Chris Paul vs. Magic Johnson

[whitehops]

let me start by saying this: I am not interested in comparing their career achievements or accolades since chris paul is only half way through his career. this is more just a comparison of their actual play and production on the court.

magic is considered the best point guard ever, and usually a top 5 player all-time as well. however, when you compare the relative numbers to chris paul's magic comes up short the vast majority of the time. whether you compare their career averages or their stats from their best seasons, chris paul has the advantage both ways. PER, WS/48, AST%, AST/TO, TOV%, heck he even has an edge on ORtg & DRtg.

magic has an advantage in shooting percentages and rebounding, but the rest goes to paul.


before anyone flips their burger and points out magic's better raw stats, the nba back in the 80's played at a much faster pace than now. on average games had about 10% more possessions, which could boost player's raw stats roughly 10%. most advanced stats take that into consideration.


also, about magic's legendary playmaking ability. I know a lot of people consider his playmaking ability to be untouchable but it makes me a little confused. magic's assist % is lower than paul's, and his assist to turnover ratio is much worse than paul's. so, chris paul assists on more of his team's possessions than magic and takes care of the ball a lot better. if that isn't some sort of indicator that magic might not have the best playmaking ability of all time then I don't know what is.


i'm not trying to say that paul is definitely better than magic, but it is pretty interesting to talk about magic as the greatest point guard ever and a top 5 player when we may possibly have a better player right now that goes unappreciated. the point guard position is the hardest to do at a high level of productivity and efficiency but paul really seems to do it better than magic.

[BlackFalconGSW]

Wake me up when Chris Paul actually gets to the WCF, then we'll talk.

[TheChosen618]

Chris Paul had better handles and was a better 3 point shooter than Magic and that was about it. Every other category goes to Magic and some go to Magic pretty easily.

[Regulio]

have you seen Magic play ?

CP3 is a better defender than Magic at his peak (87'), other than that, I don't really see any advantages, and how he does "better" than Magic. Stats don't tell the whole story, especially something like PER.
Magic was a better scorer, better rebounder, better playmaker.
He dragged quite an average roster to 2 Finals in a stacked league. What did CP3 do ? Failed in POs again and again?

I guess you just looked at some advanced stats and made such conclusions.

[Joao Saraiva]

NBA was played at higher tempo... so Magic having more TOs on a faster pace is also something that is expectable.

Also you can take 10% of Magic's assists, he still has done 15APG in the post season. That leaves him with 13.5 APG. Also decrease his TOs 10%. 3.6 and 2.9 TO in the post seasons he averaged more than 15APG. Damn that's a hell of a ratio. Paul only got a special ratio in his 1st post season with NOH. From then on, he's been pretty average. Magic was special a lot of years.

Magic could score close to the basket. He could post up smaller defenders.

I give the edge to Chris Paul on D and shooting the 3. Handling I'm not so sure, cause the game changed a lot. But back then, Magic would be a safe option to have the ball on his hands.

I'd say:
Scoring: almost the same. Magic couldn't shoot the 3 but he had good percentages from the field and was great at the line (like Paul). Also remember, back then it was not like every player shot from 3, like in today's NBA.

Playmaking: Magic. His raw numbers in assists are awesome, and he doesn't TO the ball that much for the assists he gets.

Rebounding: Magic. Numbers won't lie here.

Defense: Chris Paul.

Rising at the post season: Magic Johnson. He had amazing post season years. How about Paul? I feel really disapointed by his post season impact. He hasn't played more than 12 games in a single playoff... and he never made it to the conference finals.

I'd say it's Magic and it's not that close.

[RayBan-Sematra]

The problem with this comparison is that Magic had 10 or 11 Elite post seasons.
CP3 has only had 3.

His Peak stats in both the regular season and playoffs are quite impressive but one must also consider that they came in 6-12 games run. He never got past the 2nd round.

Magic also had really impressive Peak stats and he did it in 17-20+ game runs and in title winning years.

Peak wise you could try really hard and "maybe" make a reasonable argument for CP3 but career wise they are light years apart.

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

We will never see the Chris Paul that could have been. As good a Chris Paul is, he still has not recovered the speed that he had. 2008 playoffs at age 22 was Chris Paul's peak. The next year the team lost a bit of it's intensity and sharpness and then Chris Paul got injured.

The Lakers were a somewhat sloppy team with the ball especially during the regular season. They could be the Showtime Lakers because they were enough better than their competition that they could concentrate on flashy style points rather than efficient winning basketball.

Magic was not the only guy on the Lakers who could pass and that should not be held against Magic. Norm Nixon was a quality point guard. Norm Nixon reminded me a bit of Chris Paul. Eventually Nixon was dealt for the draft pick that became Byron Scott because Nixon and Magic both wanted the ball in their hands. Byron Scott could play off the ball as a shooter.

Chris Paul vs Isiah Thomas would be interesting.

Magic is better than Chris Paul. I would have enjoyed Magic at Small Forward playing with Chris Paul at point guard and with Chris Paul spending some time as a catch and shoot point guard like Mario Chalmers while Magic had the ball. Magic being able to pass over the top of players was nice for feeding Kareem and for feeding players above the rim.

[og15]

Magic is 6'9, Magic wasn't really just a PG, and it was much easier for him to maintain his efficiency in the post-season than it is for Paul. That isn't to say Paul hasn't had times where he has, but a 6'9 guy who can handle, and post, that's a big advantage.

