Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson are two of the greatest players to ever step on the basketball court. While Magic is regarded as the best passer of all time, Jordan holds the title of the GOAT in the eyes of most fans,
However, the two stars never really got to face each other at full strength. By the time MJ and the Chicago Bulls were getting ready to dominate the league, the Lakers had already seen the end of their dominance.
If we were to pick the two best teams of their respective eras, the ’87 Lakers and the ’96 Bulls come to mind. But who would win if the two teams faced each other?
Magic Johnson answered the question and believes his side would have dominated Jordan and his Bulls.
“Sometimes the Bulls rely on Michael [Jordan] too much. What I was saying is, if you get me in foul trouble and get Michael in foul trouble and take us both out, you’d see what would happen. Our team would dominate them, I mean who’s going to stop Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar]? We had so many more weapons.
There is no doubt that both teams were phenomenal during their prime, but Magic does have a point. During his prime, Kareem was nearly unstoppable. Even if the Bulls managed to stop the other players, they would have a tough time guarding Jabbar in the paint.
According to Basketball Network, Magic was confident the Lakers could play against any team in the NBA:
“No question Michael would’ve scored 50 on us or 50 on anybody else because he’s just a great basketball player. But I think we would’ve held everybody else down,” Magic concluded.
The only NBA finals in which the two stars played against each other ended in Jordan taking the mantle from Magic.
After winning the 1991 NBA finals, Jordan never looked back and finished his career with a record of 6-0 in the finals.
But what if the two teams locked horns in their respective primes? Would Jordan still have a perfect record in the finals? Or would the Lakers have stopped the rise of the Bulls? We will never have the answer for that. Feel free to share your theories in the comments section below.
