How good was James Worthy?

[Point forward]

How good was James Worthy? He was the third big cog in the 1980s Lakers machine. I saw him play but was too small to analyse his game. The key question: was he a legit star or rather a valuable sidekick?

I remember JW42 as a powerful dunker and a clutch shooter who was not named "Big Game James" for nothing. He was a deadly finisher, once averaging .575 for the season IIRC. He went .721 over an ENTIRE PLAYOFFS SERIES!! (vs Nuggets, 5 games) At his peak, he was a 22ppg scorer. He was even a Finals MVP, and not for nothing his number 42 is retired with purple and gold. HOF, too.

But the knock on Worthy is the fact that he played with two GOATs, namely Magic and Kareem. Kareem really eased the pressure in the low post and mid range areas, and with Magic running a break, an athlete like Worthy could score without really trying. His individual honors (apart from Finals MVP) are meagre, only 2x All-NBA Third Teams.

So, how is Worthys legacy? Was he more a all-time big time guy like Baylor, or rather a lucky-to-be-at-the-right-placer like Horry? Tell me.

[bluestang302]

So, how is Worthys legacy? Was he more a all-time big time guy like Baylor, or rather a lucky-to-be-at-the-right-placer like Horry? Tell me.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I'm also interested to see the responses here.

I tend to group Worthy in with McHale. Really talented guys who are legit all-time greats based on their achievements, but who we never got to see with their own teams. Would Worthy have been a Dantley/English/Nique level scorer on his own team, but toil in mediocrity? Not sure.

[sp6r=underrated]

My main problem with Worthy, has always been his performance post-Magic. Do any laker fans have an explanation for his steep decline while still relatively young?

[bluestang302]

I'm pretty sure Worthy's knee/leg problems affected him right around the time Magic retired (if not earlier). He also was no spring chicken by that point either. He was 30/31ish, which isn't ancient, but isn't young either and he had alot of extra playoff miles on his legs.

His post-Magic run was unimpressive for sure, but it might not be totally fair to use that against him. At least not without adding an injury and age disclaimer.

[TMU]

My main problem with Worthy, has always been his performance post-Magic. Do any laker fans have an explanation for his steep decline while still relatively young?

While Worthy wasn't better without Magic, he had no problem adjusting upon Magic's department. I think his steep decline was due to his knee injury in '92. He lost a lot of his athleticism, which was integral part of his game.

[penbeast0]

How would you rate Worthy relative to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili? . . . they would seem the obvious comparisoms since so much of Worthy's value is based on his being a top supporting player on one of the greatest teams.

[tsherkin]

James Worthy was a talented player; he had great physical gifts, a dirty spin on the right baseline, great strength, soft hands and an awesome work ethic.

He wasn't an especially talented ball-handler, not a gifted passer, not a deadly sniper... but he was a lot like Shawn Marion (sans awesome undersized rebounding); knew how to run his lanes well, always moved well off-the-ball, caught anything you threw near him, etc.

He had a nice finger-roll, he could sky, he could stick mid-range and perimeter jumpers... He relied a lot on his athleticism and he was never a guy who was a legit go-to scorer for more than a few games here or there at the NBA level but he was clutch and he knew how to use what he had and he did it very well.

James Worthy is the paragon second-star type player, definitely a very good player. As far as All-NBA teams...

Remember that he competed with Alex English, Dominique Wilkins, Larry Bird and others in possibly the strongest era ever for SFs. That'd be like downplaying Patrick Ewing because he played his career with Kareem, Dream, Moses, D-Rob, Shaq and Parish, you know?

Worthy's steep decline post-Magic had to do with his age, his major injury and the overall weakening of L.A.'s roster in addition to Magic's absence.

It's obviously going to be a lot harder to score if you're team's second-leading scorer and top playmaker is gone without recompense... remember, the Lakers didn't add anything appreciable between 90-91 and 91-92.

Worthy turned 30, injured his knee and the Lakers were crap beacuse Sedale Threatt replaced Magic and they were otherwise relying on a bum-kneed Worthy and Byron Scott (to be fair, Threatt had his two best years in 91-92 and 92-93 but still).

He was a great player, period. Not a top-15 guy, probably not even top-30, but he was still a really valuable component (critical) of the Showtime Lakers after their first two titles.

[Warspite]

At the time I truely believed that Worthy could do what English, Nique, Dantley, Mullin, were doing.

Now Im not so sure. I thought he was very underrated at the time but its hard when you know that Magic makes him better but how much?

I do know that he could score 20-24ppg with no problem and that he was a very good defender. Worthy was a pretty good rebounder (better than his stats say becasue of his teammates).

I also have a point of contention about him being the 3rd option. He was the 2nd half and particulary the 4th qt #1 or #2 option. Hes the #1 option in the playoffs and that tells me alot.

The debate of who to draft #1 (Worthy or Nique) is always a fun one and Ill admit I have been on both sides.

[JordansBulls]

How would you rate Worthy relative to Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili? . . . they would seem the obvious comparisoms since so much of Worthy's value is based on his being a top supporting player on one of the greatest teams.

Worthy was better than Manu or Parker. Come on now.

[UDRIH14]

how about in comparison with cooper