Magic Johnson provided awful defense and no jumpshot.

[Hey Yo]

Yet most consider him top 5 and some say he's top 2 all-time.

Why is that when he was only effective on offense? If an all time player / PG isn't good on defense, they should at least have an effective jumper from most areas of the court on offense.

Too me, Magic is definitely overrated

[KobesFinger]

GOAT passer, efficient scorer, triple double threat and causes a mismatch with every opposing PG

[dubeta]

LeBron > Magic > Bird > Hakeem > Tmac > Vince > Mario Chalmers > Kobe

[eliteballer]

OP obviously a moron who never saw Magic play.

Magic led the league in steals.

By the middle of his career he could stick the mid-range jumper with consistency, and by the end of his career was a 90% free throw shooter and respectable from 3 point range.

Go watch the 84 Finals and you'll see him sticking mid-range jumpers that LeBron was bricking against the Spurs in game 1.

[Sarcastic]

Op diaf.

[Hey Yo]

OP obviously a moron who never saw Magic play.

Magic led the league in steals.

By the middle of his career he could stick the mid-range jumper with consistency, and by the end of his career was a 90% free throw shooter and respectable from 3 point range.

Go watch the 84 Finals and you'll see him sticking mid-range jumpers that LeBron was bricking against the Spurs in game 1.
Most def. watched him. There was a reason why he was assigned to the worst opposing offensive player. Cause he couldn't play defense.

Implying that leading the league in steals = great defense is asinine.

Magic is by far the most overrated in people's top 5. The sport is about both ends. Magic didn't care or bother to learn about defense.

[TheGreatDeraj]

I love Magic and everything he's done for the Lakers, but top 2-5 is a bit overrated for him, although I have not seen anyone rate him that high recently.

From what I have seem most have him 5-10 which seems about right to me.

[SHAQisGOAT]

Not true....

On defense Magic used to gamble a lot in his early years yea (as he was tall and very mobile), but that also led to him racking up a lot of steals (always count for something) and then LA getting quickly on the fastbreak with probably the GOAT at it leading it, plus the Lakers could "cover up for him" many times when it didn't "work".
As his career progressed he got better on defense also, furthermore he was a smart player (on both ends), could create problems with his size and mobility, knew how to take advantage of the great D played by some of his teammates as he was mostly on the worst offensive players, and he was pretty versatile because he could be put on many different players, say even when/if he was getting killed by a those really quick small(er) PG's, they could easily switch him to a SG, a SF or a PF, and make the best adjustments with some of those great players they had on the roster.
I wouldn't say good defensive player but definitely not bad, or even close.

As for the jumpshot, that gets overblown out of proportion, no jumpshot is a HUGE understatement, flat-out lie. When he came into the league he had a below average jumper yea, and as he was an amazing passer, opponents started to give him the space but around the mid 80's he was putting that strategy to rest time and time again, as he developed a nice mid-range game and was very smart at picking his shots sorta like when he took them he made sure he knew he was gonna make him. For example, in the 1984 Finals, the Celtics were giving him lots of room, trying to double Kareem, stop his drive and passing, he wound up shooting 31/55 (56.4%) from mid-range. He always kept developing his shot and range, at some point even reaching 38% from 3 on 3.5 attempts. Oh and he was always a good FT shooter, at some point great, even shooting over 90% one season.

Not to mention he's the GOAT passer/playmaker, amazing at running a team, setting up everybody and controlling the tempo, probably the GOAT fastbreak player overall, one of the greatest rebounding PG's, really smart player, great finisher, great soft-touch, great post-game and huge mismatch, really good footwork, became very clutch, lots of intangibles... He can get overrated plenty of times yea, people only looking at rings or whatnot, still GOAT PG and top5 all-time in my book.


Well, off to watch the Finals.

[Dragonyeuw]

Magic's jumpshot was a strength by the time he retired( the first time).

[Threethrows]

Magic wasn't really a world class defender or shooter by NBA standards, that doesn't mean he was bad though. Obviously his biggest strength was running an offense, which he is without a doubt one of if not the greatest ever at it.

The other parts of his game were solid at worst, and improved with time.

[Smoke117]

Magic always got every call. He was the Jordan before Jordan as far as getting every foul call his way. He was always at the line.

[LAZERUSS]

I'll save myself some time...


Interesting. In the '82 Finals, Riley moved Magic on to Dr. J in games three and four. Why? Because Erving had averaged 11.5 rpg in the first two games. In those next two games...Erving averaged 3 rpg. Magic also led the NBA in spg twice, and led in the post-season, once. Furthermore, he gave his opposing defenders FAR more problems at their defensive end, than they gave him.

