Last time this rumor made the rounds, the facts were that the way to install without a Microsoft account was made less visible: a tiny link at the bottom of the screen.
This isn't a rumor. Non-LTSC builds do not have an opt out, unless the machine was booted with no access to the network. Not configuring wifi or leaving ethernet unplugged allows you to bypass it.
My understanding is the following:
Home Edition needs to be disconnected from the Internet before booting to allow the creation of a local account during setup. Otherwise the option does not show up.
I don't know about Pro Edition, but it seems it was still possible to create a local account during setup in late 2019.