Magic Johnson has a losing Finals record

[StrongLurk]

Magic is 24-27 in 51 games played in the Finals. Interesting stat since he is considered a "winner". Definitely got some lucky breaks to win 5 rings.

[riseagainst]

His finals record is 5/9. That's above 50%, genius.

[NBAGOAT]

His finals record is 5/9. That's above 50%, genius.

should've been 5/12 :coleman:

[bigkingsfan]

Are you positive?

[StrongLurk]

His finals record is 5/9. That's above 50%, genius.

Obviously you have trouble with reading comprehension.

He has lost more games in the finals than he has won - hence a losing record!

[CAstill]

Magic is 24-27 in 51 games played. Interesting stat since he is considered a "winner". Definitely got some lucky breaks to win 5 rings.

This stat is irrelevant for him because he won more finals than loss which is the whole objective.

[StrongLurk]

This stat is irrelevant for him because he won more finals than loss which is the whole objective.

It's simply very interesting and shows the high variability of seven game series, especially at the highest level.

For instance, Larry Bird is only 16-15 in the Finals. Granted, they both played against each other a lot, but it shows that a lot can happen in a short sample size.

[Hey Yo]

Magic is 24-27 in 51 games played in the Finals. Interesting stat since he is considered a "winner". Definitely got some lucky breaks to win 5 rings.
Like playing with 3 other "first overall picks" in Kareem, Worthy and Thompson.

[CAstill]

It's simply very interesting and shows the high variability of seven game series, especially at the highest level.

For instance, Larry Bird is only 16-15 in the Finals. Granted, they both played against each other a lot, but it shows that a lot can happen in a short sample size.

Yes, I agree but to count that as a valid point to detract from him is irrelevant. He won more than loss always a positive.

[tamaraw08]

Obviously you have trouble with reading comprehension.

He has lost more games in the finals than he has won - hence a losing record!

Yes Magic lost more but how did that happened?
Lost to MJ 4-1, Kareem retired, Worthy, him and Byron got injured.
Detroit swept them 4-0 after winning their 5th ring?
got swept by the Sixers after winning 2 rings and playing 3 of 4 finals? as in very exhausted.
so ok, what do I remember about Magic?
The guy is one of the greatest PG's who won 5 rings.

[MP.Trey]

Like playing with 3 other "first overall picks" in Kareem, Worthy and Thompson.
How about playing in a notoriously weak conference?

[Da_Realist]

How about playing in a notoriously weak conference?

Then how were they good enough to win 5 titles beating some of the greatest teams of all time? Maybe after analysing the context you'll see that is an irrelevant point.

If Lebron leads the Cavs past the Warriors, then the competition level of the East is irrelevant.

[Hey Yo]

Yes Magic lost more but how did that happened?
Lost to MJ 4-1, Kareem retired, Worthy, him and Byron got injured.
Detroit swept them 4-0 after winning their 5th ring?
got swept by the Sixers after winning 2 rings and playing 3 of 4 finals? as in very exhausted.
so ok, what do I remember about Magic?
The guy is one of the greatest PG's who won 5 rings.
Magic was injured in the 91 Finals? Using the retirement of Kareem as an excuse? In 91, Kareem would have been 43yrs old....:oldlol:

What does winning the 5th ring have to do with getting swept after that?

Wait...players get tired playing 3 Finals in 4yrs? Wonder what 6 straight Finals, mixed in with an Olympics and a FIBA appearance during those years would have an effect?

Magic was a great player on the offensive side of the court.

[Hey Yo]

Then how were they good enough to win 5 titles beating some of the greatest teams of all time? Maybe after analysing the context you'll see that is an irrelevant point
By having a stacked roster and barely being tested before the Finals? Less fatigue by getting first round byes and only have to play best of 5 first round series. Outside of LeBron.....who on this Cavs team replaces any of the starting Lakers 5 in those 5 title wins?




If Lebron leads the Cavs past the Warriors, then the competition level of the East is irrelevant.
Winning 2 games against the best offensive and defensive team in the league last Finals with a bunch of postseason virgins was nothing?

People point to MJ's 63pt game against Boston and how great it was....but he still got swept....correct?

[toprange]

Magic was injured in the 91 Finals? Using the retirement of Kareem as an excuse? In 91, Kareem would have been 43yrs old....:oldlol:

What does winning the 5th ring have to do with getting swept after that?

Wait...players get tired playing 3 Finals in 4yrs? Wonder what 6 straight Finals, mixed in with an Olympics and a FIBA appearance during those years would have an effect?

Magic was a great player on the offensive side of the court.
That he was Hey Yo

[Gileraracer]

Is this your next desperate try to defend 2/7?

[Da_Realist]

By having a stacked roster and barely being tested before the Finals? Less fatigue by getting first round byes and only have to play best of 5 first round series.

Stacked team beat other stacked teams. Nobody lost due to fatigue. What's your point?


Outside of LeBron.....who on this Cavs team replaces any of the starting Lakers 5 in those 5 title wins?

Nobody. But who cares?


