[Magic Johnson] on Steph Curry calling himself the GOAT point guard: “If he’s got more than 5 championships, more than 3 Finals MVPs, 3 league MVPs, #1 assists all time in the Finals then he’s the greatest… but the last time I checked, he doesn’t.”
by AashyLarry
37 Comments
Magic speaking facts
I wish I could make the title longer, he listed off way more than I could fit lol
C’mon, Stephews have school in the morning.
Thanks Magic!
This is the most coherent quote I have heard off Magic in a while lol.
Don’t disrespect magics resume
Boom!!
They’re trying to take away high assists and being a floor general from a point guard’s greatness.
But the problem is they only make that exception for Curry.
They themselves don’t even consider the other high scoring PG’s as being all-time great point guards.
fan of Steph but Magic cooked him on this one
Magic won FMVP in his rookie years. Steph is an all timer, but he’ll never pass Magic
Nobody even tries to copy Magic’s game. It’s impossible.
Who knows how much greater his career would look without the HIV.
Shooting threes really well isn’t enough to be the GOAT
Just a sec, grabbing the popcorn
Honestly I always viewed Curry as a Shooting Guard despite what the put him as in the lineup.
People want to say they witnessed the “best ever” so they’ll find ways to discredit the achievements of past greats. We already see it will how we qualify every mention of Russel and Chamberlain. Give it 50 years and kids will be saying Steph played in an easy era and his accomplishments aren’t that impressive
I feel like it needs to be said that Magic doesn’t just have the finals assists record, his finals assists record is one of the most untouchable records in the NBA. Magic is first with 584, the only one within 200 of him is LeBron at 430, then Jerry West is third at 306. You could add #3 and #4 (Bill Russell) together and still not make it to Magic’s total.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_career_finals.html
and its not just about him making it to the finals 9 times, he has the top 4 spots for assists in a single finals. If you left out the other 5 finals he went to, just in these 4 he had 348 and only LeBron would be ahead of him.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/ast_series_finals.html
ppl will agree with this and tell you they have lebron over mj while having less rings, less mvps, less fmvps
First time I’ve heard Magic say something that doesn’t sound AI generated.
Rare to see Magic talk trash this day and age lol
Immediately my mind went to that Thinking Basketball Who’s the GOAT pod series.
If you didn’t hear it then give it a listen.
Spoiler is that they landed on there that there are coherent arguments for both Magic and chef.
I mean… if We are doing an all time draft I guarantee you Steph would be picked over magic by almost everyone based on shooting alone lol. Magic can score in the paint all he wants but last time I checked 3 points>2 points
Magic went in good lord not used to seeing this from Magic lol.
I love how different the two are as point guards. It’s a great sport
Even as a warrior fan I have to admit resume/accolades/career wise Magic beats Steph
In terms of who is better on the other hand, that’s up for debate
Magic is always (guaranteed) on everyone’s all time top 10 GOAT heck he’s even on top 5 in most ranks while Steph ranks borderline top 10 at best or top 10-15 all time at worst. It’s weird seeing this argument that Steph already jump over Magic.
I’m as big a Steph fan as there is, but Magic’s right, he’s still ahead of him on all-time lists. If Steph wins one more title, I think it becomes really, really close. Until then, Magic keeps the belt.
Obviously, very different play-styles, but both generationally entertaining players to watch as well as incredible players to have on your team. Can’t go wrong with either.
Although, and this is where it’s interesting, if you are creating a best all-time starting 5, I think Curry might have a better argument than in all-time ranking. In a 5-man lineup, Magic might have too much overlap with a Lebron or a Bird at the 3, and Steph might be the best off-ball player in the top 20.
If Steph had a Nike swish on his back, he’d have all of those.
MJ gotta ether LeBron like this on air
Magic is prepared for these questions, just spitting out stats.
Magic actually still has scored more points in the finals than Curry before anyone thinks Curry will ever get more assists than Magic in the finals. Magic’s true shooting in the finals is slightly higher than Curry’s too despite the 3s. Assists aren’t even close (like 600 vs 200).
He had a short career but he spent almost all of it winning or losing in the NBA finals. People just forget because its been 35+ years now.
As a biased Warriors fan I can’t really argue against that
In 2k they won’t even let your “create a player” point guard be 6’9 I think the max is 6’7
Magic is really a once in a NBA history type player
Steph said “Me and Magic” not just himself. This guy being deceptive.
I just new he would give that smile at the end lol
Heheeeeeee
This is a weird debate because Curry’s shooting is such an anomaly that no one really knows how to weigh it when comparing him to his predecessors
Easy conclusion to this:
Curry- GOAT SHOOTER
Magic- GOAT PG