Why is Magic Johnson considered to be better than Kareem Abdul Jabbar?

There's actually no question that Kareem was better than Magic.

Kareem won 6 MVPs in a ten year span, while Magic won 3 MVPs in a 4 year span before being forced to retire because of his own actions.

In terms of all-NBA selections, we have to remember that only one center is selected, vs. two guards. You can be the 2nd best guard in the NBA and still make first team (Magic usually WAS the best guard in the NBA, but he didn't HAVE to be).

The highlights shown on ESPN of Kareem are almost always from the 80s... but Kareem was better in the 70s than either Bird OR Magic (or Jordan) were in the 80s.

And you're absolutely right, KING, Kareem WAS ripped off in the 1980 finals MVP voting. And actually, when the writers submitted their votes, they originally voted 4-3 for Kareem, then one of the writers was "convinced" to change his vote to Magic.

In the 1980 finals, and indeed, throughout the 1980 playoffs, Kareem was the Lakers' MVP in every playoff game (except game 6 of the Finals). Magic turned in one of the all time great performances that night, but Kareem was the true MVP of that series. In game 5, Kareem badly sprained an ankle in the 3rd period (that injury is why he missed game 6)... he got taped up, and came back to score 14 of his 40 points in the 4th quarter to give the Lakers a 108-103 victory and a 3-2 series lead. The game winning shot was a dunk by Kareem over Dr. J, which turned into a 3 point play with under 30 seconds left...

Kareem was unbelievable in the 1980 playoffs... totally destroyed anyone who got in his way...and with skill, not mere brute force (not that there's anything wrong with a guy like Shaq taking advantage of his physical superiority).

Kareem did not win an Olympic Gold Medal because many African-American athletes boycotted the 1968 Olympic Games. And of course, our pros were not allowed to play for Team USA until 1992. The only reason that Magic even has a Gold Medal is because he was allowed to play in the Olympics as a pro. Kareem was not.

Magic would have been rookie of the year in most other seasons, but he was competing with Larry Bird, so forget it. Bird most definitely deserved the RoY award in 1980.

Kareem would have had more blocked shot titles, but blocks were not officially counted by the NBA until Kareem's 5th season in the league.

Re: Triple Doubles: Kareem had 50 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists in a 1975 game... that marked the last time a player had a 50-point triple double until Lebron did it this season. So it's not correct to say that Kareem never had a triple double. And he would have had a good number of triple doubles had blocks been tracked, because he would sometimes block 10-12 shots in a game early in his career...however, I don't know that he would have had more triples than Magic, so I think we can safely give Magic the edge there. I've never seen any numbers as far as how many triple doubles Kareem had. But he definitely had some.

Kareem's skyhook was, without question, the greatest shot ever. Never been duplicated, never will be duplicated.

In the 1985 finals, at the age of 38, Kareem and the Lakers were dominated in game one by the Celtics, 148-114 (the Celtics had also beaten the Lakers in the 84 finals) ... Kareem came out in game two and put down 30 points and 17 rebounds against the greatest front line in NBA history, and led the Lakers to victories in 4 of the next 5 games. Kareem was MVP of those finals at age 38.

I don't think one can say that most of Kareem's points came from Magic's assists... Kareem was the leading scorer of the 1970s (by more than 3,000 points over the #2 guy, Elvin Hayes), in addition to being the 5th leading scorer of the 1980s (behind Alex English, Moses Malone, Adrian Dantley and Larry Bird).

Kibre† - giving Kareem a 1 point edge in your system even though he won twice as many MVP awards as Magic (6 to 3)? Hmmmm.... you're attached the same importance to having a 6-3 edge in MVPs as you are to Magic winning one Olympic Gold medal, despite the fact that Kareem was never allowed to play in the Olympics as a pro. I'm not so sure you've weighed those accomplishments properly.

And, if all the facts be known, Kareem never screwed up in the finals the way Magic did in 1984 against the Celtics (games 2, 4 and 7). In game two (after Gerald Henderson's steal and layup (off a bad pass from Worthy) tied the game with 11 seconds to play), Magic dribbled out the clock without the Lakers getting off a final shot... they lost in OT, so he cost them the game.

