Magic starts at C in the 1980 Finals, scores 41 and is named Finals MVP as a rookie
Posted Jun 28, 2014, 4:34 PM UTC
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This is probably blasphemy, but I think Kareem was the Lakers MVP of that Finals. Everyone always focuses in on the deciding game 6 in which Magic obviously dominated, but Kareem in the five games he played was just unstoppable and was the reason the Lakers were in a position to wrap it up that night to begin with. He put up 33.4 points and 13.6 rebounds along with an ungodly 4.6 blocks a game. In game 5 he had 40 and 15 on a twisted ankle - including 14 in the fourth quarter to pull out a much closer game.
Magic, on the other hand, had 30 turnovers to set the NBA Finals record that still stands today despite the series only going six games.
And that's not even getting into the fact that the 7-man board of journalists that voted for Finals MVP that year originally selected Kareem with their initial vote, but several members - including Bill Livingston - were strong armed by CBS into changing their votes to make it 4-3 in favor of Magic so they wouldn't be presenting the thing to an empty chair. You can read about it on page 140 of the book Kareem.
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Yeah, I definitely agree with you that Kareem deserved it more. I think they just wanted to be able to exploit the storyline of the rookie Magic coming in and taking his place at C, and dominating.
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you're spot on.
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You are right. I can't say why Magic was chosen, but it seems like a heat of the moment pick. I guess r/NBA has ancestors in the NBA
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That's good and all, but could he take on the Celtics' Ekon Okoye in NBA 2K14 like Lebron did on his Fantastic Journey?
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Nowadays in nba a PG playing at C is only possible on nba 2k
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"Why Jaamal Wilkes was underrated" should be the real title of the video.
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And then the top comment would be OP apologizing for the title
Jamaal* Wilkes*
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He's in the HOF. If you want to talk underrated, let's discuss the Squid
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was everyone bigger back then or were the uniforms just smaller?
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Might just be the short shorts. Maybe the jerseys were smaller, I don't know.
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This game is commonly misconstrued. Magic JUMPED center but spent no time there during the actual game. Kareem was hurt but they still had Chones and Landsberger to play the 5. Magic and Wilkes played forward most of the game.
That's certainly true. They had Nixon run the point most of the time. But I guess the storyline is just nice to hear. Plus, he did technically "start" at C. He just got moved shortly after.
Well Nixon was the full-time PG for Magic's first 3-4 years. It most certainly was an impressive game for such a young kid.
It's really unfortunate that Kareem twisted his ankle, because the game before he had an absolutely amazing performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMIC4zKK_nE
40pts / 15 boards / 4 blocks
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So did he spend most of the game playing SF, or some other position?
The Lakers were an interesting team in terms of lineups. Chones, a natural C played PF next to Kareem. With Chones at C, a modern take on the game would probably see Magic at PF based on his height. He and Wilkes as a forward tandem were much more comparable to LeBron and Battier. The biggest obstacle was who would guard Dawkins or Caldwell Jones on defense. Chones took Jones, but Dawkins didn't play well enough to take advantage of his size.