Magic Johnson on Stephen Curry calling himself the Goat point guard

[Lebron23]

Magic Johnson on Steph Curry calling himself the GOAT point guard:

“If he’s got more than 5 championships, more than 3 Finals MVPs, 3 league MVPs, #1 assists all time in the Finals then he’s the greatest...

but the last time I checked, he doesn’t.”

Magic speaking facts here

-Twister 🌀

[j3lademaster]

Curry’s wrong, but he’s also the only guy who can make that claim without sounding too ridiculous.

[bdonovan]

Except Championships are a team accomplishment not an individual accomplishment.

The game has evolved so far since Magic played. The conditioning, the training, the sheer skill level. Those games from the 80's look like they're played in slow motion by guys with very modest muscle mass.

In Magic's day, only a handful of players could consistently hit teardrop layups that arcs up over a jumping defender. Now it seems everyone in the league, even power forwards can gracefully make that shot.

The trajectory of the NBA is such that whoever comes after Curry 20 years from now, might also be playing the game at a much higher level than Curry did and be a far superior player. That's how progress works.

That's not to take away from the older greats like Magic. Today's players are standing on their shoulders and building off the game they perfected in their day. Just as the future best PG to who have played the game years from now will no doubt have been inspired by Curry.

[Kblaze8855]

The trajectory of the NBA is such that whoever comes after Curry 20 years from now, might also be playing the game at a much higher level than Curry did and be a far superior player. That's how progress works.

It really doesn’t. It does plateau eventually and the gains come from things like equipment and better resources to find people who previous generations wouldn’t so you get closer and closer to the limit of human potential…but there is one.

Nobody is gonna be hitting 69 foot off hand floaters at 88% no matter how long people play basketball. It won’t happen for 60 thousand years.

A soft limit is hit and what changes is how people play not how good they are on a basic level.

I don’t think the best players have improved a bit in 40 years. What improves is what percentage of potentially good players are found and trained which increases depth. But that’s offset by expansion so it’s hard to say what the final result is teams wise.

[Axe]

If the gerbil also has three finals MVPs as magic, then his case would be very convincing. Unfortunately for him, reality begs to differ rn.

[warriorfan]

magic johnson is low key mentally retarded

[Da_Realist]

Magic Johnson on Steph Curry calling himself the GOAT point guard:

“If he’s got more than 5 championships, more than 3 Finals MVPs, 3 league MVPs, #1 assists all time in the Finals then he’s the greatest...

but the last time I checked, he doesn’t.”

Magic speaking facts here

-Twister ��

5 championships
3 Regular Season MVPs
3 Finals MVPs
1986-87 -- Led the league in assists per game, won both Reg Season MVP and Finals MVP
Led the league in 6 categories during his career (4 offensive, 2 defensive)

Magic has this outsized personality and he's mostly deferential so it's easy to forget how dominant this man was.

[Axe]

5 championships
3 Regular Season MVPs
3 Finals MVPs
1986-87 -- Led the league in assists per game, won both Reg Season MVP and Finals MVP
Led the league in 6 categories during his career (4 offensive, 2 defensive)

Magic has this outsized personality and he's mostly deferential so it's easy to forget how dominant this man was.

His hiv definitely affected how his career rounded up. He didn't reach 15 seasons in the league and thus, the accumulated stats he had are lower than many guys in the hof. Regardless, he's still had a solid tenure.

[Xiao Yao You]

His hiv definitely affected how his career rounded up. He didn't reach 15 seasons in the league and thus, the accumulated stats he had are lower than many guys in the hof. Regardless, he's still had a solid tenure.

The bot thinks one of the greats had a solid tenure

[Axe]

The bot thinks one of the greats had a solid tenure

It was a typo. Should have been 'resume' instead, you baguette-obsessed buffoon.

[Xiao Yao You]

It was a typo. Should have been 'resume' instead, you baguette-obsessed buffoon.

solid was the funny part bot. A lot of people here obsessed with Gobert. Rarely am I the one to bring him up though

[ILLsmak]

It really doesn’t. It does plateau eventually and the gains come from things like equipment and better resources to find people who previous generations wouldn’t so you get closer and closer to the limit of human potential…but there is one.

Nobody is gonna be hitting 69 foot off hand floaters at 88% no matter how long people play basketball. It won’t happen for 60 thousand years.

A soft limit is hit and what changes is how people play not how good they are on a basic level.

I don’t think the best players have improved a bit in 40 years. What improves is what percentage of potentially good players are found and trained which increases depth. But that’s offset by expansion so it’s hard to say what the final result is teams wise.

You're not wrong, but the premise is flawed in that 69 foot off hand floaters would ever be a shot people did. Shooting is something people overrate in importance. It's a fast game and you can be the best shooter ever and have an off game. People being able to get better shots is more important. Funny thing is... the ego / boredom of repetition / fan excitement also play into it. People are going to continue to push the limit of what they do, what other people can't, even at the expense of efficiency, just because they can. People can dribble better and shoot better now, and they are more athletic, but I think some of the old NBA stiffs might be more effective in the paint than, say, one of the Morris twins. If that makes sense.

