Gilbert Arenas, the charismatic and controversial NBA player from 2001 to 2012, has jumped into the debate about the alleged lack of talent among NBA players in the 1980s and 90s who helped Michael Jordan succeed.
It all started with some words of Anthony Edwards, in an interview granted to the ‘Wall Street Journal’, in which he criticizes the players of those years compared to Michael Jordan.
“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. [Jordan] was the only one that really had skill, you know what I mean? That’s why when they saw Kobe Bryant, they said, ‘Oh, my God’. But now everybody has skill,” Edwards said.
Anthony Edwards’ words outraged Magic Johnson: “I never talk back to a guy who never won a championship. He didn’t win a college championship, I don’t even know if he won a championship in high school.”
Gilbert Arenas: Today everyone could keep up with Michael Jordan
Gilbert Arenas countered Anthony Edwards’ theory with a curious counter-point.
“All Jordan’s competition in that era did not even have the physical tools to keep up with him, so he was basically a Bugatti, and everybody else was a Honda Civic,” he said.
“Most shooting guards were 6’4 and under; they didn’t have any jumping ability. So, who he went against, he’s saying they weren’t talented, meaning they weren’t athletic enough to keep up with him.
“Today, everybody – me, I’ve got a 40-something inch vertical. Everybody I’m going against has a 40-inch vertical that can jump with me.”
“So … who was he up against? He said they didn’t have talent, meaning they weren’t athletic enough to keep up with him,” the 42-year-old former player said.
“Today everyone could keep up with Michael Jordan,” Gilbert Arenas ventured on his YouTube channel ‘Gil’s Arena’.
source:marca.com