In game 4, Magic missed a couple of free throws in the final minute, and also threw away a pass that was stolen by Robert Parrish (Magic tried to get the ball to Worthy, who was being guarded by Parrish). The Lakers blew a 5 point lead in the final minute of regulation and lost in OT...that game tied the series at 2-all.

Without Magic's mistakes in game 2 and 4, the Lakers sweep the Celtics in 4 straight.

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RE:

Why is Magic Johnson considered to be better than Kareem Abdul Jabbar?

Check out there comparisons:

NBA Championships:

Kareem: 6 (1 w/o Magic)

Magic: 5 (none w/o Kareem)

NCAA Titles:

Kareem: 3

Magic: 1

Olympic Gold Medals:

Kareem: 0

Magic: 1

NBA Finals MVP:

Kareem: 2

Magic: 3

League MVPs:

Kareem: 6

Magic: 2

Sports Illustrated Sportsman of...

Both are great players in their own way. I never heard that Magic was better than Kareem.

The compliment each other well. Many of the points Kareem scored were made because of Magic's assists. He assisted so many different ways. Sometimes it was a pass. Other times it was by drawing the defense to himself which would leave Kareem more open. Remember Magic job on the court was to get everyone involved. He didn't have to lead his team in scoring in order for them to win. But he was so great at scoring too that teams had to try to double him. He scored when he needed. Magic is also the only player that I know that played every position on the court in the same year and was equally great at them all.

Again both were great players. They played on a great team with a great coach. They were showtime.

Magic is a leader in assists per game and total assists. And he played 13 seasons only, while Kareem played for 20 seasons. Anyway... let's see if these comparisons work... I'll give 1 for Kareem and -1 for Magic...

NBA Championships: Kareem got 6 in 20 seasons, and Magic 5 in 13 (Magic wins) [-1]

NCAA Titles: Kareem wins [1]

Olympic Gold Medals: Magic wins [-1]

NBA Finals MVP: Karrem 2 in 6 rings, Magic 3 in 5 (Magic wins) [-1]

League MVPs: Kareem wins [1]

Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year: Kareem wins [1]

Rookie of the Year: Kareem wins [1]

*Steals, Rebounds, Points, Blocks, Assists... vary according to your positions so they don't count.

Triple Doubles: Magic wins (138 - 0) - not the difference, but Kareem has no triple doubles. [-1]

All-NBA 1st Team: Kareem 10 in 20 seasons, Magic 9 in 13 (Kareem wins) [-1]

All-Defensive 1st Team: Kareem Wins [1]

Seasons Averaging 30 PPG Or More: This goes with the position difference.

Seasons Averaging A Double Double: Kareem: 12 in 20 seasons and Magic: 9 in 13 (Magic wins) [-1]

All-Time Leader In Any Stats: Magic only played 13, so it's not fair...

Kareem: Points (38,387)

Magic: Assists (10,141)

As a result points: Kareem - 5, Magic - 6

Magic is better than Kareem.

If we take rookie of the year award (since it doesn't matter in your career efficiency) Kareem will be better in 4 categories.

And if the 'all around game' is mentoned... Magic is the GOAT.

Magic And Kareem

All those stats and accomplishments dont mean anything when it comes to who was the better talent.

Those stats just mean Kareem way longer in the NBA (20 years) which is hard itself to do, but that tells me why he racked up so many honors.

Magic was the leader of the Laker teams in the 80s and if not for AIDS his career would have gone a little bit longer and he could have even challenged Jordan for some of those titles in the 90's.

Kareem might have a better list of acheivments, but Magic was just a better and revolutionary player at the point guard position.

It's certainly debateable. There's no question Kareem was a force. I think most people feel that Magic was the leader of those teams, even if KAB did a large part of the heavy lifting. Magic was also much more charismatic, which helps in popularity contests like the MVP vote.

Magic is considered better than Kareem for the same reason your considered the #1 hater on Yahoo Answers.

You know, I've never thought of it that way.

I guess Kareem gets over looked because he wasn't a highlight reel type of player, while Magic's game was so versitile and flashy.

You laid it out pretty well, so I don't have much to add, LOL!

Judging by the rest of these sad answers, I guess no one else does either.

I'm convinced, Kareem was better than Magic.

I take Magic barley over Kareem because of his passing,defense adn scorirng abilties