Magic Johnson has given many takes over the years, but one that has never really wavered is his belief that Michael Jordan is the greatest player in NBA history.
Appearing at the Invest Fest in Atlanta, the Los Angeles Lakers legend picked Jordan over LeBron James as the NBA’s best player because “there’s nobody alive” who could do the things that Jordan did.
Even though James has played for the Lakers since the 2018-19 season, Johnson hasn’t been swayed by the power of the purple and gold when picking the best player in NBA history.
During a 2023 appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Johnson said James might need to win “a couple more championships” to potentially surpass Jordan in his estimation.
Within the same quote, though, Johnson praised James for what he has done on the court over the course of his career.
“LeBron is special too in his own right too, and people shouldn’t forget that either, but when it’s all said and done, if you come at me and ask me, that’s who I am going to with and it’s MJ,” Johnson told Patrick.
Johnson also got a close-up view of Jordan’s dominance because their careers overlapped for eight seasons, including in 1990-91 when the Lakers lost to the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Finals for Jordan’s first title.
In those five games between the Bulls and Lakers, Jordan averaged 31.2 points, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game.
The beauty of having two players like Jordan and James to debate is there’s no right or wrong answer. Jordan had one of the most dominant decade-long runs in NBA history with 10 All-NBA first-team selections, nine scoring titles, six championships and five MVP awards from 1986-87 to 1997-98.
James’ longevity is something that may never be matched again. He has made the All-NBA team in 22 consecutive seasons and has had arguably the best age-38, age-39 and age-40 seasons in NBA history.
