Michael Jordan vs Magic Johnson - Point Guard Battle!! MJ Plays Point Guard!! Jordan defends Magic!!

Video Description

Recently, Michael Jordan proclaimed that he believes Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time. Michael responded to Steph Curry self-proclaiming & Stephen A Smith co-signing that Steph Curry has "passed" Magic Johnson, All-Time, with the following statement: "Although greatest of anything is always a debate, I beg to differ on greatest point guard of all-time… Magic Johnson is easily the best point guard of all time. Steph Curry is very close, but not in front of Magic,” Jordan said, per Stephen A Smith. Jordan did add in his message to Stephen A Smith that he believes Curry is “by far the best shooter of all time.” However, Jordan wrote that Johnson “invented the triple-double” and pointed out that Magic has five NBA titles, one more than Curry. All-Time debates are fun. But this debate serves as a reminder of the time that Magic Johnson & Michael Jordan battled head to head in a point guard battle, at the Great Western Forum! Well, it was 1989, and the MVP race was a hotly contested race between Magic Johnson & Michael Jordan!!! PPG: 32.5 (Jordan) vs 22.5 (Magic) REB: 8.0 (Jordan) vs 7.9 (Magic) AST: 12.8 (Magic) vs 8.0 (Jordan) FG%: 53.8% (Jordan) vs 50.9% (Magic) DPOY Voting: 5th Place (Jordan) vs Unranked/No Votes (Magic) All Defensive Team: Yes, 1st team (Jordan) vs No (Magic) WS/48: .292 (Jordan) vs .267 (Magic) Win Shares: 19.8 (Jordan) vs 16.1 (Magic) Triple Doubles: 17 (Magic) vs 15 (Jordan) More clutch performances: Jordan had more clutch performances that season Head to Head: Jordan 2-0 vs Magic in 1988-89 Head to Head PPG: 31.5 (Jordan) vs 25.5 (Magic) Head to Head AST: 12.0 vs 12.0 (Tie) Head to Head REB: 7.5 (Jordan) vs 6.0 (Magic) Michael Jordan lost the MVP race that season, to Magic Johnson, by the slimmest of margins. 42.5 first place votes went to Magic, and 27.5 first place votes went to Jordan. Did the voters get it right? Jordan definitely had a very strong case. History is history and the MVP is Magic Johnson's. But.... one last thing to consider, just to illustrate that Jordan played in the tougher conference: Magic's 89 Lakers vs West: 43-15 (74.1% win%) Magic's 89 Lakers vs East: 14-10 (58.3% win %) Jordan's 89 Bulls vs West: 19-7 (73.1% win%) Jordan's 89 Bulls vs East: 28-28 (50.0% win%) Flashback to the 1980's for some retro NBA with Michael Jordan vs Magic Johnson! Michael Jordan actually playing the point guard position against, in his words, "The Greatest Point Guard Of All Time"! A fun piece of NBA history & Jordan Era history right here! (1988-89 Season) TIMESTAMPS: 8:07 - Game Begins 8:23 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hook shot 8:39 - Byron Scott jumper 8:45 - Michael Jordan baseline fadeaway jumper 9:15 - Scottie Pippen layup, and 1 9:50 - Michael Jordan scoop layup over Magic Johnson 10:42 - Magic Johnson jumper 11:23 - James Worthy post layup 12:26 - Michael Jordan to Horace Grant layup 13:03 - Byron Scott and 1 layup 14:08 - Byron Scott 3 point jumper 14:50 - Jordan to Grant jumper 15:28 - James Worthy layup 16:50 - Michael Jordan lefty layup 17:07 - James Worthy jumper 17:33 - AC Green cutting layup 17:49 - AC Green & Horace Grant battle to the floor 18:16 - AC Green jumper 19:32 - Michael Cooper 3 point jumper 19:53 - Magic Johnson post up vs John Paxson 20:52 - Michael Cooper 3 point jumper 21:08 - Magic Johnson 3 point jumper 22:07 - Jordan to Pippen 3 point jumper 23:12 - Mychal Thompson layup 23:40 - Orlando Woolridge dunk (Pippen business decision) 23:58 - Magic Johnson post layup 24:52 - Jordan to Pippen layup 25:14 - James Worthy dunk 26:01 - James Worthy jumper 26:18 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hook shot over Michael Jordan 27:12 - Kareem hook shot 28:10 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar year 20 (+3 in college) free throws 28:51 - Kareem free throws 29:33 - Michael Jordan steal 31:33 - Jordan to Pippen jumper 31:56 - Jordan to Hodges for 3 32:08 - AC Green driving layup and 1 32:27 - Magic Johnson transition layup 32:39 - Kareem blocks Michael Jordan 32:48 - Magic Johnson transition layup 33:46 - Byron Scott layup 34:09 - Magic Johnson hook shot 34:16 - Magic Johnson jumper 34:26 - Magic to Worthy layup 34:45 - James Worthy transition layup 35:45 - Scottie Pippen layup 36:48 - Scottie Pippen dunk 36:56 - Mychal Thompson dunk 37:23 - Michael Cooper hangtime scoop layup 38:31 - Magic to Byron Scott jumper 39:05 - Michael Jordan jumper 39:35 - Orlando Woolridge layup 40:00 - Magic to Michael Cooper jumper 40:15 - Michael Jordan backdoor cut & dunk 40:43 - Jordan to John Paxson layup 42:21 - Michael Jordan jumper 42:45 - Michael Jordan free throws 43:30 - Scottie Pippen jumper 44:21 - Magic Johnson free throws 44:45 - Michael Jordan clutch driving layup past Michael Cooper & Kareem 45:48 - AC Green put back, and 1 46:12 - Byron Scott dunk (Michael Jordan foul) and 1 47:38 - Byron Scott fouls Scottie Pippen out of the game & free throw (48:15) 48:59 - Byron Scott layup 49:45 - Michael Jordan eventual game winning free throws 50:43 - Magic Johnson free throw attempts