“I don’t think it’s even as close as the GOAT debate” - Chris Broussard believes nobody can deny that Magic Johnson was the greatest passer in the history of basketball
Magic Johnson was the first player in NBA history to bend the concept of players having defined positions. At 6-foot-9, Johnson was a guard in a forward's body. While that may seem normal in the modern NBA, back in the 1980s and 1990s that was something people hadn't seen.
Johnson could dribble the rock with skill and poise, attack the rim with ferocity and aggression and defend like a momma bear with her cubs. Quite frankly, the LA Lakers legend was a Swiss Army knife player in an era full of single-skill specialists.
Johnson's best attribute was his passing. When people think of exceptional passers, they instantly think of assists per game, or sometimes, their assist-to-turnover ratio. And while both of those statistics are good indicators of how good an individual is as a playmaker, they don't tell the whole story.
Passing is a nuanced skill. To be an elite passer, you need to first understand how much pace to put on the ball, when a passing lane is open and how long it will be open. Most importantly, you have to understand that you don't pass to a player, you pass to where a player is going to be. Passing is cerebral and usually indicative of an individual’s processing speed.
Again, I’m having trouble understanding what falls under the term “skill”
Is there not skill in passing? Defense? There seems to be this idea that “skill” only refers to scoring. twitter.com/espnnba/status…
When discussing processing speed in NBA terms, we define this as a player’s ability to perceive an action, process what needs to be done and act swiftly. Johnson played the game long before the rise of sports science. But had he been around in the modern era, he would unquestionably be one of the league's better "processing guards."
"Magic Johnson was by far the best passer ever, it's not even close. I don't think it's even close as the GOAT debate. There's no way anybody can tell me Magic Johnson wasn't the greatest passer ever," Chris Broussard said on a recent episode of 'The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker.'
Johnson averaged 19.5 points, 11.2 assists and 7.2 rebounds per game, which for a guard in one of the most physical eras of basketball, was unheard of.
Other great passers
Of course, Magic Johnson has some competition for the title of greatest passer of all time. Players like Jerry West, John Stockton, Bob Cousy and more recently Chris Paul have all been praised for their ability to read the floor and make teammates better.
The difference is that Johnson could orchestrate the offense from multiple positions, which made him unique for his time. Think LeBron James playing in the 80's, and how dominant he would be. That's what Johnson was like. Sure, Larry Bird gave the Lakers legend a run for his money, but Bird was a scorer, while Johnson was an all-round threat.
The player development is forever evolving, and the analytics movement is helping players understand their games better than ever before. So, there is a good chance we will eventually see a player enter the league who is a more gifted floor general than Johnson.
But what makes the five-time champion's story so special is that he achieved greatness without the help of algorithms, nutritionists, or the helping hand of sports science. That's why he belongs atop of the Mount Rushmore of passers.