The Top 10 NBA Players Ever - #6

This is yet another installment in my list of the top 10 NBA players of all time. It is admittedly a subjective list. Are individual statistics more important than the number of championships a player led his team to? Admittedly, these types of lists will always be contentious.

#6 Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson's rivalry with Larry Bird helped restore the NBA's popularity and legitimacy upon entering the league in the fall of 1979. In getting the better of that prolonged duel, Magic appeared to reinvent the game. As it turned out, the 6'9" run-and-gun ballhandler was simply a spectacular anomaly.

Magic, who led the league in assists per game in 4 seasons, finished his career with the highest apg (11.2) in NBA history. From 1982-3 until 1990-1, Johnson averaged double-digit apg every year. He also averaged more assists in the postseason than any other player 5 different times (including averaging over 15 a game twice). Magic retired with the record for most career total assists all time. He's currently 4th on the list.

Magic didn't simply wrack up assist numbers. His passes often lifted you out of your seat. Sometimes those dishes were flashy just for the sake of it, but often, Magic was able to find an improbable angle that put his team in a better position to score. Though Magic's best quality was his ability to run the Lakers, he is most remembered for two instances that had nothing to do with his most prominent gift.

As a rookie, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar injured for Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, Johnson started at center. The rookie, who had led Michigan State to an NCAA title the year before, lifted his team with a 42 point, 15 rebound, 7 assist performance, clinching the championship with a 4-2 series win over Philadelphia. Magic won the Finals MVP, his first of three.

The second happened during the 1987 NBA Finals. In Game 4, with the Lakers up on the Celtics 2 games to 1, the Lakers were down by 1 point in the Boston Garden. With 7 seconds left, Magic faked a jumper in the corner, drove right, and nailed a game-winning sky hook to give the Lakers a 3-1 series lead. Magic won the Finals MVP in that year too.

Magic also won 3 regular season MVPs. He led (or co-led with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) the Lakers to 5 championships in his 13 year career. His teams won the Western Conference Finals 4 more times. He was voted to the All-NBA 1st team 9 times and to the 2nd team on another occasion.

Though Magic was not a superior defender, he managed to lead the league in steals twice. But Magic's greatness was on the offensive end. He averaged 19.5 ppg and an impressive 7.2 rpg for a point guard, but his legend was made running up the floor and feeding his teammates for easy baskets. Magic brought that wonderful combination to the game; not only immensely fun to watch, but he was a certified winner as well.