Isiah Thomas has by no means shied away from acknowledging Magic Johnson’s unparalleled passing skill. When requested on social media who the best passer of all time is, Thomas did not hesitate to crown Magic Johnson. He cited Magic’s peak, creativity, and creativeness as key components that made him the perfect within the enterprise. In accordance with Thomas, these qualities allowed Johnson to revolutionize passing and produce unprecedented aptitude to the sport.
“Dani, MagicJohnson is the perfect passer ever due to his peak, creativity, and creativeness. He invented the no-look cross, I invented the bounce cross lob for smaller gamers. #creativity #creativeness Whenever you introduce the never-been-done unthinkable that is the differentiator.”
Thomas defined that Magic’s 6’9″ peak gave him a big benefit as some extent guard, enabling him to see over defenders and spot passing lanes that smaller gamers couldn’t. This peak, mixed with Johnson’s basketball IQ and creativity, allowed him to invent the no-look cross, a transfer that turned an indicator of the “Showtime” Lakers period. Magic’s skill to ship the sudden and make troublesome passes appear routine is what separated him from different nice passers within the league.
Thomas acknowledged that whereas he additionally had a novel type of passing, significantly along with his bounce cross lobs for smaller gamers, it was Johnson’s progressive and imaginative play that stood out. Thomas emphasised the transformative nature of Magic’s contributions to the purpose guard place.
Magic Johnson, who led the Los Angeles Lakers to 5 championships, was identified for orchestrating quick breaks and elevating the play of his teammates along with his elite courtroom imaginative and prescient and precision passing. His skill to create performs in transition, mixed along with his showmanship, made the Lakers’ fast-paced type iconic. Gamers like LeBron James and Penny Hardaway, who additionally relied on dimension and courtroom imaginative and prescient, have adopted in Magic’s footsteps, drawing inspiration from his revolutionary method to the sport.
Magic Johnson’s passing accolades and statistics assist this declare. All through his profession, Johnson racked up 10,141 assists in simply 906 common season video games, giving him a profession common of 11.2 assists per sport, the very best help common in NBA historical past. His help totals rank him seventh all-time, regardless of taking part in considerably fewer video games than most of the gamers forward of him.
Within the playoffs, Magic was much more dominant as a passer, main the league with a complete of two,346 assists—no participant in NBA historical past has extra playoff assists than Johnson.
Throughout the 1984-85 season, Johnson led the league in assists, averaging a staggering 13.1 assists per sport. He topped the league in assists 4 instances throughout his profession and dished out double-digit assists in 10 completely different seasons. His distinctive courtroom imaginative and prescient and talent to create performs in transition made the Lakers’ fast-paced, run-and-gun type iconic, incomes him 5 NBA championships.
Isiah Thomas, whereas additionally an distinctive passer, targeted extra on his skill to control defenses along with his dribbling and create alternatives for his teammates within the half-court. Although smaller in stature, Thomas was capable of dominate the sport along with his quickness and decision-making, particularly when main the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990.
Regardless of their completely different kinds of play, each gamers share immense respect for one another’s expertise. Thomas credit Magic for pushing the boundaries of passing, and his acknowledgement of Magic’s brilliance underscores the mutual admiration between the 2. Nevertheless, Thomas stays happy with his personal contributions to the artwork of passing, particularly for smaller guards, as he paved the way in which for the following technology of level guards.
Ultimately, as Thomas put it, “It’s a matter of style,” however in terms of passing, Magic Johnson’s creativity and talent to see the sport in another way make him, in Thomas’ eyes, the best passer of all time.