Winning 2 games against the best offensive and defensive team in the league last Finals with a bunch of postseason virgins was nothing?

People point to MJ's 63pt game against Boston and how great it was....but he still got swept....correct?

I don't see how this is relevant. The Showtime Lakers validated themselves in the Finals. They beat the 76'ers twice, Bird's Celtics twice and repeated in 88 beating a very good Pistons team.

By the way, the Lakers were taken to 7 games by both the Mavericks and Jazz before taking out the Pistons in 7 in 1988. So they won when the West was weak and they won when the West was strong.

[GINOBILI!]

OP dumb AF.

[G-train]

He also refused to enter NBA unless he went to the Lakers with Kareem, another guy who forced a transaction to the Lakers.

[Hey Yo]

Stacked team beat other stacked teams. Nobody lost due to fatigue. What's your point?
You asked how they won their 5 titles and I answered. Would you rather have to play a first round best of 7 game series or get a bye in the postseason? Which scenario would leave a team less wear an tear on a team?




Nobody. But who cares?
You're implying that LeBorn needs to upset GSW in order to forget about the conference weakness. When were the Lakers a similar or bigger underdog going into the Finals?? Probably never....cause they were stacked with 4 first round number 1 picks.




I don't see how this is relevant. The Showtime Lakers validated themselves in the Finals. They beat the 76'ers twice, Bird's Celtics twice and repeated in 88 beating a very good Pistons team.
Because they were stacked. How many of their 5 titles were they considered major underdog?

By the way, the Lakers were taken to 7 games by both the Mavericks and Jazz before taking out the Pistons in 7 in 1988. So they won when the West was weak and they won when the West was strong.[/QUOTE]
One year of being tested will never wipe out the years it was very bad. Wouldn't exactly call the West strong considering that year the 31 win Spurs made the playoffs. I highly doubt we'll ever see a Finals team that beat 3 teams who had a combined record of 118 and 128 like LA did in 1987.

[Hey Yo]

He also refused to enter NBA unless he went to the Lakers with Kareem, another guy who forced a transaction to the Lakers.
Yep...
_______

This Decision Was Beyond Coin Flip
June 05, 1991|MIKE DOWNEY

CHICAGO

[Da_Realist]

You asked how they won their 5 titles and I answered. Would you rather have to play a first round best of 7 game series or get a bye in the postseason? Which scenario would leave a team less wear an tear on a team?




You're implying that LeBorn needs to upset GSW in order to forget about the conference weakness. When were the Lakers a similar or bigger underdog going into the Finals?? Probably never....cause they were stacked with 4 first round number 1 picks.




Because they were stacked. How many of their 5 titles were they considered major underdog?

By the way, the Lakers were taken to 7 games by both the Mavericks and Jazz before taking out the Pistons in 7 in 1988. So they won when the West was weak and they won when the West was strong.

One year of being tested will never wipe out the years it was very bad. Wouldn't exactly call the West strong considering that year the 31 win Spurs made the playoffs. I highly doubt we'll ever see a Finals team that beat 3 teams who had a combined record of 118 and 128 like LA did in 1987.

NONE of that matters. You tried to discredit Magic's Lakers by saying they had it easy. I said they validated themselves by beating great teams in the Finals. They were still the best team. It didn't matter how weak or strong their conference is. I said Lebron's Cavs, who face the same criticism of playing in a weak conference, would be validated too if they beat the Warriors. No one would talk about how weak the East is if the Cavs beat the Warriors. And that's true.

None of the teams Magic's Lakers beat lost because they were too tired from the heavy competition they faced. They lost because the Lakers were the better team.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Man has five championships and five MVPs but people will still sit around and try to find some way to criticize his record. If you people judged yourself as harshly as you judge superstars you'ld be suicidal.

[Hey Yo]

NONE of that matters. You tried to discredit Magic's Lakers by saying they had it easy. I said they validated themselves by beating great teams in the Finals. They were still the best team. It didn't matter how weak or strong their conference is. I said Lebron's Cavs, who face the same criticism of playing in a weak conference, would be validated too if they beat the Warriors. No one would talk about how weak the East is if the Cavs beat the Warriors. And that's true.
:oldlol: @ James and the Cavs having to beat a 73 win team as a big underdog to lessen the criticism about the conference. Magic's team beat great teams in the Finals because they had a GREAT TEAM? You said yourself that the current Cavs roster outside of James could replace any of LA's starting 5 on the title winning years.


None of the teams Magic's Lakers beat lost because they were too tired from the heavy competition they faced. They lost because the Lakers were the better team.
Never said the Lakers weren't the better team....jut said that their STACKED TEAMS helped beat the other STACKED TEAMS in the Finals.

Not surprised you'd rather have the 1st round bye...like all would.

[Da_Realist]

:oldlol: @ James and the Cavs having to beat a 73 win team as a big underdog to lessen the criticism about the conference. Magic's team beat great teams in the Finals because they had a GREAT TEAM? You said yourself that the current Cavs roster outside of James could replace any of LA's starting 5 on the title winning years.


