Magic Johnson winning Finals MVP at 20 years old is ridiculous

[NO-KG-AI]

Being MVP level and flirting with best in the league status at such young age and experience level is what separates guys like Magic from other contenders for his throne.

[SportsGuru08]

I get why he won

But it really should've been Kareem.

Kareem was too busy watching them win without him.

[Hellcrooner]

almighty kareem had lost in second round the year prior with nixon, boone, adrian dantley and wilkes.
Out at first round one season before.


so, no kids, you are not getting away with " magic just won because the team was already gaudy" or some ****.

[Tor_Raps]

When most of the greats like Jordan and Lebron didn't win rings until their late 20s.

That is the greatest achievement someone that young has ever achieved.

It was nice and all, but it was pretty clearly Kareem's Finals MVP and the NBA got into a hissy fit because he didn't come to the game and they gave it to Magic instead.

Yup... Winning Time told me this. Man I loved that show, why did they have to cancel it lol.

[ballzboyee]

Magic said in an interview that he knew Kareem would was out he approached the game like he was back in high school and adopted a scorer's mentality. He said that he was totally confident that he would take over the game offensively. Honestly, Magic throughout his career would pass up easy finishes for an assist. Magic probably could have scored 50 in that close out game and a lot more points throughout his career as well. He was probably a top 3 player in the league the moment he entered in the NBA. Kind of a strange that a rookie would win an award like that over Kareem, but Magic was one assist away from averaging at triple-double in the Finals as a rookie. He earned it.

[MyTake_1]

The day Magic joined Lakers Kareem was the second-best player. I don't think I can explain to those who did not watch just how great Magic was. He was like Jokic is for Denver, Lakers general.

[Hellcrooner]

Magic said in an interview that he knew Kareem would was out he approached the game like he was back in high school and adopted a scorer's mentality. He said that he was totally confident that he would take over the game offensively. Honestly, Magic throughout his career would pass up easy finishes for an assist. Magic probably could have scored 50 in that close out game and a lot more points throughout his career as well. He was probably a top 3 player in the league the moment he entered in the NBA. Kind of a strange that a rookie would win an award like that over Kareem, but Magic was one assist away from averaging at triple-double in the Finals as a rookie. He earned it.

even more cray you could say both magic and bird were right of the bat top 5 players in the league ( and maybe even both of them top 3).
im willing to discuss their place agaisnt kareem, dr j, moses........and not much else.

[Tor_Raps]

Not really the league was weak overall.

Magic/Bird was literally the NBA back then.

You realize people gonna say the same thing about this generation and how it was only Steph/Lebron... rest of the league was weak lol.

[Tor_Raps]

almighty kareem had lost in second round the year prior with nixon, boone, adrian dantley and wilkes.
Out at first round one season before.


so, no kids, you are not getting away with " magic just won because the team was already gaudy" or some ****.

To be fair, Magic got to play whi many considered the GOAT up until that time in Kareem.

Obviously Magic made them go up another level or two but it is extremely rare for a top pick to get that opportunity right away.

[JustBuzzin]

Not really the league was weak overall.

Magic/Bird was literally the NBA back then.

You realize people gonna say the same thing about this generation and how it was only Steph/Lebron... rest of the league was weak lol.

KD/Harden/Kawhi cmon bro I can go on and on.

[ballzboyee]

Magic said in an interview that he knew Kareem would was out he approached the game like he was back in high school and adopted a scorer's mentality. He said that he was totally confident that he would take over the game offensively. Honestly, Magic throughout his career would pass up easy finishes for an assist. Magic probably could have scored 50 in that close out game and a lot more points throughout his career as well. He was probably a top 3 player in the league the moment he entered in the NBA. Kind of a strange that a rookie would win an award like that over Kareem, but Magic was one assist away from averaging at triple-double in the Finals as a rookie. He earned it.

even more cray you could say both magic and bird were right of the bat top 5 players in the league ( and maybe even both of them top 3).
im willing to discuss their place agaisnt kareem, dr j, moses........and not much else.

