Magic Johnson!
"Johnson was first dubbed "Magic" as a 15-year-old sophomore playing for Lansing's Everett High School, when he recorded a triple-double of 36 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists. After the game, Fred Stabley Jr., a sports writer for the Lansing State Journal, gave him the moniker despite the belief of Johnson's mother, a Christian, that the name was sacrilegious"
He played during an amazing era of the NBA. The competition was pure. The battles between his Lakers and Larry Bird and the Celtics were legendary. It is a shame that today some of the best players in the NBA (cough cough Lebron, Bosh, Wade) would rather collude and play on the same team as opposed to competing against each other. They have a right to do it, but it takes away some of the luster of fierce competition.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I definitely wanted LeBron to play on a different team instead of stacking one team. Pure rivalry and competition is great for the game and the league by far. It'll be an interesting season.
ReplyDeleteThere will never be another rivalry to top Johnson and Bird. Old-school fans might prefer Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain...which is their right.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how the hell is calling him "Magic Johnson" sacrilegious? Is that somehow your ploy to tie this into religion month? It's not like he was called Divine Johnson or something.
I think one of the best stories I heard about Magic was when the point guard played as center in some important game of the playoffs (I would suspect it was the finals) when Kareem was injured and just absolutely destroyed. I believe he also had a shot called the "Junior Junior Skyhook," his own version of Jabbar's patented and unstoppable shot.
Is it fair to say that Magic was the greatest passer of all time in the league?