[RayBan-Sematra]

Yeah.
Chris was crazy good in 2008. The more I think about it he probably was the true MVP that year.

In the first 2 games of the playoffs he averaged 34ppg on 64%FG / 70%TS go go along with 15apg with only 2-TOV.
He also averaged 4spg.

34 / 15apg / 4spg on 70%TS... crazy stuff.

[Lost92Bricks]

If you just go by production and ability (NOT career wise) then I don't see how there's a big gap between them, Paul is similar statistically, just as efficient if not more, better defender, better shooter, better ball handler and quicker.

If it's okay for these idiots to compare Lebron to MJ, I don't see how you can't compare Paul to Magic (NOT career wise) especially when Paul statistically/ability wise is closer to Magic than Lebron is to MJ.

Chris Paul in 2008 basically had the exact same season Magic had in 1990.

[og15]

Chris Paul's 2008 season was quite amazing both in the regular season and post-season, that is true. Actually in the regular season, his 2009 season was also pretty crazy.

[Narigo]

Paul is a better shooter and taking care of the ball. But I have to go with Magic. He is a better playmaker and more aggressive at scoring than Paul(who I feel is passive and should be more assertive at trying to score).

[Verballer]

Paul IMO is really justa ring away (which is not impossible at this point,Clips improved massively and have had the best offseason at this point) from having a legit argument.
Be's by far the most underrated playoff performer of all time,I am an absolute massive fan of his,and I really hope be can one day return to that 2008 form.
Also I feel tbe way he never gets talked a out on this forum is shocking

[whitehops]

NBA was played at higher tempo... so Magic having more TOs on a faster pace is also something that is expectable.

that is why I brought up turnover percentage... it counts the percentage of turnovers a player has in all his team's possessions. magic has a higher turnover percentage, which means he did not take care of the ball as well.

you think I would point out in my argument about the difference in pace and then not account for it in my argument?


also, paul has an amazing assist/turnover ratio for someone as productive as him, while magic's is average for a point guard.






I really wish some people would try to form their own opinion on a subject and add some sort of depth in their analysis.

[easiestplayfts]

6'9 and can play multiple positions well....I'll take Magic.

[Mr MoJo Risin]

Yeah.
Chris was crazy good in 2008. The more I think about it he probably was the true MVP that year.

In the first 2 games of the playoffs he averaged 34ppg on 64%FG / 70%TS go go along with 15apg with only 2-TOV.
He also averaged 4spg.

34 / 15apg / 4spg on 70%TS... crazy stuff.

Magic is superior, and it's not even CLOSE!

[Joao Saraiva]

NBA was played at higher tempo... so Magic having more TOs on a faster pace is also something that is expectable.

that is why I brought up turnover percentage... it counts the percentage of turnovers a player has in all his team's possessions. magic has a higher turnover percentage, which means he did not take care of the ball as well.

you think I would point out in my argument about the difference in pace and then not account for it in my argument?


also, paul has an amazing assist/turnover ratio for someone as productive as him, while magic's is average for a point guard.






I really wish some people would try to form their own opinion on a subject and add some sort of depth in their analysis.

You misunderstood what I told. When you play 4 or 5 possessions running, you'll commit more mistakes than seting up 4 or 5 plays to deliver the ball for a shooter coming out of picks. That's what I meant.

About Magic, have you looked at his post-season? Cause it is really relevant. A player that went to 9 finals in 12 years in his career at some point will start not being as foccused on the regular season.

Also do you know what turn over percentage stands for? I like more a assist/to ratio.

[john248]

The extra 9 inches of height is what makes Magic even more special which allows him to see the court better, play the post, and guard larger players. Defenses have to focus on Magic simply due to his unique style of play. We're talking about a guy who can do the same as CP3 by running the break and directing half court sets while also being able to play the post which gives even more passing lanes and makes defenses collapse on him. He's able to play the post and make the defense collapse because of his hook shot and size advantage over most other guards and wing players who would be matched up on him which is something CP3 can only dream of.

So while Magic is better in the post, he's also the better scorer especially since CP3's injury several years go that slowed down his elite quickness. Both are efficient scorers, but Magic can score in different ways, is a more willing scorer, and able to draw more fouls just by being closer to the basket.

CP3 is the better man defender while Magic was on the off guard or some other wing player, but he at least had the size to guard all positions so long as a PG or another player wasn't speed blitzing him. Magic, along with Kidd, are the top rebounding guards of all time which allows them to grab the ball and go. Then we get to see Magic do his thing.

Yea, you can talk about CP3 having a higher assist and lower turnover %ages, but is he really impacting the game the way Magic did? Magic is the better scorer, both are comparable playmakers though Magic has the height advantage (better court vision, post play), better rebounder. This isn't a knock on CP3 where I have him ranked higher than others it seems, but there's a reason Magic is GOAT PG.

[NO-KG-AI]

Magic is on the short list of GOAT candidates, a list that Chris can never get on, because he's a unique physical and basketball talent that can always impose his will on a game. Magic's ability to post up and create from there against every single perimeter player, is something few players have in their arsenal.

Magic's scoring ability and size is the difference here. It's something other PG's flat out can't match, even if Chris is one of the rare few that have Magic's vision/passing ability.

[JordansBulls]

Statistically it is close between the two across there era, but other than that Magic was the superior player.