The Los Angeles Lakers are the most successful NBA franchise in the last 50 years of the NBA by a big margin. The team has won 11 titles since 1980, and five of those came in the 80s thanks to the Showtime Lakers.
Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were the leaders of that team, but it was seen as Magic’s team. And he established his greatness as a rookie, winning Finals MVP after playing the closeout Game 6 as a center to replace the injured Kareem. He once revealed how he motivated his injured teammates after Abdul-Jabbar went down.
“So Kareem gets hurt in Game 5,” Magic recalled on All The Smoke. “Everybody’s head is down because Kareem can’t play. I said, ‘So what if Kareem can’t play? We’re still gonna win.’ And they looked at me like, ‘Rookie, go sit down. We can’t beat Philadelphia without Kareem.’
“I said, ‘Man, we gonna win this game.’ And they was like, ‘We can’t do it, Earvin.’ So I said I got to do something to get these guys going. Kareem would always sit in 1A, (on the plane) that was his seat. So I asked the flight attendant if I can go on the plane first.
“So I went and sat in Kareem’s seat, and as every Laker came by I said, ‘Never fear, Magic is here!’ They were like, ‘This dude is crazy.’ They laughed and I had five hours from LA to Philadelphia to work on their mindset and attitude.”
(starts at 33:43 minutes)
The rest, as they say, is history. Magic Johnson filled Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s shoes in Game 6, scoring 42 points and grabbing 15 rebounds while playing the center position despite being a point guard. This set him up as a legend right away in his first season, and he would go on to win four more championships in the 80s for the Lakers.
Magic Johnson Only Got Better From That Point Onwards
Most people know how great Magic Johnson was, but the numbers are staggering when looked at. He won five rings in his career, was Finals MVP for three of those, and won three MVP awards. He made the All-Star team 12 times and was an All-NBA First Team selection on nine occasions.
Although he didn’t win Rookie Of The Year (he lost to Larry Bird, who would become his rival forever), he was on the All-Rookie First Team and would go on to lead the league in assists four times and steals twice. Magic Johnson’s career was cut short due to his health issues, but even in a short span he made a solid case to be considered a Top 5 player ever and changed the NBA.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
