, as do the athletes, who take better care of themselves now than they did in the 80’s and have myriad technological, nutritional and medical advances to enjoy as well as natural human evolution which has led us to taller people in general.

Not to mention better shoes. 

The most recent form of this debate was started by Anthony Edwards, he of many horrible takes, who had this to say about players from the past in a stupid comment in the Wall Street Journal (subscription) that got a predictable response from players like Isiah Thomas. 

It’s interesting that the “old school” players are only known for being tougher when there were plenty of guys with just as much or more skill than the players of today. 

Is Anthony Edwards right about players in the past? 

As someone who has watched the NBA for most of what would be considered the “modern” era, I can confirm that Edwards’ comments are ridiculous. He admitted that he hasn’t really even watched previous eras, so I am not exactly sure what evidence he has to support his silly claim. 

The game was just different back in the 80’s and 90’s, as teams hadn’t embraced the analytics that told them dunks and 3-point shots were the only ones worth taking and rule changes had yet to affect the physicality of the game. 

But if you think that Michael Jordan was the only skilled player, you need to have your head checked. And if you think "all" modern players have skill, as Edwards suggests, just take a look at last year's Pistons roster for evidence of how false that idea is.

Just look at the 1988-89 Pistons as an example, a team that I have ranked in the top-5 of all time and who would mop the floor with most modern NBA teams. 

The Bad Boys became known as a physical (some would say dirty) team, but they were also highly skilled with the 7th-rated offense in the league (110.8) and a roster full of guys who could knock down a 15–18 foot jumper. 

Years later, this becomes a matter of narrative vs. reality, as a guy like Bill Laimbeer, who is mostly known as a goon to fans who never saw him play, was actually a very skilled center with a lethal jumper.  

The Bad Boys would have ranked near the bottom of the league offensively this season, but that’s more because playing defense is more difficult than ever, not because the players suddenly lack skill. 

Scoring has also gotten a bump from a huge increase in 3-point shooting. Consider that Mark Aquirre led the 1988-89 Pistons in 3-point attempts at 2.5 per game, roughly what a modern center would shoot now. 

I would agree that players are better long-range shooters now, but it just wasn’t part of the game back then, as common sense told teams to try to get as close to the basket as possible to score, an idea that was blown up by analytics that say the opposite. 

It’s just as ridiculous for old-school fans to say the modern players are soft, as that isn’t true either, it’s just that the rules have changed with the times and full-scale muggings are no longer allowed. 

Fans and players need to accept that eras are completely different, making it difficult and ultimately fruitless to try and compare players, but I assure you, Ant, players back then had skill and it wasn’t just MJ.