Magic averaged 18.6pts, 9.6rebs, and 9.5ast one season, pretty much a triple double... haha but yes CP3 is much better
A large part of that is due to Magic himself - not just his greatness on the court, and believe me, he was great - there's very few former players who seem to be as willing/able to show up in front of the camera and spin self-aggrandizing tales of how awesome he and his contemporaries were with the consistency of Magic. He can pretty much twist anything back to the showtime lakers - it's the gold standard for him and always will be no matter what. He does this far more so than Jordan (reclusive) or Barkley (loud but generally cognizant of his own ridiculousness) or the rest - he seems to have basically never moved on from the era and can't keep his trap shut about it. It's like he has this installed in his Bel-Air mansioncave Spoiler Hey Magic, somebody's talking about the 80's I'm on it!
The "softness" of the league is incredibly overrated. Also, the exposure fans had to teams was much lower then. You can watch any and every game from any team in the country now on any night, unless you are a Rockets fan living in Houston and then you can only watch any team but the Rockets. This takes away from the grandeur and mystique that players had back then.
You could make the argument that Magic was better than Jordan. He was one of the few players that you could actually make a case for. If he had wanted to, he could have put up 30-35 a night, easily. He always did what his team needed him to do.
Did you know that Ichiro can hit a homerun anytime he comes up to bat but chooses to hit singles because he's doing what the team needs him to do?
You could make the argument back in the 80's/90's because this type of argument was generally made on the print pages of USA Today and other such spots wihtout a whole lot of context. Looking at Magic in perspective and it's not hard to spot the flaws in his game that separate him from Jordan, namely that Jordan was a vastly superior scorer (Magic wasn't really even elite for his time, let alone among alltime) and Magic's nonexistent jumpshot and defense leave him far behind
Ok, I won't use that argument. Ill take the 6'8 point guard over the 6'0 pg. ill take magic because he was a winner. I'm not hating on Paul, but to compare the two is just stupid. CP3 is top 3 pg's in the game today for sure though.
He set up teammates for easy baskets and less predictable offense. Any great player could average 30 plus points if all they did was jack up the ball. Jordan averaged less points during his championship seasons than the beginning of his career.
Any great player except for Magic who barely broke 20 most years. This is a terrible argument. Magic was a great player but the "could have been an elite scorer he just didn't feel like it" is a joke. Magic passed a lot - because he was better at it than scoring.
I agree ... wholeheartedly. I grew up in the MJ era, and often became the prison that he was the best ever, but looking at the whole pie ... you have to ask yourself at what aspects of the game makes him the greatest ever. Because, when comes to actual effect on the court and gameplay, I'm more liable to believe in these days that greatest player lies among the great centers of the NBA. If given, the best team's possible, I feel like it would be a battle between the great centers, such as Wilt, Kareem, Olajuwon, Shaq, and Moses. It's more of the nature of the game than perceived greatness. I honestly believe that players, like Olajuwon or Robinson would have easily won 4-7 titles, if gifted with teams as talented as Celtics or Lakers. Give either center an all-league power forward, small forward, shooting guard, or point guard ... you see a team that's not going to lose very often. I love watching the old games with Magic Johnson, as I do think it's between Oscar Robertson and him as the greatest point guard of all time. Though, both did come with their deficiency. Fans of nostalgic fever often will make it seem like it's crazy to compare a modern day player or even one that came before the time of their favorite players or teams to be greater. Example with the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s, I've watched enough basketball and seen enough players to say that you could replace MJ with any top 10-12 players of all time and the Bulls would still win 4-8 titles in decade ... given the structure of team, management progress, league wide competition, and teams competitiveness without Michael Jordan. You pair Pippen/Grant/Paxson/Armstrong or Pippen/Rodman/Harper/Kukoc/Kerr with say a prime Wilt, LeBron, Kobe, Bird, Big O, Dream, Shaq, West or Magic. The Bulls remain the team of the 90s, almost regardlessly, because the drop-off is nearly non-existent or not as great as some fans failed to realize. If the Bulls actually had a great center in place of MJ with all other player moves turning out virtually the same. You lose a little to moderate in scoring, yet make greater gains in rebounding, post defense, and post scoring/offense. Another wing would've made for a player that integrate newer players into team concept and utilize their skills more appropriate.
When it comes to Magic, he's the better player between CP3. More height advantage (over opponents), athleticism, better post player, better rebounder, better passer, and capable of playing more positions. Most of all, he has more individual accomplisments and team accolades than CP3. Though, CP3, currently is a greater shooter, both mid-range and long range, more so than Magic ever was, while he's also a much better defender. So realistically, he does have some advantages and is not complete wash as some fans will make it sound.
People used this argument for other players, like arguing that anyone could do what Wilt did, if they were allowed to take as many shots or given free reign to shoot like MJ. It's kind of disingenuous on one hand, while it does create such a great question on another hand. I do believe Magic could've slightly averaged more points than he did in his career, but he doubt he could've averaged 30-37 in the way MJ or Kobe did (or LeBron does). For one, his shooting ability was not on par of those two. Also, his athletic prowess and scoring ability was not quite as imposing the others.
Too bad we couldn't pair him up with dwight, or we would have a dynasty and be the favorites to win a championship
its an insult to magic to even mention Magic vs Paul... COME ON GUYS.. CP3 is not even the best PG from the last 5 years.. Tony Parker arguably is better and has accomplished more. Wtf is up with the mention of Chris Paul in top 5's lately.. i guess CP3 might be the most overrated point of all time.. Isiah Thomas was light years better.. hell even Kevin Johnson was better.. unless chris paul stops flopping and wins 2 or 3 championships he shouldnt even be mentioned in the top 5...
