October 17, 2011
There's no shortage of people across the country who love to hate on Miami Heat forward LeBron James, but most of the time, James' brothers in the tight-knit NBA fraternity stay out of the constant ridicule of the two-time MVP.
However, Magic Johnson isn't one of those players.
Speaking at the University of Albany on Saturday, the Los Angeles Lakers great took a few shots at LeBron when he was asked about his own legacy as one of the NBA's greatest players.
"There's going to always be great players in basketball," Johnson said, after telling the crowd he'd rather be remembered for his work off the court than his play on it. "There's going to always be guys who win championships in the NBA — except LeBron."
After a pause and some mixed reaction from the crowd, Johnson followed up his slight of James by telling the audience, "Don't be mad."
But the jabs weren't done there. Johnson proceeded to take a shot at LeBron's tendency to fizzle late in games, especially in the playoffs. (LeBron averaged just three fourth-quarter points per game in the Finals against Dallas).
"I love the young man," said Johnson, who averaged 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 12.3 assists per game over 190 career playoff games. "I know he's going to get better in the fourth quarter this year."
Once he got on a roll, Magic couldn't seem to stop himself.
After dissing LeBron's shortage of late-game heroics, the five-time NBA champion, 12-time All-Star and three-time MVP moved on — unprovoked — to comparing James to other NBA greats, past and present.
"Everybody's always asking, 'Who is better between Kobe (Bryant) and LeBron?'" Johnson said. "I'm like, 'Are you kidding me? I'm like you're kidding me. Kobe five championships; LeBron, zero.'"
Johnson, who was elected to the NBA Hall of Fame in 2002, also seemed to take offense to the implication that LeBron could be compared another Hall of Famer — Michael Jordan, the man many believe to be the greatest basketball player of all time.
"Stop trying to compare him to Michael Jordan," Johnson said. "Come on, man, six championships for Jordan. You know that Michael averaged over 30 points every playoff series? Don't try to touch that."
Johnson tried to clarify that he was just kidding with his remarks, telling the crowd, "I'm not hating on LeBron. He's a triple-double threat every single game and he's going to get better."
But you couldn't help but get the feeling that Magic takes at least a little exception to the thought that LeBron should be mentioned along with Kobe, M.J. — and even Magic — as one of the NBA's best ever.
