Kareem or Magic.. Who had the most impact on the lakers?

[Theoo's Daddy]

Help a young buck understand this.

[Soothing Layup]

Magic Fanwise, kareem stat wise.

[jb220]

The Cap

KAJ >>>> Magic

[Shep]

kareem in '80, and '81. magic every other year

[Sarcastic]

Kareem didn't win with the Lakers for 4 years until Magic showed up in 1979-80.

[Bigsmoke]

tie.

Kareem was amazing for real.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_kn6kLRs5o

[jlauber]

Hmmm,

BEFORE Magic...the Lakers went five miserable years with Kareem playing alongside some of the most talented players in the league...and were basically either early round cannon-fodder or were even swept by a team with a worse record, in the weakest era for title teams in NBA history.

WITH Magic...LA IMMEDIATELY won a title. They averaged 59 wins per season in his 12 years...going to NINE Finals (a Finals appearance in 75% of the seasons)...and FIVE titles.

AFTER Kareem...the Lakers actually IMPROVED the very next season, going from a 57-25 record in Kareem's last year, to a league-leading 63-19 record the next year. Then, Magic took a washed-up and injury-riddled cast to a 58-24 record and yet another Finals.

AFTER Magic...the Lakers IMMEDIATELY plummetted to records of 43-39 and 39-43.


BTW, in their ten years playing together, Magic held a 3-1 edge in MVPS, a 3-1 edge in Finals MVPs, and outvoted Kareem in the MVP voting in EIGHT of those ten seasons (the last eight BTW.)

Now, you tell me who had the most impact on the Lakers in those ten years.

[Soundwave]

Magic.

They basically started winning titles when he got there and still got back to the Finals again in '91 without him. If Magic didn't get HIV, they probably could've retooled a bit a few more times -- ie: imagine Barkley gets traded to L.A. instead of Phoenix in '92.

[wakencdukest]

Magic. He was the floor leader. He brought an energy and unselfishness to the Lakers that they didn't have, and all the other players bought into it, including Kareem.

[DMAVS41]

Definitely Magic in my opinion. I don't think Kareem cared as much about winning until Magic got there.

I'm one of the few that ranks Magic higher than Kareem.

[FKAri]

Kareem >>> Magic as a player and Laker

Magic's charisma has tainted people's memories.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Definitely Kareem earlier and definitely Magic later on.

Kareem was a hell of a lot better than Magic in 1980 and Magic was a hell of a lot better in '87 and '88. Kareem was better in 1982, though it was closer, but watch the games. Kareem was easily the Lakers best scorer, the only player on the team that you'd have to consistently double and a much more important player defensively than Magic, don't forget that he was still blocking about 3 shots per game. And Kareem was always the guy the Lakers went to when they really needed a basket late because of that deadly sky hook. I've always felt that Kareem's defense and passing were underrated. Magic's scoring was still very limited because he didn't really have the outside shot or the consistent post game yet and relied on transition for a lot of his own offense, though with that being said, he would box out and get offensive rebounds for some extra points, but he was never a great defender and certainly not comparable to a 7'2"-7'3" guy in the paint blocking 3 shots per game.

By 1985, they were pretty close, and you could make an argument either way.

[Round Mound]

Till 1985, Kareem

Then it was Magic, from 86 to 91

[SpecialQue]

Hmmm,

BEFORE Magic...the Lakers went five miserable years with Kareem playing alongside some of the most talented players in the league...and were basically either early round cannon-fodder or were even swept by a team with a worse record, in the weakest era for title teams in NBA history.

WITH Magic...LA IMMEDIATELY won a title. They averaged 59 wins per season in his 12 years...going to NINE Finals (a Finals appearance in 75% of the seasons)...and FIVE titles.

AFTER Kareem...the Lakers actually IMPROVED the very next season, going from a 57-25 record in Kareem's last year, to a league-leading 63-19 record the next year. Then, Magic took a washed-up and injury-riddled cast to a 58-24 record and yet another Finals.

AFTER Magic...the Lakers IMMEDIATELY plummetted to records of 43-39 and 39-43.


BTW, in their ten years playing together, Magic held a 3-1 edge in MVPS, a 3-1 edge in Finals MVPs, and outvoted Kareem in the MVP voting in EIGHT of those ten seasons (the last eight BTW.)

Now, you tell me who had the most impact on the Lakers in those ten years.

Hey Jlauber, please write a basketball history book. I'm not even remotely fvcking joking. Your posts on Wilt are fantastic, and this just reminded me how much I dig your posts.

[iamgine]

Maybe we can debate who's the better player but as for impact, come on it's Magic and not even close.