In these times, we see many fans, analysts and players express their opinion on which teams or stars are the best of a certain era and even in NBA history. The GOAT debate created a bad precedent when it comes to people discussing which player or team is the greatest of all time, but that doesn’t mean these conversations will stop taking place.
In recent months, we saw players like Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Draymond Green, Scottie Pippen and others debate about the 2017 Golden State Warriors and how they would fare against other legendary teams like the 1996 Chicago Bulls or 2000 Los Angeles Lakers.
More recently, another legend shared his thoughts on this, going and picking the best coach of all time and naming one of the most entertaining teams of all time as one of the greatest in NBA history.
Magic Johnson Makes Huge Claim About Pat Riley And Showtime Lakers
Five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson recently joined Shannon Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ show, where he discussed a variety of topics. The greatest point guard of all time had big praise for his Showtime Lakers, claiming that they could do everything on the court, becoming a memorable team, led by a terrific head coach in Pat Riley (9:05 mark).
“We’re definitely one of the greatest teams ever because we had everything, we could do everything. When you got a guy like Kareem that can dominate inside, right? James Worthy, oh man, and then you got the shooters in Byron Scott, Michael Cooper, and we had the defensive mentality as well. We can defend you and then get out and run.
“We can score inside, outside and on the break, that’s hard to defend. And, we had the coach because Pat Riley is to me the best coach that’s ever lived, but he could make in-game adjustments that were critical and also he motivated you. So this man could take us and we could play against anybody and win.”
Those Lakers were really something to watch. It all started at the end of the 70s, but after a couple of changes of head coaches, Riley took over and made this team one of the most electrifying the league has ever seen. Besides being way ahead of their time, they could win championships, which confirms they were on another level compared to the rest of the league.
Magic doesn’t forget about that and he’s ready to hold his ground against anybody, and that Lakers team became a memorable one during the 80s, dominating the competition on the way to championships.
