Magic Johnson: "We didn't think about it 'cause that's not what we were about"

1) James, Wade and Bosh were never "bitter rivals", they were all good friends from the same draft class.

2) Isn't this the guy who won a championship his rookie season because his team had a Big 3 with two other hall of famers? Dont see a reason for him want to "join up with Bird" to win a ring.


This hating is getting re-got-damn-diculous.

 

even with a championship, lebron has had a better career. he would go down as the better player if both retire right now.

 

Magic played with Kareem and Worthy, Lebron had big Z and Delonte......

 

In life, music, and other stuff things change. That is how life works. This is a new generation so things are bound to change.


So why in basketball now that we see some new thing it gets criticized because they aren't doing it like the NBA players did back in the day?

 

i'm starting to think miami is a good thing for the NBA. it creates the perfect scenario of an underrated team/ or 2nd coming of MJ/Hakeem/Kobe/Bird coming in and beating the superfriends. lebron was never the succesor. perhaps he knew that himself, that's why he left.

i just hope to see the rise of the next generation of greats sometime in my lifetime. imo the last gen. of greats started in the 80's and ended with Kobe. Lebron's class couldn't even win the Olympics without guidance from the old skool.

God I hope this NBA dark ages ends soon.

 

In life, music, and other stuff are open to criticism. Especially from the very people that made it possible that you can "join together" and still make superstar money.

That's one thing that Magic and Jordan didn't touch on. They didn't join together because someone was going to have to take a paycut and get paid like a role player. Now in today's financial NBA which Magic and Jordan had very large hands in getting the NBA this big, you can have 2 or 3 superstars on a team and they still get paid superstar money. In the 80's, the highest paid players in each team was about 3-4 million a year. Good luck in getting someone like Jordan to accept 2 million to play with Magic, even if he's making a boat load more from his endorsements. Money = ego.

I see nothing wrong with Magic or Jordan's comments, they are instinctively trying to keep on top of the hill and be kings of the pride. When they see that someone is trying to take a shortcut to where they're at on that hill, it's natural that they bring down that kid a peg or 2.

It's survival of the toughest and someone isn't measuring up in their eyes.

 

similar to how a true Rocket fan wouldnt have a Kobe Bryant sig

 

I agree. Sometimes I wonder who people really think they are. Sit in front of a computer screen and talk a bunch of crap...

 

What are you even babbling about?

 

I liked this post on TrueHoop today:

Magic Johnson sought elite teammates too

Basically, Magic is full of crap. He himself has admitted previously that he would have stayed in college if it hadn't been for the chance to play with Kareem when he entered the league.

 

It's just a different culture in today's NBA. In the 80s/90s, you hated the opposing player. Barkley and Jordan were friends, but Barkley would put Jordan on his ass in the game if need be. You could respect someone without going out of your way to be nice and hang out with them.

The current NBA group embodies the AAU mindset -- we're all friends, let's all play together on one team! Stern should shoulder a lot of blame for this -- now days, an old school hard foul is a flagrant and leads to a suspension. The NBA has gone soft.

 

Wow. That article is pretty good break down. So over the 7 years of James' career in Cleveland, only two of his teammates have appeared in All-Star games, each once: Zydrunas Ilgauskus (2005), and Mo Williams (2009, as a second alternate choice).

 

He also has played with Carlos Boozer, Mo Williams, Shaq & Jamison (along w/ Big Z)

SIDE NOTE:Let's not forget the ONLY reason he got to the Finals is because the weaker conference he plays in. To compare Lebron to any NBA great is premature. He's isnt even the best player in TODAY'S game.

 

Correction. Lebron is the more EXCITING player to watch. Wade is the better basketball player. Minus the stupid hype, Wade should go down as the better as for right now

 

And this is why Hakeem's feat in the 94 championship is one of the greatest individual season performances (and most unheralded) in NBA history. For the 94 championship team, there was only one player who made an All-Star team up to that point (Otis Thorpe made it one year). Hakeem still managed to carry the team to the title.

People don't make a big deal about that and Hakeem managed to win it! Yet, in Lebron's case it's a huge injustice and an excuse why he couldn't lead his team to the championship and had to leave to form a dream team. Go figure.

 

Wade is better based on what? The fact that he also led a team to the Finals out of the conference you referred to as weaker just one post up? The fact that he played eight-on-five against the choking pansies in Dallas and managed to get a ring?

 

Dallas was actually the favorite in that series. But unlike Lebron, Wade actually willed his team to victory. He was the leader of that team and came through when it counted, like he always does. Can you say the same for Lebron? ESPN highlights dont win rings. Wade is the better player

 

That is just bogus. Since KG/Allen went to Boston the majority of true elite teams are in the East. The Lakers have gotten a free pass to the finals the last 3 years, Boston, Orlando and Cleveland have had it tough in their conference.

I pointed this out in another thread. Hakeem's 94 and Wade championship team were the only ones in 30+ years where they were very much over-matched except their one superstar. Most people don't recall how insignificant Shaq was vs Dallas and how truly dominant Wade had to be in that playoff run or Miami doesn't win it.

 

Wade himself disagrees with the bolded statement.

 

The only reason Miami won that series is because the refs started calling bogus fouls for even breathing on Wade.