5X NBA champ Magic Johnson couldn't hold back praises for Spartans women's team beating arch-rival Wolverines 70-66
Magic Johnson is widely considered one of the greatest players to ever step foot on a basketball court. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer is, by far, the greatest basketball player to play for the Michigan State Spartans.
Johnson took to X on Sunday to praise the Spartans' women's basketball team for beating the rival Michigan Wolverines on the road, stating:
"I just finished watching our Spartan women’s basketball beat our archrival Michigan 70-66! What a game. Four of the women finished with double figure scoring led by Ozment with 16 points!"
Johnson followed that up by also praising the Spartans' men's team for beating the Wolverines in the same stadium the night before:
"Last night, the men’s basketball team beat the Wolverines 73-63. Walker led the team with 19 points and Hall added 18 points. What an amazing weekend for me and my fellow Spartans. Go Green! Go White!"
Check out Magic Johnson's tweets below:
The Spartans' women's team improved to 18-7 on the season and 8-6 in Big Ten play, while the Wolverines dropped to 16-11 and just 7-8 in Big Ten play. On the men's side, Michigan State now sits at 17-9 and 9-6 in conference play, while Michigan is 8-18 and just 3-12 in conference play.
How did Magic Johnson perform in his college and professional career?
Magic Johnson joined the Michigan State Spartans as the highest-touted prospect in the 1977 recruiting class. As a freshman, he averaged 17.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game while shooting 45.8% from the field and 78.5% from the free-throw line. He led the Spartans to the Elite Eight as a second-team All-American. However, they fell to the eventual-champion Kentucky Wildcats.
The following season, Johnson averaged 17.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 8.4 apg, 2.3 steals and 0.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 84.2% from the free-throw line. He led the Spartans to their first national title in program history and was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and a consensus first-team All-American.
Johnson was drafted first overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1979 NBA draft. He spent 13 seasons with the Lakers, averaging 19.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg, an NBA-record 11.2 apg, 1.9 spg and 0.4 bpg while shooting 52.0% from the field and 84.8% from the free-throw line. He won five championships, three NBA Finals MVP awards, three MVP awards and two All-Star Game MVP awards.
The Lakers star was named to 12 All-Star Teams, 10 All-NBA Teams, and the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams. Magic Johnson led the league in assists four times and steals two times.