It wasn’t like Magic Johnson came out of nowhere. In his senior year in high school, Johnson, along with Albert King, who picked Maryland, and Gene Banks, who chose Duke, was one of the top three players, at least according to Street & Smith’s annual basketball magazine.
Johnson would choose Michigan State, and by his sophomore year, he emerged as a highly unusual player. At 6-9, Johnson played point guard, which was a revolutionary move. Not many guys who were 6-9 were capable of playing point guard, much less as well as Johnson did.
And while he did it, and did it with style as a freshman, Johnson was not yet the player he would become.
Johnson led Michigan State to the Elite Eight in 1978, only to fall to eventual national champion Kentucky, 52-49 (Kentucky would go on to beat Banks and Duke in the national championship game, 92-88).
In 1979, as a sophomore, he became iconic in the 1979 championship game against Larry Bird and Indiana State, as the Spartans won their first title, 87-75.
There were many great players before Johnson, and many after, but consider this: there have been players who are similar to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant being the best. There are players who have been compared to Larry Bird. Luka Doncic comes to mind.
Perhaps his greatest win came in his rookie season in Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar could not play, so Johnson, the point guard mind you, took over at center. He finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists.
You can’t really compare anyone to Johnson. He is utterly unique in basketball history. Perhaps the one player to rival his uniqueness is 5-3 Muggsy Bogues.
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