Who was better: Magic Johnson or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

Posted by Valentine Belue on Tuesday, May 7, 2024
I'll give you a very base logic, without going into detailed specifics. You say Kareem had a height advantage, so you don't consider a 6'9 point guard having an advantage who was several inches taller than others at the respective positions? Let's take a look at some centers Kareem went against, specifically during his time sharing the floor with Magic that are worth mentioning.

Bill Laimbeer
Hakeem Olajuwon
Jack Sikma
Artis Gilmore
Robert Parish
Moses Malone
Mark Eaton
And for the sake of argument I'll add in Patrick Ewing even though his better years were after Kareem.

Those are just some of the guys off the top of my head that were good at their positions that he played against that were arguably in their prime during his run with Magic. They're around the same height as Jabbar too. Some maybe giving up an inch or two. Eaton is less skilled but was a hell of a rim protector and probably one of the better defensive centers I saw growing up. Kareem was no slouch on defense either but the greatest part of his game was by far his offense.

Jabber wasn't a guy known for his strength but his flexibility and the fact the skyhook was just unguarded. He wasn't a dominant physical big like a Shaq. He was a tall guy with a long wingspan - if he was a physical big at that height I cannot see him playing a 20 year career at such a high level.

So if we are going to use the height argument, let me name off some guys off top of my head Magic had a major height advantage over.

Isiah Thomas
Maurice Cheeks
Dennis Johnson
Sugar Ray Richardson
Norm Nixon(even though half his career was with the Lakers)
John Stockton(he was more of a 90s guy)

That list of guards are many of the ones I would say were among the best during the 80s that Magic had to compete against. If we are going to use the height argument, DJ was a fairly tall guard; somewhere between 6'4-6'5 but the rest were 6'1-6'2 ballpark.

I feel Magic as a player in comparison had an overall better skill set, was more versatile and could play different positions. But to me what separates them is durability, points and defense. Magic did not play up to the same level when he came back from his 'retitement', Jabbar had well over 20,000 more career points and his defense was better - which I could credit to his length and wingspan.

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