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The title of the thread asks the question: In their prime, who would you rather have on your favorite team> Lebron James or Magic Johnson?
This not a bask Lebron thread. I like him a lot. He's great to watch to play especially when he is on. But I woud take Magic on my team before picking Lebron. Magic made the people around him better. He was great at getting others the ball. Lebron can be great at the same thing, but I just feel that Magic was better. Plus, he added flair to his game.
Out of the two, who do you have?
^ The bolded. Teams win championships, not individuals.
That said - it also depends on who else is on the team.... it may be a situation where Lebron's skills are a better fit.
Thanks for the replies, too. I enjoy watching Lebron play. It's odd seeing him in a Lakers uniform and of course the last to seasons did not go well. My favorite things about Magic was his passing was out of this world. almost an eloquent smile. I loved when those passes went o James Worthy, the ex-Tarheel. Lebron has shades of Magic. I feel like he may know basketball in and out, but you rarely see joy on his face. I don't know. Both of them are great. I'd still go with Maic
I voted for Magic because he could make any player better. LeBron is harder to build around, lots of good players have not played well with LeBron. But is LeBron greater overall? I think so.
But choosing the best NBA players in history is so hard. For instance, Jordan edges out Kobe Bryant but they were similar players. Meanwhile, Magic Johnson was much better than Kobe in several ways, especially as a leader. So was Magic better than Jordan in his prime? Who knows.
It comes down to favorites. I tend to not honor championships as much as others do. No way Bill Russell was better than Shaq, Hakeem, and Kareem, doesn't even pass the eye test. Russell was about as good as Ben Wallace.
No offense to Magic but almost nobody is going to put him above Jordan with both in their primes.
1991 NBA Finals: Bulls Defeat Lakers 4-1
Jordan: 31.2pts, 56% FG, 6.6 rebs and 11.4 assists per game (and 2.8 steals)
I dont think this is an apples to apples comparison. The Lakers didnt win 5 championships in the 80s by Magic outscoring people. That wasnt his role on the team, unlike MJ whose job was to score tons of points. Also, by 1991 this was not one of the great Laker teams. Kareem long gone, the second best player Worthy had injuries that playoff season and wasnt the same guy either.
I overwhelmingly prefer Magic because I favor the team game. I like players who excel in making his players better, which benefits the team as a whole. LeBron stands for a team of individual heroes, which is not the type of team game I prefer to watch.
No offense to Magic but almost nobody is going to put him above Jordan with both in their primes.
I don't know many people who would disagree with you on that. I'm not a fan of the Lebron-Jordan comparisons either because to me there is no comparison. I used Magic and Lebron because to me their styles are similar in some ways.
Very glad I lived to see Bird-Magic matchups, the reign of Jordan and also the era of Lebron though.
I voted for Magic because he could make any player better. LeBron is harder to build around, lots of good players have not played well with LeBron. But is LeBron greater overall? I think so.
But choosing the best NBA players in history is so hard. For instance, Jordan edges out Kobe Bryant but they were similar players. Meanwhile, Magic Johnson was much better than Kobe in several ways, especially as a leader. So was Magic better than Jordan in his prime? Who knows.
It comes down to favorites. I tend to not honor championships as much as others do. No way Bill Russell was better than Shaq, Hakeem, and Kareem, doesn't even pass the eye test. Russell was about as good as Ben Wallace.
IIRC, that was one of the reasons that ESPN gave for saying (which they did at one point) that Magic was the only player that could even be considered/argued to be better than Jordan.
Last edited by RMESMH; 04-24-2022 at 02:46 PM..
Reason: added one word
IIRC, that was one of the reasons that ESPN gave for saying (which they did at one point) that Magic was the only player that could even be considered/argued to be better than Jordan.
I think you forget how good those Laker teams were. They didn't need Magic making them better. LeBron won surrounded by players who weren't nearly as good as those 1980s Lakers teams that had Kareem. Besides, Magic was a guard. It was his job to get assists. LeBron's job was to completely take over the game both on offense and defense.
I'm a LeBron hater and have always liked Magic but I think this one goes to LeBron. More MVPs. More playoff MVPs. All those All-Defense teams. Much longer career. The dominant player in the league during his era.
Though the gap between those two players and the vanilla NBA all star is tremendous.
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Magic all day
