How would you grade Magic Johnson's defense?

[Notitlesince73]

You can either grade it from 1-100 or give it a letter grade. How would you grade his Defense?

[The Iron Fist]

For being a 6 9 pg, he should have a shit load of blocks.

[LAClipsFan33]

65

[dyna]

C+

[Rolando]

I don't remember much about his defense. All I remember is hating his guts. Needless to say, whatever he was doing worked pretty damn well.

[longhornfan1234]

On par with MJ, Cooper, and Pippen. He's an underrated defender.

[KeyNote]

wasn't a very good on ball defender at all..pretty good help defender on the perimeter though

C

[IGotACoolStory]

Somewhere between Hakeem and Boozer.

[lilgodfather1]

Somewhere between Hakeem and Boozer.
That doesn't say very much man so am I lol.

[Fawker]

B- (above average)

Magic was versatile and can guard forwards and down the block. Smart help defender that read passing lanes well. Led the league in steals 2 consecutive years.

[bdreason]

70.

[Rubio2Gasol]

Liability.

[Smoke117]

C-

[kurple]

not as bad as some people make it out to be

[Kblaze8855]

For being a 6 9 pg, he should have a shit load of blocks.

Magic didnt guard most speedy points and when he did he gave them a mile of cushion. Guys like Scott, Cooper, Nixon, and so so guarded points. Magic wasnt anything to just laugh at guarding players his size. Normal.

Magic would be awful defending Derrick Rose...he wouldnt just get lit up by Deng though. He just couldnt do what he shouldnt have been expected to.

[The Iron Fist]

Magic didnt guard most speedy points and when he did he gave them a mile of cushion. Guys like Scott, Cooper, Nixon, and so so guarded points. Magic wasnt anything to just laugh at guarding players his size. Normal.

Magic would be awful defending Derrick Rose...he wouldnt just get lit up by Deng though. He just couldnt do what he shouldnt have been expected to.
Still doesn't take away from what I said. Even if he wasn't guarding the point, he was still taller than everyone who played in the backcourt, and taller than most SFs.

Don't make excuses for his shitty d.

[TheBigVeto]

On a scale from 1 to 100? 10.

[longtime lurker]

From what I've read he was a good team defender, okay man to man defender.

[Swaggin916]

Not good... he couldn't stay in front of quicker players but back then there were not the penetraters there are today so it didn't matter that much. I mean if all 5 defenders were Magic Johnson, but he wasn't paid to play defense and honestly the way he pushed the ball it is impossible to expect him to play his heart out defensively.

But I would give him a C average defender at best.

[G-train]

73

[TheBigVeto]

If Bobby Hurley didn't get into that accident and Magic didn't get HIV, Hurley would've dropped 50 on Magic's ass everytime they meet.

[sipitri]

He couldn't stop other guys from penetrating infact he got hiv.
I'd say 10/100.

[INDI]

73

Sounds about right. In letters I would give him a C+

[TheBigVeto]

He couldn't stop other guys from penetrating infact he got hiv.
I'd say 10/100.

:roll: :applause: :bowdown:

[Whoah10115]

not as bad as some people make it out to be




Correct.

[eliteballer]

B- (above average)

Magic was versatile and can guard forwards and down the block. Smart help defender that read passing lanes well. Led the league in steals 2 consecutive years.


:applause:

[Sarcastic]

I bet most of the people posting never saw him play, and are talking out of their ass.

[pauk]

C.

[StusOneGoodEye]

far from a slouch. quit looking at position match ups. he was 6'9. he never guarded pg's. why waste that lenght? he was harrasing 3 positions. like already mentioned, leading the nba in steals with the 3rd highest average of all time. definitely not a dead weight.

[CarlosBoozer]

I'm not an expert in defense, so I'll give him an A in the Boozer scale

[97 bulls]

F

Magic was a gambler. Thats why he got alot of steals. But when he missed on that gamble he rarely got back into plays. Whenever Magics defense is brought up, I always refer to 91. John Paxson was routinely open due to Magic.


And for those grading him a C. Even saying he was good. I sure would hate to see what you feel bad defense is.

[Freedom Kid7]

Certainly not as bad as Larry's. That much I know. I mean, he wasn't a terrible overall defender, but a hobbled Zeke and Sleepy could light him up.

[RRR3]

Scottie too Hottie Pippen!!! <3 Da GOAT!
All your posts are starting to read like this. Chill out.


@freedomkid,
Bird made a few all-d teams did he not? not saying that means he was a good defender just pointing that out

[ShaqAttack3234]

Not a particularly good man to man defender. He obviously couldn't guard the smaller quicker point guards, and he was vulnerable vs shooters because he looked to help out a lot. He was a solid help defender, but not elite like Pippen or Jordan. I wouldn't say he was the help defender Bird was for that matter either, but solid in that area.

Ultimately, I'd say a bit below average overall. He could be a liability, but he could be fine. On a scale of 100? I guess that'd be 40-45?

[Freedom Kid7]

@freedomkid,
Bird made a few all-d teams did he not? not saying that means he was a good defender just pointing that out
He made two 2nd all-d teams. 2 more than Magic.

I guess the point in my logic is that both were so damned good at offense and everything to accompany it with. Yet their defense was flawed, but they could do decent help defense but struggled on man-to-man, but their defense looked very bad compared to their offensive skill set, and that causes some people to rate illogically. Both were solid and could defend. Larry couldn't defend like LeBron did, and Magic couldn't defend like a prime Kidd.

[BMOGEFan]

C.


Now this is complete BS...pauk rating magic johnson on D. I'm 100% sure pauk wasn't even born yet when magic retired.

[Coffee Black]

Magic was a good help defender and good at guarding forwards and players on the block. Not good at containing quick guards on the perimeter though.

[97 bulls]

All your posts are starting to read like this. Chill out.


@freedomkid,
Bird made a few all-d teams did he not? not saying that means he was a good defender just pointing that out

All your posts are starting to read like this. Chill out.

What are you talking about?

[LeBird]

Certainly not as bad as Larry's. That much I know. I mean, he wasn't a terrible overall defender, but a hobbled Zeke and Sleepy could light him up.

Larry was much better. I agree with Shaq, probably a bit higher though 55-60.

[eliteballer]

Larry was much better.


No he wasn't. Magic might not have been able to guard the water bugs out there but he wasn't bad at guarding guys at or near his size. Bird just couldnt guard ANYONE.

[TheBigVeto]

No he wasn't. Magic might not have been able to guard the water bugs out there but he wasn't bad at guarding guys at or near his size. Bird just couldnt guard ANYONE.

http://oi53.tinypic.com/34rtwyh.jpg

[po3try]

Will you stop overrating Magic? He was horrible defensively and please stop using the steals to help your case, he got those only because he gambled passing lanes.

[eliteballer]

Will you stop overrating Magic? He was horrible defensively and please stop using the steals to help your case, he got those only because he gambled passing lanes.

Trying to marginalize disrupting offenses and leading the league in steals by merely calling him a gambler, try harder:oldlol: