King Jove
King Of †he Gawds
22/11/8
what would Magic Johnson stats look like I'm 2018?
- Thread starter EBK String
- Start date
At posters talking about Magic averaging 13-15 asst without factoring in the quality of his teammates...In this day and age of the "Big 3" and "Supermax" contract...Magic would more than likely have at least one offensively challenged player in the starting lineup...see OKC with Roberson,see Cleveland with TT,see GS with Pachulia.etc...
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
So only under the extreme circumstance that he plays in a D'Antoni system? buck averaged 23 a night and 22 in 88 and 89 only taking 14 shots a game. Imagine Magic playing for a coach like dantoni and he told buck to do whatever he pleased.
No reason magic wouldn't average 28-15-13 every night if he's just looking to pad stats and put up numbers.
But i'd imagine buck would be playing winning basketball and not looking to pad his stats like guys do today (I.E. westbrook, harden, lebron)
Listen dumb nikka, Magic is nowhere near LeBron James or James Harden as a halfcourt scorer. Magic's weaknesses in that department are well documented throughout his career but y'all don't know shyt about that since y'all deify players, suddenly Magic had no weaknesses and could score at will.
He wouldn't put up 28 points per game. Whoever is suggesting Magic would average over 25 points per game is drunk.
you mean when buck played with offensively challenged AC Green, Kurt Rambis, in his lineup and still was avg 11+ assist a night and making these guys better?
Magic would make everyone better. Roberson would have so many open layups and dunks from magics court vision alone.
Boonapalist
Superstar
If your ranking them by peaks than yeah Bird would be ahead of Magic but overall I don’t see it. Magic’s longevity wasn’t even that good but it was better than Bird’s. Bird was injury prone, his numbers dropped too many times in the postseason. While Magic usually upped his game with the exception being 81,83, and unclutch plays in 84. Also I don’t think Bird was as close to Magic as a passer as you do. He was a better half court scorer though and he was a better defender.
As for Wilt he was a physical freak but he didn’t impact the game as much as he should have because most seasons he misused the tools he had. If he played the way he should’ve he undoubtedly would be top 3. While Magic more times than not had a more positive impact than Wilt due to his versatility and willingness to play whatever role needed.
But maybe we rank players differently. It seems you rank them by skill set and peak play which would also explain why you rank Curry number one.
So only under the extreme circumstance that he plays in a D'Antoni system
Listen dumb nikka, Magic is nowhere near LeBron James or James Harden as a halfcourt scorer. Magic's weaknesses in that department are well documented throughout his career but y'all don't know shyt about that since y'all deify players, suddenly Magic had no weaknesses and could score at will.
He wouldn't put up 28 points per game. Whoever is suggesting Magic would average over 25 points per game is drunk.
lol you don't watch games and you certainly never seen magic play. When the lakers became more half court oriented in the later 80s because cap slowed down, magic was averaging 20+ points a night, and when cap went to the bench it was back to showtime.
now of course magic isn't as gifted a scored as harden or lebron is (no fukkin shyt) but he could score on anyone and he could get to the line. There's a reason why harden's game in the playoffs faulters because he relies on bogus foul calls to get his points. When his shot isn't falling he looks like game 6 vs the spurs or game 5 vs the warriors in 2015. Magic is gonna beat you one way or another.
Magic is the greatest at playing a certain tempo and style it didn't matter, buck could everything on the court.
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Pass me the rock nikka
I have seen Magic play.
The Lakers were still running at higher pace than anything today, the pace in the late 80's was still faster than anything today. It was still a strictly man to man defense league with porous transition defense where there were entire teams that shot 50% for the season. Tell us what happened in the 1983 playoffs, tell us how Magic managed to lose to an under .500 team in the first round and shoot under 40% for the series in 1981? Tell us about the Tragic Johnson nickname?
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I have seen Magic play.
