Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

10 of 78

Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by: Stephen Dunn/Getty Images /

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 8 – Magic Johnson

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1979 – 1996

Achievements: Five-time champion, three-time MVP, All-NBA (10x), All-Star (12x), Finals MVP (3x); sixth in career assists; goes by “Magic”

The 1980s are when the NBA went from attracting basketball fans to demanding national attention, and the reasons why are “Bird and Magic”. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (next on our list) are inextricably linked in history, from a college national championship showdown to three head-to-head meetings in the NBA Finals. 11 straight NBA Finals featured one of the two players from 1980 to 1991, and together they accounted for eight of the decade’s ten titles and six of its MVP awards.

Johnson was a marvel in the open court, creating the “Showtime” Lakers by running the fast break and always making the right pass for a teammate to score. A 6’9″ point guard, Johnson was something the league had never seen before, setting the archetype for players like LeBron James and Ben Simmons to come. His court vision was sublime, and he ranks first in career assists per game.

Early in his career Magic was the co-star for the Lakers along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but by the middle of the decade these were Magic’s teams and he led them to four of the five titles. The Lakers went to the Finals nine times in 12 seasons, a truly remarkable feat. Johnson was the face of the league, and from his HIV diagnosis to his transition passes, everything about him was memorable.