Never said the Lakers weren't the better team....jut said that their STACKED TEAMS helped beat the other STACKED TEAMS in the Finals.

Not surprised you'd rather have the 1st round bye...like all would.

Dude that was an EXAMPLE. Lebron's Cavs are facing the same criticism you are leveling at Magic's Lakers. The East is weak -- that's true, but no one would say anything if it produced the champion whether it's against the 73 win Warriors or anyone else.

Magic's Lakers were good enough to move east and still win it all. And everybody knew it.

[SouBeachTalents]

He was 5-4 in Finals, it's really not THAT surprising he'd be a couple games below .500 in the Finals

[Stringer Bell]

Are you positive?

:cheers:

It was a rather poor choice of words after his announcement in 1991 to hear others like Pat Riley talk about Magic's optimism by saying "Magic is staying positive" or "I told him to remain strong and positive".

[Hey Yo]

Dude that was an EXAMPLE. Lebron's Cavs are facing the same criticism you are leveling at Magic's Lakers. The East is weak -- that's true, but no one would say anything if it produced the champion whether it's against the 73 win Warriors or anyone else.
Everyone said the East was weak when LeBron won B2B titles while leading his team in Points, rebounds and assists in both Finals. Winning those 2 obviously changed nothing in yours or other peoples eyes.



Magic's Lakers were good enough to move east and still win it all. And everybody knew it.
Exactly, cause they were stacked and LeBron's Cavs and Heat teams have been the underdog in 5 of the 7 Finals he played in. (it was still Wade's team in 2011)

[Da_Realist]

Everyone said the East was weak when LeBron won B2B titles while leading his team in Points, rebounds and assists in both Finals. Winning those 2 obviously changed nothing in yours or other peoples eyes.



Exactly, cause they were stacked and LeBron's Cavs and Heat teams have been the underdog in 5 of the 7 Finals he played in. (it was still Wade's team in 2011)

I can tell this has really ruffled your feathers. I don't care what Lebron did. I'm not even criticizing Lebron. I'm just pointing out the criticism of Magic's Lakers is unfair. They were clearly the best team. GSW might have won 77 games if they were in the East but it doesn't matter because they are clearly the best team in the league.

[JimmyMcAdocious]

Magic was actually criticized a lot during his playing days until later in his career. Tragic isn't some kind of terrible pun that happened for no reason years later.

[LAZERUSS]

In the '83 Finals, the Lakers were without an injured Worthy.

In the '84 Finals, they were a blown pass, and a missed FT away from sweeping the Celtics. And, Wilkes was injured and played 14 mpg, while McAdoo missed game seven.

'In the '89 Finals, the Lakers came in at 11-0, but lost Byron Scott and his 20 ppg in the WCF's. And then Magic went down halfway thru game two, and basically did not return the rest of the series.

In the '91 Finals, Magic dragged a washed-up and injury-riddled roster to 57 wins, a stunning upset over the 63-19 Blazers, and into the Finals, where they ran into a team that was better, player-for-player across their respective rosters.

[SpecialQue]

It is amazing the shit people come up with here. :facepalm

[ArbitraryWater]

Are you positive?

I dont think anyone really got this post.. nasty AF.

[FKAri]

AIDS cures everything.

[livingby3's]

Are you positive?

punny :oldlol:

[G-train]

Man has five championships and five MVPs but people will still sit around and try to find some way to criticize his record. If you people judged yourself as harshly as you judge superstars you'ld be suicidal.

I presume the point is Lebron is smashed for his Finals games Win loss record, when others have lost more than won also yet don't receive criticism.

The point is neither should be criticized.

[Stringer Bell]

In the '83 Finals, the Lakers were without an injured Worthy.

In the '84 Finals, they were a blown pass, and a missed FT away from sweeping the Celtics. And, Wilkes was injured and played 14 mpg, while McAdoo missed game seven.

'In the '89 Finals, the Lakers came in at 11-0, but lost Byron Scott and his 20 ppg in the WCF's. And then Magic went down halfway thru game two, and basically did not return the rest of the series.

In the '91 Finals, Magic dragged a washed-up and injury-riddled roster to 57 wins, a stunning upset over the 63-19 Blazers, and into the Finals, where they ran into a team that was better, player-for-player across their respective rosters.

Nixon (from collision with Toney) and McAdoo (thigh) were also hurt in 1983.

Pat Riley's obsession robbed the fans of a classic 1989 finals. The Lakers were hitting on all cylinders and sweeping through the West, the Pistons were great in that season and were playing better than ever after trading Adrian Dantley for Mark Aguirre.

After winning the WCF, Riley insisted on putting the Lakers through an intense mini-camp in Santa Barbara to prepare for the Pistons. It was too much on their bodies as Scott ends up missing the series and Magic gets hurt in game 2. I'd still lean towards the Pistons, but at least it would have been a good series instead of a sweep. Although we did get to see a virtouso display in the post from Worthy in game 4.

[Disaprine]

His finals record is 5/9. That's above 50%, genius.
thread should've ended here. :lol