Post by Lazy Pete on Sept 28, 2014 13:18:04 GMT -6
Ask people to rank the top players in TMBSL, and invariably one name will end up at the top of those lists. One player who has filled his trophy case over the past few years with all of the regular season awards imaginable. One player who managed to average a triple double for an entire season. One player who sent half the league in a tizzy when he hit free agency. Magic is as close to a consensus “best player alive” as we can have. But that perception couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sure, it’s easy to be enthralled by Magic. The winning smile, the incredible stat-stuffing box scores, the ability to play every position on the court. But beneath that veneer there is still one ugly truth. One statistic that won’t show up on the back of his basketball card, or in the basketball programs. The most telling statistic of all: # of championships, 0.
That’s right, zero. As in zilch, nil, nada, o-fer. In fact, all of the awards and praise have totaled only one finals appearance in his “storied” career, where his Orlando Magic were run out of the building by a Dallas Mavericks team that knew what true greatness was. People have laid the blame for his playoff failures at the feet of bad management in LA or injuries in Orlando, but at the end of the day, when you are the so-called best player in the league, that stuff shouldn’t matter. If he really was as good as advertised, he would lead those teams to the promised land himself, and not have to rely on those outside factors. Every team deals with injuries, and plenty of superstars have dealt with shaky management. Those people using those excuses are simply manipulating the narrative so it better fits their preconceived notions about Johnson’s “greatness”.
In comparison, look at a player like Don Buse. Sure, his stats don’t leap off the screen like Magic’s. Compared to most players, they’re great, but nobody would mention him in the same breath as Magic. But he’s got Magic beat in the one category that matters the most. 4 Finals appearances, 2 championships, and a playoffs MVP. Don Buse has done nothing but win since he got into this league. He was a lynchpin in the early Jazz dynasty, the best player on the Grizzlies title team, and a key cog in the Milwaukee team that blew through the east last season. Sure, he doesn’t have a closet full of MVPs or all-League awards, but I’m sure his rings are a comforting consolation.
But why just speak in hypotheticals? After all, Magic and Buse are no strangers in the playoffs. This past year, Buse’s Milwaukee team squared off in the conference finals with Magic Johnson’s Orlando team. The results speak for themselves: a 4-0 drubbing, not by the team led by the reigning MVP but by the one led by the unheralded winner. The play-by-play data was not available for these games, but if it was, I’m sure it would show Buse diving for loose balls, taking charges, and doing all the gritty and gutty things needed to win. Meanwhile, Magic must’ve been too busy reading his news clippings, because he certainly didn’t show up to the arena. Some have sworn by the abilities of “playoff Magic”. Well the Magic must’ve run out that week.
Many have said that a team full of Magics would be able to beat any other team in the league. I’m sure they would be great in the regular season, rack up all kinds of awards and set all kinds of records. But in the playoffs? Give me a team full of Don Buses over a team full of Magic Johnsons any day of the week. There is no software grade for clutch, but if there was, I think it’s obvious who would get the A+ and who wouldn’t.
Sure, it’s easy to be enthralled by Magic. The winning smile, the incredible stat-stuffing box scores, the ability to play every position on the court. But beneath that veneer there is still one ugly truth. One statistic that won’t show up on the back of his basketball card, or in the basketball programs. The most telling statistic of all: # of championships, 0.
That’s right, zero. As in zilch, nil, nada, o-fer. In fact, all of the awards and praise have totaled only one finals appearance in his “storied” career, where his Orlando Magic were run out of the building by a Dallas Mavericks team that knew what true greatness was. People have laid the blame for his playoff failures at the feet of bad management in LA or injuries in Orlando, but at the end of the day, when you are the so-called best player in the league, that stuff shouldn’t matter. If he really was as good as advertised, he would lead those teams to the promised land himself, and not have to rely on those outside factors. Every team deals with injuries, and plenty of superstars have dealt with shaky management. Those people using those excuses are simply manipulating the narrative so it better fits their preconceived notions about Johnson’s “greatness”.
In comparison, look at a player like Don Buse. Sure, his stats don’t leap off the screen like Magic’s. Compared to most players, they’re great, but nobody would mention him in the same breath as Magic. But he’s got Magic beat in the one category that matters the most. 4 Finals appearances, 2 championships, and a playoffs MVP. Don Buse has done nothing but win since he got into this league. He was a lynchpin in the early Jazz dynasty, the best player on the Grizzlies title team, and a key cog in the Milwaukee team that blew through the east last season. Sure, he doesn’t have a closet full of MVPs or all-League awards, but I’m sure his rings are a comforting consolation.
But why just speak in hypotheticals? After all, Magic and Buse are no strangers in the playoffs. This past year, Buse’s Milwaukee team squared off in the conference finals with Magic Johnson’s Orlando team. The results speak for themselves: a 4-0 drubbing, not by the team led by the reigning MVP but by the one led by the unheralded winner. The play-by-play data was not available for these games, but if it was, I’m sure it would show Buse diving for loose balls, taking charges, and doing all the gritty and gutty things needed to win. Meanwhile, Magic must’ve been too busy reading his news clippings, because he certainly didn’t show up to the arena. Some have sworn by the abilities of “playoff Magic”. Well the Magic must’ve run out that week.
Many have said that a team full of Magics would be able to beat any other team in the league. I’m sure they would be great in the regular season, rack up all kinds of awards and set all kinds of records. But in the playoffs? Give me a team full of Don Buses over a team full of Magic Johnsons any day of the week. There is no software grade for clutch, but if there was, I think it’s obvious who would get the A+ and who wouldn’t.
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