Magic Johnson Game 6 1980 NBA Finals Appreciation Thread

Rekkapryde

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TYRONE GA!


If you haven't seen this, please watch it.

Pasting this from another thread where someone asked me why Magic isn't criticized for losing 4 times in the Finals like LeBron is about to:

Magic was Finals MVP in his rookie year, and put up one of the greatest playoff games in history to win the title after Kareem got injured. That established a high amount of credibility for him right off the bat.

ESPN rates this as the 2nd-best Finals game performance EVER, behind only MJ's flu game:
http://espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/201...dividual-2/best-single-game-performances-no-2

Here's the sequence that answers your question:

1980 - rookie, Finals MVP, champs vs Philly in 6 (1-0)
1981 - lose to Rockets in the WCF (1-0)
1982 - Finals MVP, champs vs Philly in 6 (2-0)
1983 - swept by Philly in the Finals (2-1)
1984 - Lost to Celtics in 7 in the Finals (2-2)
1985 - Beat Celtics in 6 in the Finals, Kareem gets the MVP (3-2)
1986 - lose to Rockets in the WCF (3-2)
1987 - Beat Celtics in 6 in the Finals, Finals MVP (4-2)
1988 - Beat Pistons in 7 in the Finals, Worthy gets Finals MVP (5-2)
1989 - Pistons sweep Lakers in the Finals (5-3)
1990 - Lost in the 2nd round to the Suns (5-3)
1991 - Lost in 5 against MJ's Bulls in the Finals (5-4)

Then he got AIDS and retired.

12 seasons, 9 Finals appearances, 5 titles, 3 Finals MVP's. No other Laker got more than 1 Finals MVP during that run. Never had a losing record in the Finals at any point.

Magic Johnson is still the greatest Laker ever.


Thought this was known. He's the reason I became a Lakers stan. Still remember throwing my first no look pass in the house as a kid and hitting my mom in the face. That asswhupping was :mjcrylakers: but that's my NBA GOAT!!!
 

Brozay

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When people say MJ they immediately think :mjlol: but the true MJ they think of should be
11hw8b8_th.jpg
... does that explain it?
no, it really doesnt
 

Truth200

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Thought this was known. He's the reason I became a Lakers stan. Still remember throwing my first no look pass in the house as a kid and hitting my mom in the face. That asswhupping was :mjcrylakers: but that's my NBA GOAT!!!

Aye that Lakers smiley.:russ:
 

NormanConnors

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Thought this was known. He's the reason I became a Lakers stan. Still remember throwing my first no look pass in the house as a kid and hitting my mom in the face. That asswhupping was :mjcrylakers: but that's my NBA GOAT!!!
:mjlol:it's too early breh
 

Jplaya2023

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How many teams were there back then?

Can someone name Johnson's teammates:lolbron:

He lost 4 so he should get the same critism as lebron


Magic is an all time great but he seem to have had it kind of easy

Lol magic lost rings to all time greats like the dr, moses, zeke, bird and MJ.

The 4 teams they lost to would all rank in the top 15 teams in nba history.

Lebron out here losing in the finals to the mavs and shyt, letting 38 year old duncan push his shyt in last year.

It's not even fukkin close

:camby:
 

Jplaya2023

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Magic the man but did get drafted into a pretty nice situation

lol the lakers prior to magic arriving won 47 games and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Magic get's there improves the team by 13 games, takes over in the finals after Cap is hurt and has the single greatest performance (Sorry Jordan i can't lie) in the history of the finals when you consider circumstance (having to jump center, and guard the opposing teams center) while running the show and having to rebound like a maniac.
 
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Lol magic lost rings to all time greats like the dr, moses, zeke, bird and MJ.

The 4 teams they lost to would all rank in the top 15 teams in nba history.

Lebron out here losing in the finals to the mavs and shyt, letting 38 year old duncan push his shyt in last year.

It's not even fukkin close

:camby:

Tim duncan (twice) and dirk nowitzki are amongst those players :sas2:
 

SteelCitySoldier

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Thought this was known. He's the reason I became a Lakers stan. Still remember throwing my first no look pass in the house as a kid and hitting my mom in the face. That asswhupping was :mjcrylakers: but that's my NBA GOAT!!!

We need that remixed. Kobe smilie with the the Lakers hat
34ox5cx_th.jpg
 
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Losing 4 times in the finals isn't a bad thing when you won 5 of them. Now, having a LOSING record in the finals is a completely different story...
 

Erratic415

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Magic averaged 21 pts, 11 rebounds, 9 assists in that series. Kareem averaged 33 points, 14 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 assists in that series before he got hurt in Game 5. :damn:


Supposedly there were some people at CBS that influenced the voters to vote for Magic as FMVP. Kareem was back home in LA, resting for a possible game 7, and they could interview finals MVP Magic (a more media friendly guy anyway).

Magic could have won FMVP in 85’ and 88’, which went to Kareem and Worthy. Worthy had one of the greatest game 7 performances ever in 88’ (36/16/10), but Magic was the more consistent performer throughout the series, and still played very well in game 7.

He put on a clinic in passing in the 3rd game.

 
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