Anthony Edwards received another history lesson, this time by DeMar DeRozan .
DeRozan sat down with fellow California native Paul George on the Podcast P set and reacted to Ant-Man’s “no skill” take on the 1990s era. The newest Sacramento King mentioned highly skilled players of yesteryear and why it’s inappropriate for the Timberwolves All-Star to say something like that.
“We would have never said something like that because, at the end of the day, I respect every OG who ever played this game,” DeRozan stated . “This game was built on a foundation of taking steps of whoever it came from and I never discredit wherever the league was at 20 years ago because it’s all about elevating.”
The 2009 first-round draft pick made it clear he didn’t know the context of Ant’s statement. However, knowing the background or not, DeMar still raved about the high skill level displayed by many 90s players.
‘Those guys were incredible’
Deebo implied that the game needed ‘elevation,’ which means basketball should naturally move progressively from where it has been years ago. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean you can’t find an abundance of talent from older generations.
“You look at a guy like Rod Strickland. He wasn’t skilled?” reasoned DeRozan. “You can’t tell me that there wasn’t no skillful guys around at the time because you have such a phenom of an athletic freak like Michael Jordan. Don’t discredit everybody else.”
“We had one of the best bigs that ever play this game, Hakeem Olajuwon, play in the 90s. He had the most skilled big I done seen play in the 90s. Win back-to-back championships, MVPs, defensive players-- it’s so many of those. Even a Scottie Pippen. You see a Scottie Pippen today, you would think he a unicorn. I was trying to understand where he was coming from, but… I would never discredit or undermine anyone who came before me,” the six-time All-Star continued.
DeRozan went down an era further and mentioned Alex English and George Gervin. These two were the best scorers in the 1980s—in fact, English scored more points than anyone in the decade. Moreover, Gervin is above the likes of Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, and Julius Erving in that category.
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Turning the tables
Regardless of his brash statements from time to time, DeRozan admitted Edwards is his favorite player to watch right now. That said, it is highly inappropriate to say something like that to the ones who came before because someone might find himself in the same kind of situation in the future.
“Imagine somebody saying 20 years from now, ‘Ant Edwards, you ain’t that athletic. You know what I mean? Let’s just hope the game gets to go that far ahead. We all gotta start and finish somewhere,” DeRozan remarked.
It wasn’t just DeMar who had issues with the 2024 Olympic gold medalist’s take. Former Sixth Man of the Year Eddie Johnson already chimed in , and so did Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, and Rasheed Wallace. These verbal counters came from all directions, from Sheed’s passionate plea for Ant to do his homework to Magic pulling the “ring” card .
Regardless of his own talent, Edwards should choose his words wisely next time. After all, respect for the game’s history goes a long way, and a little more thought before speaking might save him from unnecessary backlash.
Related: Stephen A. Smith asks for understanding of Ant-Man's criticism of the Jordan era: "Forgive the young buck for what he does not know"
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