Speaker 1: This episode is brought to you by Unstoppable. Discover the
Speaker 1: inspiring true story about Anthony Roebliss, who defined every expectation
Speaker 1: to become a national wrestling champion, and Unstoppable, a new
Speaker 1: original movie from Amazon MGM Studios and director William Goldenberg,
Speaker 1: evoking the excitement and camaraderie of classic sports dramas and
Speaker 1: thrilling wrestling matches. Unstoppable features an all star ensemble cast
Speaker 1: including Jerrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheatle, Michael Pania, and
Speaker 1: Bobby Knavali. Watch Unstoppable now exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Speaker 2: This episode is brought to you by all State. Some
Speaker 2: people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance
Speaker 2: by checking all State first. Like you know, to check
Speaker 2: the date of the Big Game first before you accidentally
Speaker 2: buy tickets on your twentieth wedding anniversary and have to
Speaker 2: spend the next twenty years of your marriage making up
Speaker 2: for it. Yeah, checking first is smart, So check all
Speaker 2: State first for a quote that could save you hundreds.
Speaker 2: You're in good hands with All States Savings Ferry terms apply.
Speaker 2: All State Fire and Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.
Speaker 3: Welcome in to another special edition of What's Right with
Speaker 3: Nick Right The podcast and YouTube shows. We are into
Speaker 3: the top five of the fifty greatest players of the
Speaker 3: last fifty years. And this is the part of the
Speaker 3: list where I'll be honest, I'm really glad that it
Speaker 3: is the last fifty years because Wilt and Russell and
Speaker 3: how they slot up against the next two guys incredibly
Speaker 3: difficult for me. And I know we're not doing Wilton
Speaker 3: Russell on this pod, but the top three are not
Speaker 3: only the top three of the last fifty years in
Speaker 3: my opinion, they are the top three of all time.
Speaker 3: But five and four how they would compare and contrast
Speaker 3: to Wilton Russell incredibly difficult to evaluate, and so I'm
Speaker 3: glad we don't have to evaluate. Also, number five is
Speaker 3: a player who I watched in real time the entirety
Speaker 3: of his career. Number four is a player who I
Speaker 3: have very very few memories of, very few of his
Speaker 3: real apex and of honestly the majority of his playing career.
Speaker 3: And I had to go back and watch and research.
Speaker 3: And thanks to the Internet, you can really go back
Speaker 3: and watch almost any playoff game if you're willing to
Speaker 3: pay for it in any playoff game, certainly of the
Speaker 3: last forty years, in most of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: But they're two very different players. They are very similar
Speaker 3: in this Number five and four are both guys who
Speaker 3: have a handful of jewelry, as everyone does on the
Speaker 3: rest of this list. They are both unique in that
Speaker 3: we had never quite had a player dominate from day
Speaker 3: one the way both of these guys did from day
Speaker 3: one from rookies being MVP caliber guys not even well,
Speaker 3: I don't want to give away the rest of the list,
Speaker 3: but guys who are in the goat conversation did not
Speaker 3: dominate as rookies as much as Number five and number
Speaker 3: four did. But let's get right to it. Number five
Speaker 3: on our list the fifth greatest player of the last
Speaker 3: fifty years, the big fundamental.
Speaker 4: Number five, Tim Dunky.
Speaker 3: So let's go over the career resume before we get
Speaker 3: to the playoffs stuff. The career resume is quite simple.
Speaker 3: Ten times First Team All NBA. That's tied for the
Speaker 3: fourth most ever, three time second team, two time third
Speaker 3: Team All NBA that is fifteen total all NBA teams
Speaker 3: That is tied for the second most ever. He's a
Speaker 3: two time League MVP and years one through eight of
Speaker 3: his career. First eight seasons of his career he was
Speaker 3: top five MVP finisher nine total MVP top five finishes.
Speaker 3: He's a fifteen time all defensive player that is the
Speaker 3: most in NBA history by a wide margin. He was
Speaker 3: twenty one twelve and three as a rookie, and in fact,
Speaker 3: he was twenty one twelve and three for averages over
Speaker 3: his first twelve seasons, which speaks to the consistency. His
Speaker 3: rookie year he was twenty one twelve and three and
Speaker 3: the first twelve years of his career combined, he was
Speaker 3: twenty one points, twelve rebounds, three assists, with all world
Speaker 3: caliber defense every step of the way. He is fifth
Speaker 3: all time in blocks. He is sixth all time in rebounds.
Speaker 3: He is fifteenth all time in points. That's all in
Speaker 3: the regular season. Now to the playoffs. The top line
Speaker 3: of the playoffs are this. He is a five time
Speaker 3: champion and a three time finals MVP, with one additional
Speaker 3: finals appearance that won one of the most famous finals ever,
Speaker 3: the twenty thirteen finals against Lebron in the Miami Heat.
Speaker 3: His career playoff average twenty points, ten rebounds from ninety
Speaker 3: nine to seven, his nine year playoff prime. In those
Speaker 3: nine years, he won four rings, he won three finals MVPs,
Speaker 3: and he averaged twenty four points fourteen thirteen rebounds, four assists,
Speaker 3: three blocks per game in forty minutes per game on
Speaker 3: fifty percent shooting. So that's the general Tim Duncan stuff.