The Magic were still running at higher pace than anything today, the pace in the late 80's was still faster than anything today. It was still a strictly man to man defense league with porous transition defense where there were entire teams that shot 50% for the season. Tell us what happened in the 1983 playoffs, tell us how Magic managed to lose to an under .500 team in the first round and shoot under 40% for the series in 1981? Tell us about the Tragic Johnson nickname?
lol in 83 the sixers were BY FAR!! the best team in the league. Nothing wrong with losing as the underdog. Everyone was rooting for Philly, no one wanted the lakers to beat doc again. Also rookie sensation james worthy broke his leg but that niether here or there.
Every superstar has that one playoff loss that looks bad on their resume and that one is magic's black mark. I know u might think 84 finals but meh. Also in 81 it was best of 3 how many series would other players have lost going down 2-1 in a series?
Magic choked in 84 (tragic) but he came back in 85 and slayed the giant. Like i said i can name every superstar HOF player in nba history who had embarrassing playoff losses except the GOAT michael jordan
18/18/18
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Pass me the rock nikka
Bird could make any type of pass, he was a great passer but he played both forward spots, if allowed to play point he could rack up as many assists in that era. Magic and Bird have comparable longevity, Magic had a little more but both were out the league at basically the same time, Larry with his back injuries and Magic with HIV. Larry typically had a tougher road to the Finals, Magic had stacked teams his entire career and played in the weaker conference. Larry was the better shooter, halfcourt scorer, defender, and was one of the best passers in the league, I'd take a player with that skillset over Magic.
Yeah, I do rank off skillset and peak play primarily and that's where the disconnect comes from, as well as the fact that many older posters have a poor grasp of the evolution of the game. Longevity and circumstantial accolades are less important to me. I'd pick several players over Magic to start a team.
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nikkaz in here really shyttin' on Magic
I swear, y'all some dumb muthafukkaz
I swear, y'all some dumb muthafukkaz
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
The only reason Russell averaged a triple double is because of his ridiculous conditioning and motor his lung capacity rivals Iverson. We all know Russell stat pads and his teammates allow him to get rebounds. There was a guy named Fat Lever in the 80's who was a lot like Russell. For a PG to average 10 rebounds a lot of the rebounds have to be uncontested its not natural. The only reason Oscar averaged a triple double is because he played in the 60's at sky high up and down pace. Magic, Westbrook, Kidd, Rondo could grab all these boards because in their systems they were the engines of the team, the point is for them to grab any loose ball or rebound and push the break.
Kyle Anderson is a local product so I followed him when he was coming up, he was a lot like Magic in high school. He's probably the closest player to Magic physically and in terms of athleticism. I think Ben Simmons, Draymond Green, and LeBron James also remind me of Magic. Magic isn't LeBron though, because LeBron throughout his career has been on another level as a shooter, shot creator, athlete, and defender while sustaining Magic-like court vision. Magic had a slow base set shot like Green, and I think he could excel today in that type of role. I think Simmons is the modern day Magic, the closest thing to him overall.
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ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
He wouldn't defend PG's and PG's wouldn't defend him today.
Magic playing ball small center in 2018 
he'd have multiple years of averaging a triple double. probably something like 22, 12, 10
he'd have multiple years of averaging a triple double. probably something like 22, 12, 10
ISO
Pass me the rock nikka
Yeah, I've seen him play."Creative flair" - are you serious right now?
"punishing defenses" -
Have you ever seen Magic Johnson play basketball?
Steph doesn't have creative flair on his passing? So Steph doesn't have above average court vision? He's not as good a passer as Magic nor does he look to pass as much as Magic, but that doesn't matter when he can give you 25-30 points per game on 50/40/90 splits along with 7-8 assists in the flow of the game, that doesn't matter when he doesn't have to dominate the ball, he can play on or off it and his presence stretches the floor to nearly half court and creates driving angles and open looks for his teammates.
Magic didn't even have the halfcourt scoring ability of a rookie Steph, no he could not punish defenses in the halfcourt like Steph. The ball handling and shot creating and shooting is on another level.
I'd take Steph's peak with the greatest shooting seasons of All-Time, two MVP's, leading his team to 73 wins, winning a scoring title, joining the 50/40/90 club, winning two titles over any PG ever.