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MAGIC JOHNSON

Although Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the game as only a few players have managed to do, his Lakers never won an NBA championship before Magic Johnson arrived in LA. With the great center sidelined by a sprained ankle in Game 6 of the 1980 finals against the 76ers, Johnson recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals while playing center, forward, and guard as the situation required. He led the Lakers to a 123-107 victory and a championship while becoming the only rookie in history to win the NBA Finals MVP award.

Magic Johnson had the same revolutionary impact on basketball in the 1980s that Bob Cousy did in the 1950s. At 6-9, he was the tallest point guard in history, combining the size of a power forward with the ball handling talent of a guard and the one-on-one skills of a swingman. It was Johnson who introduced the fast-paced style of play known as “Showtime” that blended no-look passes off the fastbreak with deadly accurate alley-oops from halfcourt and bullet-feeds through triple-teams under the basket. His 138 triple-doubles are second only to Oscar Robertson’s 181.

Johnson led the Lakers in nine NBA finals during his twelve years with the club and won five rings. Except for Bill Russell, who led the Celtics to 12 finals and 11 championships during his 13 seasons in Boston, he is arguably the biggest winner in the history of his sport. The Boston Globe’s Bob Ryan believes he is also the second greatest player in history, behind Russell but ahead of Michael Jordan who played in Magic’s shadow during the first half of his career. Larry Bird, with whom Johnson’s name will be forever intertwined, said: “Magic is head and shoulders above everybody else. I’ve never seen anybody as good as him.”