Kevin Garnett goes scorched earth on modern NBA players

The beef between contemporary NBA players and their predecessors has always been nothing more than good-natured ribbing. And it has existed in every era — Wilt Chamberlain taking shots at a young Shaquille O'Neal, Michael Jordan saying he could beat LeBron James in a one-on-one game, and so on.

But there's something different about the recent back-and-forth between different generations of hoopers. It started with the "Done with the 80s" social media fad earlier this year that saw a bunch of young players and fans mock the basketball played in the 1980s, which was devoid of the elite shot-making and pace-and-space style associated with today's game.

Anthony Edwards — arguably the face of the new generation — further fanned the flames after the Paris Olympics when he said that players were not that skilled in the 1980s. Naturally, Magic Johnson and others didn't take kindly to those comments.

Now, Kevin Garnett has decided to go nuclear on modern NBA players.

"If I am being honest, I do not think anybody in this generation could have played like 20 years ago," Garnett said on the "Ticket & The Truth" podcast. "If I am being 100, and this is to Ant, this is to everybody in our league, [Jayson] Tatum, everybody, let me tell y'all something...Twenty years ago, you could not get to a triple step back [jumper]. Do you hear what I am saying to you? You could not get to a triple step back.

"And then if you shot that, it had to go in. You know why? Because we had efficiency back in the day and it was so hard. It was too physical, and guess what? The league had to come off of it for the flow of movement to be able to have scoring go up, which is why we like to sit here and watch kind of the rat race of the high-paced game right now."

The former MVP added that Edwards' peers — who "dribble the air out of the ball" — wouldn't have been able to create separation from elite defenders of the 1980s or 1990s, let alone blow past them.

Garnett — who retired in 2016 — is in a position to offer a unique perspective since he grew up watching 1980s basketball, played in the 1990s and through to the 21st century. A Timberwolves legend, Garnett has always been Edwards' most ardent supporter. He reiterated he had the youngster's best interest at heart.

"I'm still rooting you for you, young fella," Garnett told Edwards. "I'm not going to use this platform to douse on things. I'm here to elevate the game, and help the young players."