And I could not care less about his "jump shot." He could score 30+ points on demand. Hell, in his many H2H's with Bird and his "jump shot", guess who had the two highest scoring games? Yep, Magic with games of 39 and 38 points. And, of course in the clinching game six in the '80 Finals,....his "jump shot" was only good enough for 42 points, on 14-23 FG/FGA. BTW, he almost always put together incredible strings in terms of scoring. I just took a quick look at his 86-76 season, and he had an eight straight game run of 35.6 ppg (which included a 46 point...and in his lowest scoring game, of 17 points, he went 6-9 from the field, and handed out 18 assists.) And after a 4 point game, in 29 minutes, and with 18 assists, in a 140-104 blowout win, he then went on a nine game tear of 29.6 ppg, with a high of 42 in that run.

Magic's IMPACT went FAR beyond his "jump shot." The FACT that he is the greatest WINNER in NBA history says it all.

I could post a ton more, but the reality is, you are probably only one of a handful that (may) honestly believe that Magic is "over-rated."

[knicksman]

4 rings as the man. Definitely GOAT. Only idiots like OP thinks he isnt.:lol

[JellyBean]

OP obviously a moron who never saw Magic play.

Magic led the league in steals.

By the middle of his career he could stick the mid-range jumper with consistency, and by the end of his career was a 90% free throw shooter and respectable from 3 point range.

Go watch the 84 Finals and you'll see him sticking mid-range jumpers that LeBron was bricking against the Spurs in game 1.


Thank you :applause:

Magic was a decent defender. He wasn't a lock down defender, very few were, but he used his height advantage well on defense. Also thanks for pointing out how his mid-range jump shot improved over the years.

[Kvnzhangyay]

LeBron > Magic > Bird > Hakeem > Tmac > Vince > Mario Chalmers > Kobe

This is pretty much mine, and Jordan >> Lebron

[Marchesk]

Maybe greatest playoff winning percentage of all-time might have something to do with it?

[Pointguard]

Yet most consider him top 5 and some say he's top 2 all-time.

Why is that when he was only effective on offense? If an all time player / PG isn't good on defense, they should at least have an effective jumper from most areas of the court on offense.

Too me, Magic is definitely overrated
Magic requires more thinking out of the box.

In game six, the last game of the '85 finals, Magic's defenders, Dennis Johnson, one of the most clutch players in the '80's shot 3 for 16 and Ainge shot 3 for 15. They shot 19% together because Magic ran them to death. Bird shot 40%. Magic eliminated the backcourt and wing play due to his absolute control of pace. Off course one of Boston's tactics was to cut off the Air Conditioning. In '87 in game six of the finals, Ainge shot 1 for 9 for 111% and Bird shot 6 for 16 - from the same dynamic. In '88 the super clutch Isiah shot 33% in game 7. Guards commit more turnovers at the end of the game as well. Some of it is nerves but not so much with Isiah, Bird and Dennis Johnson. Some of it was good defense too.

A steal by Magic is probably the best defensive plays in the history of basketball. Most blocks are not turnovers. A steal by Magic is not only an easy basket the other way, but plays into his ability to get other players involved along with his ability to push the pace. Offensive players usually play it safe and cut down perimeter passing which played into their good defensive stands - the Lakers created a lot of 24 second violations for opponents.

If Lebron and Wade start stealing the ball against SA the series is over. So I wouldn't say Magic stealing the ball isn't an indication of good defense. You just don't know the ramifications of how teams, and their coaches respond.

[Relinquish]

Maybe greatest playoff winning percentage of all-time might have something to do with it?

The West back then was even worse than the East has been in the last 15 years.

[Rose'sACL]

magic was below average on defense. sometimes he was terrible though like against the pistons and celtics.
Lakers played on such a fast pace that it sometimes covered up his bad defense as he was gambling for steals so much like chalmers was doing today.

[DetroitPistonFan]

LeBron > Magic > Bird > Hakeem > Tmac > Vince > Mario Chalmers > Kobe
:roll:

[wakencdukest]

Most def. watched him. There was a reason why he was assigned to the worst opposing offensive player. Cause he couldn't play defense.

Implying that leading the league in steals = great defense is asinine.

Magic is by far the most overrated in people's top 5. The sport is about both ends. Magic didn't care or bother to learn about defense.






BULLSHIT. Even if he didn't ever lead the league in steals, and even if he never developed a consistent jump shot, He would still be the greatest point guard in history by a wide margin. The bottom line is that he took his team to the finals 10 times and won 5 of them because he was a genius at running an offense. Take away his jump shot he would kill you in the post or run up 20 assists on you. Nobody could really stop him from controlling the game, you take one thing away from him and he would exploit you in other ways. As for defense, what 6'9 player do you know that can stay with quick little point guards? On the other hand, no point guards could do anything but slow down his dribble, he would just back them down in the post or throw a pass right over the top of them.