Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  166 responses

Magic Johnson’s Turn to Criticize LeBron’s Decision

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but this summer is officially dedicated to the bashing of LeBron James. Everyone is joining in on the fun, with NBA legends jumping in with both feet.

Magic Johnson echoed Michael Jordan’s critique of LeBron’s defection to Miami, saying he would’ve never even thought of teaming up with his greatest rival(s) during his career. Because, well, that simply wasn’t done in his day.

Bloomberg has the quotes:

Basketball hall of famer Magic Johnson said he never would have joined with Larry Bird to win a championship the way LeBron James is teaming with Dwyane Wade.

“We didn’t think about it cause that’s not what we were about,” said Johnson. “From college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird.”

“It was never a question in our mind because nobody has ever done that,” he said.

The criticism and finger-wagging will eventually die down for LeBron James, especially once the Miami Heat start to pile up the wins. For the time being, though, it’s open season.

James can take comfort in the probability that, about 15 years from now, he’ll be sitting on his perch atop the NBA’s Mount Olympus, imperiously shaking his head at these damn kids’ decisions.

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  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ Troy: Right… And who got them to the Finals? Oh yeah, KAREEM.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    The Seed wtf are you talking about. LeBron got to the Finals practically by himself. If you think he had a good team then you’re delusional. His team was on par with Kobe’s in terms of no help.

  • http://thetroyblog.com Teddy-the-Bear

    @ The Nupe: Barkley and Jordan both played on GREAT teams with way more help than LeBron has ever had. Barkley never won a ring, but he had Thunder Dan and Kevin Johnson–who was one of the best point guards in the team during that time–as his running mates.
    But, BUT, their comments are acceptable–they may not be right, but they’re ACCEPTABLE.
    MAGIC FREAKING JOHNSON’S, however, carry NO merit whatsoever. The Showtime Lakers are the EPITOME OF STACKED TEAMS. They had THREE hall-of-famers, the best coach, and the best supporting cast of intangibles and hustle play during their time–and maybe the best overall team in league history.
    Magic has no right to complain that LeBron is joining two perennial All-Stars when KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR (I think a lot of people are forgetting how unbelievably good KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR was) left the Milwaukee Bucks to join the Los Angeles Lakers, where he teamed up with not only Magic Johnson, but JAMES FREAKING WORTHY too. Magic is just hopping on the bandwagon. SMH.

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    Many are just hating.. And all of them are fugly-moron-no-life-idiots.. seriously why complain if he is not the guy you wanted? Or if he’s compared to your guy? so? TO EVERYONE.. Last july 8, lebron just said F**K YOU LEGACY, F**K YOU STATS, F**K YOU EVERYONE BECAUSE I REALLY WANT TO WIN. he think he has a better chance of winning with that team.. Isnt that what kobe, mj and everyone wanted? A BETTER TEAM? Add kobe to miami and still NO GUARANTEE OF A TITLE.

  • robz

    lolz datz gna b a quarter dream team if u add kobe crazy sht, by the way its not about ur lives people of cleaveland or watever its about dem daymn hard dcisions 2 mke you need 2 scrifice sometimes u know its not d end of the world…mind ur own business

  • http://www.slamonline.com J

    ^ who said its about us? and i assure you were minding our own biz..

  • Anthony

    @cantrell, JTaylor
    If you dont want to count rings we can talk about Defense, im sure you’ll have something smart to say. Even Sloan is saying Duncan > Malone and I dont think he didnt mean it.
    If you would have to build a team today and had the choice between Duncan and Malone (both in their prime) the only way you go with Malone is either you ask your 3years old cousin to choose for you or you wanna see Hulk Hogan cheering for your team.

  • http://slamonline.com JAMES H. ELLIS JR

    come on mj rivals…you won afew with a few pistons on ur team remember…magic need i say more. you need to quite .. anybody remember want boston did? let just enjoy the season of ballin were going to see coming up.. me may self can”t wait…

  • http://hoopistani.blogspot.com hoopistani

    of course everyone’s gonna bash LeBron – that’s what happens when someone like LeBron makes themselves into the biggest target. if LeBron had been quite and classy, everyone else would’ve been, too.