It's like the dunk contest. People are doing wilder dunks, but are they 'better?' To me, the artistic dunks that people were doing before they had to put it under their legs twice or w/e were more interesting. The more you do something on that level, the less chance you have to express it artistically because you HAVE to move your body a certain way. That's prol why a lot of MJs long dunks are so iconic, he got all of that hang time to express. Bouncing it off someone's head, jumping over a car, catching it and going between the legs is more complex, but is it harder to emulate? I wonder. I haven't seen anyone work their body like those old guys, no homo.

It's the same thing with in game. JJ Redick was saying the old meme BOB COUSY COULDN'T DRIBBLE WITH HIS LEFT HAND! I have high confidence ol Bobby would 7-0 Redick almost every time ( lay ups.) He would break his will. People have newer and better tools (cars, heads, between legs) but that doesn't necessarily mean they are able to use them better. I watched old games w/ Oak banging 3s. Mourning could bang 3s. I don't even think that was shorter line, either. Dudes are more groomed for their roles, and roles have changed, but like I said, I think people underestimate those stiffs like Adam Keefe or whoever. I bet old dude would bust ass in the NBA now, even without a new age skill set. He wouldn't be a star, but he'd be a possible starter, as he was.

-Smak

[Xiao Yao You]

You're not wrong, but the premise is flawed in that 69 foot off hand floaters would ever be a shot people did. Shooting is something people overrate in importance. It's a fast game and you can be the best shooter ever and have an off game. People being able to get better shots is more important. Funny thing is... the ego / boredom of repetition / fan excitement also play into it. People are going to continue to push the limit of what they do, what other people can't, even at the expense of efficiency, just because they can. People can dribble better and shoot better now, and they are more athletic, but I think some of the old NBA stiffs might be more effective in the paint than, say, one of the Morris twins. If that makes sense.

It's like the dunk contest. People are doing wilder dunks, but are they 'better?' To me, the artistic dunks that people were doing before they had to put it under their legs twice or w/e were more interesting. The more you do something on that level, the less chance you have to express it artistically because you HAVE to move your body a certain way. That's prol why a lot of MJs long dunks are so iconic, he got all of that hang time to express. Bouncing it off someone's head, jumping over a car, catching it and going between the legs is more complex, but is it harder to emulate? I wonder. I haven't seen anyone work their body like those old guys, no homo.

It's the same thing with in game. JJ Redick was saying the old meme BOB COUSY COULDN'T DRIBBLE WITH HIS LEFT HAND! I have high confidence ol Bobby would 7-0 Redick almost every time ( lay ups.) He would break his will. People have newer and better tools (cars, heads, between legs) but that doesn't necessarily mean they are able to use them better. I watched old games w/ Oak banging 3s. Mourning could bang 3s. I don't even think that was shorter line, either. Dudes are more groomed for their roles, and roles have changed, but like I said, I think people underestimate those stiffs like Adam Keefe or whoever. I bet old dude would bust ass in the NBA now, even without a new age skill set. He wouldn't be a star, but he'd be a possible starter, as he was.

-Smak

loved Keefe when he was there. Hardly a stiff. Don't remember Oakley and Mourning hitting many 3's but Oakley was a face up shooter. He couldn't do much around the basket

[Lebron23]

You're not wrong, but the premise is flawed in that 69 foot off hand floaters would ever be a shot people did. Shooting is something people overrate in importance. It's a fast game and you can be the best shooter ever and have an off game. People being able to get better shots is more important. Funny thing is... the ego / boredom of repetition / fan excitement also play into it. People are going to continue to push the limit of what they do, what other people can't, even at the expense of efficiency, just because they can. People can dribble better and shoot better now, and they are more athletic, but I think some of the old NBA stiffs might be more effective in the paint than, say, one of the Morris twins. If that makes sense.

It's like the dunk contest. People are doing wilder dunks, but are they 'better?' To me, the artistic dunks that people were doing before they had to put it under their legs twice or w/e were more interesting. The more you do something on that level, the less chance you have to express it artistically because you HAVE to move your body a certain way. That's prol why a lot of MJs long dunks are so iconic, he got all of that hang time to express. Bouncing it off someone's head, jumping over a car, catching it and going between the legs is more complex, but is it harder to emulate? I wonder. I haven't seen anyone work their body like those old guys, no homo.

It's the same thing with in game. JJ Redick was saying the old meme BOB COUSY COULDN'T DRIBBLE WITH HIS LEFT HAND! I have high confidence ol Bobby would 7-0 Redick almost every time ( lay ups.) He would break his will. People have newer and better tools (cars, heads, between legs) but that doesn't necessarily mean they are able to use them better. I watched old games w/ Oak banging 3s. Mourning could bang 3s. I don't even think that was shorter line, either. Dudes are more groomed for their roles, and roles have changed, but like I said, I think people underestimate those stiffs like Adam Keefe or whoever. I bet old dude would bust ass in the NBA now, even without a new age skill set. He wouldn't be a star, but he'd be a possible starter, as he was.

-Smak

Huh? JJ Reddick would destroy Bob Cousy. The talent gap between modern nba players and those who player in the 1950’s to 1960’s is huge.

[8Ball]

magic johnson is low key mentally retarded

This. Self destructed on the Lakers as the President.



Listed a bunch of "assist" stats but totally ignored the most 3 point shots in playoffs history + more points than magic in the playoffs and finals.


And then used the "rangz" argument as if he didn't have Kareem for 10 years.