Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas responded to Anthony Edwards’ claim that past generations of NBA players lacked skill.

In an interview with Lane Florsheim of the Wall Street Journal, Edwards said Michael Jordan was the only player from previous generations “that really had skill” on the court.

Thomas reacted to that sentiment in a post on X:

Edwards admitted in the interview he “didn’t watch” the NBA “back in the day” and can’t speak directly about the talent level in the game then.

“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 said.

Isiah Thomas Reacts to Anthony Edwards Saying Michael Jordan Was Only Skilled Player | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

Some of the disconnect here could stem from the fact that Edwards was born in 2001. While he could go back and watch games or clips from past generations, it’s not a prerequisite to playing in the league now.

If you’re a person of Edwards’ age—he just turned 23 on Aug. 5—the highlights he saw on television while growing up were going to skew heavily toward Jordan. Maybe you would get a clip of Larry Bird or Magic Johnson thrown in there, but Jordan remains such a towering figure in the NBA more than 20 years after his playing career ended.

Thomas and the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons were one of the best teams in NBA history, but their success can get overlooked because it was sandwiched between the end of the Showtime Lakers’ rivalry with Bird’s Boston Celtics and the start of Jordan’s dynastic run with the Chicago Bulls.

Anthony Edwards claims Michael Jordan was only older NBA player with 'skill'

There have been plenty of extremely skilled players prior to this current era of basketball. Thomas, Johnson, Bird and Hakeem Olajuwon are among the superstars whose games would translate well to this time period.

But it’s also easy to argue that the level of skill and talent in the NBA has never been better. One reason there aren’t any dynastic teams right now is that there are more great players available.

Considering how long Thomas can hold a grudge, don’t expect him to be appearing at any Minnesota Timberwolves games to cheer on Edwards in the near future.