Speaker 3: But as we do with everyone on this list, we
Speaker 3: then go year by year to their playoff career. Oh
Speaker 3: and by the way, I should mention this playoffs every
Speaker 3: single season fifty or more wins every single year of
Speaker 3: his career, except for the year that there was only
Speaker 3: fifty games, the sixty six game season he won fifty games.
Speaker 3: The only year did win fifty games was the year
Speaker 3: there was only fifty games, And that, by the way,
Speaker 3: is one of the main reasons I have Duncan five
Speaker 3: in Kobe six. Is Kobe had that little golf in
Speaker 3: the middle of his career, post shack, pre pal Duncan
Speaker 3: never had that fifty wins in the playoffs every year
Speaker 3: of his career. All right, So let's go to his
Speaker 3: rookie year nineteen ninety eight, his first career playoff game
Speaker 3: thirty two and ten opens Round two against Carl Malone
Speaker 3: with thirty three and ten, but they lose in round two.
Speaker 3: But as a rookie is dropping thirty and tens in
Speaker 3: the postseason. Nineteen ninety nine, facing Shack in round two,
Speaker 3: averages for the series twenty nine and eleven and sweeps
Speaker 3: Shaquille O'Neal out of the playoffs. Kobe's on that team too,
Speaker 3: but Kobe's too young to take any flak for that.
Speaker 3: He had thirty seven and fourteen to go up three
Speaker 3: to zero and Shack on Shack and thirty three and
Speaker 3: fourteen to finish off the suite. By the way, Shack,
Speaker 3: who over the next three years after that in the
Speaker 3: finals would average thirty six points per game. He held
Speaker 3: Shack to twenty four points per game in his first
Speaker 3: career finals game ever against the Knicks in ninety nine,
Speaker 3: thirty three and sixteen for this series average twenty seven
Speaker 3: and fourteen Finals MVP, and that season the Spurs went
Speaker 3: fifteen and two in the playoffs. He gets forgotten because
Speaker 3: his lockout year first year without Jordan, that team kicked
Speaker 3: everybody's ass fifteen and two for the playoffs. The next year,
Speaker 3: he was injured, so the Spurs made the playoffs, but
Speaker 3: he got injured at the end of the season maniscus thing.
Speaker 3: They held him out so he didn't get to defend
Speaker 3: his title. Two thousand and one against Dirk in round two,
Speaker 3: averages twenty seven and seventeen. In the one Western Romfens
Speaker 3: Finals against the defending champion Lakers in Game two, he
Speaker 3: had forty and fifteen, but that Lakers team was on
Speaker 3: the show short list of maybe best Lakers team ever.
Speaker 3: They then sweep San Antonio. San Antonio swept him in
Speaker 3: ninety nine, the Lakers sweeping back in two thousand and one.
Speaker 3: Two thousand and two against the Lakers in round two,
Speaker 3: he's absolutely unbelievable, but the Lakers are too good. But
Speaker 3: what does duncan do? He is in Game one twenty
Speaker 3: six points, twenty one rebounds, five assists, four blocks, but
Speaker 3: they lose. In Game five, down three to one, he
Speaker 3: has thirty four points and twenty five rebounds, but they lose.
Speaker 3: For the series, he averages twenty nine, seventeen, and five,
Speaker 3: but they lose in five, which speaks to what a
Speaker 3: juggernaut the Lakers still work now. Two thousand and three,
Speaker 3: his perfect season. Okay, two thousand and two, he had won,
Speaker 3: he'd won an MVP, he wins another one and o
Speaker 3: three and it is truly his perfect season. So what
Speaker 3: does he do? Nineteen sixteen and five. Round one average
Speaker 3: against Phoenix gets the Lakers. In Round two has thirty
Speaker 3: seven and sixteen to end the series, averages twenty eight
Speaker 3: to twelve and five for the series. Round three, Western
Speaker 3: armends Finals against Dirk starts the Western armends Finals with
Speaker 3: forty fifteen and seven tied one game apiece. Game three
Speaker 3: has thirty four points, twenty four rebounds, six assists, six
Speaker 3: blocks thirty four to twenty four, six and six to
Speaker 3: go up to one. Averages for the series twenty eight
Speaker 3: seventeen to six and three, and in the finals a
Speaker 3: total annihilation of the nets. Game one of the Finals
Speaker 3: is some of these box scores is so bananas. Game
Speaker 3: one of the Finals thirty two points, twenty rebounds, six assists,
Speaker 3: three steals, seven blocks, thirty two to twenty six, three
Speaker 3: and seven, a near quadruple double to end the finals
Speaker 3: twenty one points, twenty rebounds, ten assists, eight blocks, and
Speaker 3: for the finals averaged twenty four points, seventeen rebounds, five assists,
Speaker 3: five blocks. Just absolutely Banana's production to win his second
Speaker 3: Finals MVP in his second ring. Two thousand and four,
Speaker 3: another round they kept playing the Lakers in round two
Speaker 3: instead of the conference finals. