Magic Johnson Considers Miami Heat ‘the Favorite’ to Win NBA Championship


Despite the enormous amount of talent on this year’s squad, Los Angeles Lakers greats aren’t ready to hand them the title just yet. Much like James Worthy, Magic Johnson believes that the road to the championship goes through South Beach. Reports the LA Times: “You still have to consider Miami the favorite because they’re the defending world champions,’ Johnson said. ‘But I think the Lakers are right there with them, no question about it. It’s going to take them a couple of months to get to know each other, probably about three months to become a real team. You have Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. So they have to learn how to mesh together. Once they do that, they’re going to be awesome.’ […] Meanwhile, Miami returns its core roster in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. The Heat also added sharpshooters Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to complement its bench. ‘They got talent,’ Johnson said. ‘When you have talent like LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, that’s some talent just like we have on our team. Before we get to Miami, we have to concentrate on Oklahoma City and really look to take them down first. But the Lakers are awesome. Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss have done an amazing job and we’re all going to benefit from that.’ But will the Lakers even have enough to stop the [OKC] Thunder’s speed? ‘I think the Lakers to me, if they can put it all together, are the better team,’ Johnson said.”