Definitely not better than Moses or Kareem, yet. I would say Dr. J might be a push for both Bird and Magic as rookies. Either way, both Bird and Magic were definitely top 5. Dr. J was legit though, so it's hard to say. The thing about Magic is that he could so dominate with his size, speed, and passing without scoring and just his basketball IQ. If you are just talking offensive impact, Magic's ability to run an offense puts him on a weird tier by himself. We've never seen anything quite like that before or since in the NBA. Maybe Jokic. There's flashes of it with Stockton, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash,Chris Paul, etc. Those PG's would have their nights where they are just dominating passing the basketball and running the offense. Magic Johnson was like that almost every night, and he was 6'9".

[Tor_Raps]

Not really the league was weak overall.

Magic/Bird was literally the NBA back then.

You realize people gonna say the same thing about this generation and how it was only Steph/Lebron... rest of the league was weak lol.

KD/Harden/Kawhi cmon bro I can go on and on.

Obviously I know that's not the truth but you made my point in how it feels to dismiss all other nba players simply because you didnt watch and are just looking at the final results lol.

[FuShengTHEGreat]

Magic is regarded as a top 5 player of all time, but I always wonder what his legacy would have been if he didn't have to retire prematurely in his prime.

In 1991 Magic was 2nd in MVP voting, made the 1st all NBA team, and averaged 19.5ppg, 12.5apg, and 7rpg, leading the Lakers to their 9th finals appearance in just 12 years.

At 31 years old it was clear he still had at least another 2-3 MVP caliber years in him and probably another 5-6 all-star caliber years. If Magic was able to win 1 more in the 1990s and Jordan finished with 4 or 5 rings, do we have a different conversation about the GOAT?

It's also crazy that the age of 36, after taking 5 years off, he was able to come into the league and still average 15ppg, 7apg and 6rpg on 47%fg and 38%3fg. Insane.

Even if he didn't retire. I couldn't see him winning another title unless he got traded or LA brought someone in. The only 2 superstars that were on the trading block in the early 90s were Barkley and Olajuwon.

The squad he led to the Finals before he left look like sheep being devoured by ravenous wolves by Chicago. That series wasn't even competitive after they barely squeaked out game 1.

Couldn't see him upstaging either peak Jordan or peak Olajuwon being the slightly older guy with much worse defensive impact than either. .

[SpreeS]

When most of the greats like Jordan and Lebron didn't win rings until their late 20s.

That is the greatest achievement someone that young has ever achieved.

You talk like rookie took 20 wins team and won chip with FMVP. In reality he had ALLTIME TOP3 player still in prime years and who was clearly the best player in Finals if not injury would won FMVP award.

[The4thHorseman]

Those who prop up Magic for that game 6 never mention that Jamaal Wilkes put up 37-10 that night.

[dhsilv2]

Not really the league was weak overall.

Magic/Bird was literally the NBA back then.

You realize people gonna say the same thing about this generation and how it was only Steph/Lebron... rest of the league was weak lol.

KD/Harden/Kawhi cmon bro I can go on and on.

Who? Seriously you think Kawhi in 50 years is getting hype? Sadly Harden will be forgotten. KD....I dunno. But meh.

[WarriorGM]

Those who prop up Magic for that game 6 never mention that Jamaal Wilkes put up 37-10 that night.

Or that that was the same Jamaal Wilkes who had already won a ring as the number two on the 1975 team with Rick Barry—when Wilkes was Rookie of the Year.

ROTY + Championship. Maybe someone should be making the argument that Jamaal Wilkes had the greatest rookie performance ever? Next time anyone says the greatest NBA rookie had a spectacular performance in that Game 6 1980 Final remember the one being referenced could just as easily be Jamaal Wilkes and not Magic Johnson.

[JN61]

Let's be honest here Kareem would have won it with easy and probably should have won it regardless. Magic winning it was definitely the narrative trophy rather than the best player one.

[JN61]

Funny to see people downplaying this.

We'll likely never again see a rookie win FMVP.

Or be a top 2 player on a title team.

Also unlikely you lose by far your best player when you almost certainly have the serie for you and NBA decides to award player present rather than doing zoom call with them to interview them.

[SpreeS]

Funny to see people downplaying this.

We'll likely never again see a rookie win FMVP.

Or be a top 2 player on a title team.

49 G.Mikan - the best player on a title team
57 B.Russell - the best player on a title team
75 J.Wilkes - the second best player on a title team