  • eZ

    And while everybody remains outraged over the audacity of some employees who have taken matters into their own hands and selected their preferred employer,
    Lebron -the standard of modern day basketball talent- is quietly setting a new trend among his fellow star-players, which will be the common way of things in a few years. Free agency+proven talent=empowerment. My parents worked for the same employers for 20-30 years, I skip/hop jobs every couple of years..times change.

    http://www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13659617/new-hornets-brass-already-facing-crisis-with-paul

    AHhahahahahaha!!! NYK super trio? Or Orlando with lewis, howard and cp3? I guess that’s all different..

    The lesson to be learned here is stop with this sickening urge to compare each and every former or current player, their style, decisions and legacy. Watch a new one unfold en be open to change.

    PS: yes lebron is only 25 but he has already given 7 intens years to cleveland. He came in at 18 so his career wil be over at an earlier age, especially with his physical style of play.

    Barkley was drafted on a CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM and got tutored by LEGENDS moses malone AND dr. J.
    They reached the conf. finals in his rookie season and where a contender in the following years. After dr j retired and moses was traded barkley’s team became worse and what happened after he had been in the league for 8 years? He got traded to a 50 win team…..hypocrit anyone…?

  • ClydeSays

    Do you really think the 25 yr old Magic and Jordan (notorious players, it should be noted…) would have turned down an offer to play in tax-free South Beach just because there was another All Star on the team? I doubt it….

  • Seamore Green

    The arguments are super rediculous, you think if Jordan could have got Hakeem, he would say nah we’d be too good. And for the Kobe fans (I like watching him play) they forget he was crying a few years ago and wanted out of LA (address that please)when he couldn’t win. And Lebron is that nice, people forget Cleveland didn’t make the playoffs for over a decade b4 he came and he did it with no other star on his team, no shaq, no gasol. The also had the best record in the league but in the playoffs u need more than one star. He also led his team in 5 stat categories, if that’s not carrying a team, I don’t kno what is.

  • Peter B

    The difference between Lebron and kobe, jordan etc is that they wanted to beat the best, they wanted to be the MAN, if they were playing halo they would play on legendary just to prove how good they were, lebron would play on easy with the cheats enabled, he doesn’t care how he wins as long as he sees the ending. He could have went to chicago and been the Man but he chose the path of least resistance.

  • Omar

    I think the people who don’t get why everyone thinks Lebron made a bad Decision is either really young or really stupid. Anyone who ACTUALLY WATCHED Michael Jordan play knows the only person who had a chance to be recongnized to be as great or even better in time than Michael Jordan was Lebron. Honestly, Kobe still could but he would have to continue playing at an extremely high level for at least 4-5 more years and win at least a couple more rings. That’s just not realistic given his age and injuries. Lebron basically said that D. Wade can win him a championship. Yes, D. Wade was his rival because he was in the same draft class as LBJ and won a ring first. He wasn’t man enough to win one on his own, hell he wasn’t man enough to win one either in Cleveland or even go somewhere else and win one as the main guy. Even worse, he couldn’t even convince Bosh to follow him, from how it looks, Bosh followed Wade, then Lebron FOLLOWED them. What he did is not the same as what Barkley, Chamberlain, Drexler, Garnett, etc… did, all of those guys were in their 30s, with careers closer to the end than to their primes when they switched teams. Now Lebron can never be considered better than Jordan…..or D. Wade

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    From a 1991 LA Times interview: Magic Johnson would have returned to Michigan State rather than play for the Chicago Bulls.

    “I’d have stayed in school,” he said here Tuesday, standing alone outside Gate 3 1/2 of Chicago Stadium, the house that could have been his. “A coin toss changed the course of my whole life.” Chicago called heads in a 1979 coin flip with Los Angeles for the No. 1 pick in the NBA college draft. It came up tails.

    Johnson signed with the Lakers after his sophomore year of college and proceeded to win five championships. The Bulls picked second, took UCLA’s David Greenwood and have won no championships.

    “I wouldn’t have played here,” Johnson said on the eve of Game 2 of the NBA finals between his team and the team that could have been his. “The only reason I came out was to play with Kareem and the Lakers.”

  • http://www.slamonline.com Eboy

    “The only reason I came out was to play with Kareem and the Lakers.”Ah Magic, your credibility is corrupt, my man.

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