Even without having ever seen it, serious basketball fans know the history of this game, its legend and the statistical line of Magic Johnson. Such mythical encounters are not so numerous.
In writing a myth, you always have to start with the context. These are the 1980 Finals between the Lakers and the Sixers. Los Angeles leads 3-2 after its victory in Game 5 and the big game of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (40 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks).
Except that the pivot injured his ankle in the third quarter. He is forfeited for Game 6 in Philadelphia, maybe even for a possible Game 7…
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar injured, Los Angeles loses hope
Title hopes have taken a hit because we must not forget that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is nothing less than the MVP of the season. In the minds of the Californians, we must already forget this meeting and focus more on Game 7, in Los Angeles. Lakers owner Jerry Buss even tells his daughter, Jeanie (who currently runs the franchise), not to go to Philadelphia.
“He didn’t want to see people there, to see us lose”she remembers for the Los Angeles Times. “We were all thinking of Game 7 at the Forum. Knowing the end of the story, of course I would have made the trip. But with the injury and absence of Kareem and the strong team in front of us, who knew Magic was going to do this? »
Magic himself. The rookie is still young but he has been very good since the start of the Finals with 17.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 9 assists and 2.6 steals on average.
He can raise his level to compensate for the absence of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, certainly in his eleventh season but elected MVP of the regular season and who obviously remains one of the best players in the world in 1980.
“When we arrived at the airport, I saw that all my teammates had their heads down,” tells Magic. “I had to find a way to make the guys understand that we could still win this game. They had to have this state of mind during the five hours of flight. Otherwise, we were going to be crushed. I immediately thought of the fact that the captain (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) always sits in the front row. So I took his place. I said to every player, ‘Don’t be afraid, Magic is here.’ They started laughing. »
Did Magic Johnson really play at pivot?
The stage is set. So that the myth takes, it therefore requires an exploit, but also a dose of panache. Winning is not enough, the way counts. It will be told over the years and decades.
“The most important decision I made during the flight was to put Magic in the pivot position”says Lakers coach Paul Westhead. “I asked him if he could play in this position. He replied that yes, that he had done it in high school. »
Magic Johnson kingpin? This is the sentence that will impress the minds. For forty years now. The rookie leader would have played pivot against the Sixers, in this famous Game 6 and made a gigantic line of statistics: 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists. Myth or reality ? Both.
The 2m06 guard therefore took the place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the jump ball (which he lost by the way) and it is true that he spent a lot of time near the circle and did not lifted the ball as he usually did. This will be Norm Nixon’s job. Nevertheless, Magic Johnson didn’t find himself defending on Darryl Dawkins. He defended on Caldwell Jones, a much less dangerous player offensively.
Clearly, Magic Johnson made post for post. Like a striker who would play defender for a football match: he occupies the position, but does not have the game or the qualities necessary to replace a training pivot. The proof: he will ask for the low post ball on several occasions, but he will never push his opponent as a pure interior of the time could do.
The more the game progresses, the more the Lakers star regains his natural qualities as a leader, passer, transition player. Yes, he takes offensive rebounds. Yes, he scored a skyhook in the first quarter, but he only had a pivot in name in basketball where the positions were more fixed than today.
“I had done a few arm rolls at Michigan State. When you play a player like Julius Erving, who has such a trigger, you have to try this shot. So I figured I could go to the bottom line and take this hook. »
“A racehorse stripped of weights, saddle and rider, who runs for the simple love of speed”
At the start of the second half, we find the future leader of “Showtime” Pat Riley. As soon as he touches the ball, he picks up the pace, he finds his teammates with assists and the Sixers are overwhelmed by that tempo. With several years in advance, Magic has evolved in all positions during a meeting. What will Scottie Pippen, LeBron James or Draymond Green do after him. From the point guard who runs, to the pivot who asks for the low post ball, to the winger who scores at mid-distance.
“I understood how good Earvin could be when he was free to move,” observes his teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. “He directs the attack, he rebounds, he leads the counter-attacks with speed and efficiency. All this with relative inexperience: he was only 20 years old. It was like seeing a racehorse stripped of weights, saddle, and rider, racing just for the love of speed. »
Philadelphia gave up in the second half and the Lakers won 123-107 with the famous statistical line known by heart by all the players in these Finals: 42-15-7.
The Birth of the Magic Myth
The impact is such that it is Magic Johnson who is elected MVP of the Finals, while the trophy seemed promised to the former pivot of the Bucks. With 21.5 points, 11.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, the leader with the devastating smile becomes the first rookie in history (and the only one still today) as well as the youngest player (20 years and 276 days) to be crowned best player in the Finals.
“We had the best team, so I’m not surprised that we were champions”says Jerry West, the GM of the Lakers at the time. “But I was surprised that we could win without Kareem. That’s why it’s so unique. It was the evening that revealed Magic. »
This evening of May 16, 1980 will make the Laker enter the history of the NBA and create a cultural myth. Our colleagues from Los Angeles compare it to the Motown 25 party, broadcast on May 16, 1983, when Michael Jackson performed his first moonwalk on Billie John.
In one evening, the time of a match, Magic Johnson changed dimension. The rest of his career will only confirm that this achievement, if it is perhaps the most memorable, was not an isolated act but the first of a long list for the best point guard in NBA history. .
| Magic Johnson | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 1979-80 | ALL | 77 | 36 | 53.0 | 22.6 | 81.0 | 2.2 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 18.0 |
| 1980-81 | ALL | 37 | 37 | 53.2 | 17.6 | 76.0 | 2.7 | 5.9 | 8.7 | 8.6 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 21.6 |
| 1981-82 | ALL | 78 | 38 | 53.7 | 20.7 | 76.0 | 3.2 | 6.4 | 9.6 | 9.5 | 2.9 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 18.6 |
| 1982-83 | ALL | 79 | 37 | 54.8 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 2.7 | 5.9 | 8.7 | 10.5 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 0.6 | 16.8 |
| 1983-84 | ALL | 67 | 38 | 56.5 | 20.7 | 81.0 | 1.5 | 5.9 | 7.3 | 13.1 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 4.6 | 0.7 | 17.6 |
| 1984-85 | ALL | 77 | 36 | 56.1 | 18.9 | 84.3 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 12.6 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 4.0 | 0.3 | 18.3 |
| 1985-86 | ALL | 72 | 36 | 52.6 | 23.8 | 87.1 | 1.2 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 12.5 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 3.8 | 0.2 | 18.8 |
| 1986-87 ★ | ALL | 80 | 36 | 52.3 | 20.5 | 84.8 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 12.2 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 0.5 | 23.9 |
| 1987-88 | ALL | 72 | 37 | 49.2 | 19.6 | 85.3 | 1.2 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 11.9 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 0.2 | 19.6 |
| 1988-89 ★ | ALL | 77 | 38 | 50.9 | 31.4 | 91.1 | 1.4 | 6.4 | 7.9 | 12.8 | 2.2 | 1.8 | 4.1 | 0.3 | 22.5 |
| 1989-90 ★ | ALL | 79 | 37 | 48.0 | 38.4 | 89.0 | 1.6 | 5.0 | 6.6 | 11.5 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 22.3 |
| 1990-91 | ALL | 79 | 37 | 47.7 | 32.0 | 90.6 | 1.3 | 5.7 | 7.0 | 12.5 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 0.2 | 19.4 |
| 1995-96 | ALL | 32 | 30 | 46.6 | 37.9 | 85.6 | 1.3 | 4.5 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 1.5 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 14.6 |
| Total | 906 | 37 | 52.0 | 30.3 | 84.8 | 1.8 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 11.2 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 0.4 | 19.5 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
