NBA Power Rankings: 30 Greatest Point Guards of All-Time
By Shane Young
1. Magic Johnson
1979 – 1996
Franchise: Los Angeles Lakers
Career totals: 17,707 points, 10,141 assists, 6,559 rebounds, 3,506 turnovers
Career averages: 19.5 points, 11.2 assists, 7.2 rebounds, 3.9 turnovers
Shooting: 52 percent field goals, 30.3 percent 3-pointers, 84.8 percent free throws
Key accolades: 5x NBA champion, 3x Finals MVP, 3x NBA MVP, 12x NBA All-Star, 9x All-NBA First Team
Jesus laid his hand on a little boy’s arm, and blessed him with more skill and basketball intelligence than anyone who’s ever played the game. The boy he was creating was Magic Johnson.
Thus, the world didn’t have a point guard. We had a point god. If you’re from Boston or just up north, that’s how you say “guard” anyway, so don’t worry.
Imagine your dream car for a second, whatever that may be. It’s the one you’ve been wanting since you was 15 years old. Then, imagine baking a cake, with one perfect recipe you believe will break your taste buds.
Magic’s motor was better than that dream car. His ingredients were better than any recipe an award-winning chef could create.
Johnson changed the course of history for the Los Angeles Lakers, especially since Dr. Jerry Buss claimed he never would’ve bought the Lakers in 1979 if they didn’t land the No. 1 pick in the draft. He wanted Magic, and what he got was magical. Since Buss owned the Lakers (1979 until his passing), the Lakers won 10 NBA championships. Five of those 10 were because of Magic, as he went 5-4 in the NBA Finals as a point guard.
Had he not ran into the Hall-of-Fame talents of Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, or Isiah Thomas, Johnson would have been challenging Bill Russell and his 11 titles. Those three names weren’t all drastically better than Johnson, but their teams were just at that point of “It’s our time.”
Johnson is still the only player in NBA history to record at least 24 points, 24 assists (!!), and six assists in a single game. He did it twice … both times at age 30.
That season (1989-90), he scored 24 points, dished 24 assists, grabbed eight rebounds, and got six steals in a single game vs. Denver. He followed it up with a 24-point, 24-assist game two months later. In those two games, his assist-to-turnover ratio was a ridiculous 48-7 (6.86).
Catching HIV at just age 32, his career was shortened, and it left everyone in the world heartbroken. Even Celtics’ fans, who Johnson tortured for years, felt sorry for such a remarkable career possibly ending. It did end shortly after, once Johnson tired a comeback attempt in 1996.
Had he not received the bad luck of such a disease, he would’ve been even closer to Michael Jordan in the all-time superstar debate. It’s tough to say if Jordan would’ve even won six rings if Johnson had a chance to form another dominant Lakers squad.
He’s the greatest point guard in NBA history, and that’s never changing.
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Next: The NBA's 50 Greatest Players of All-Time
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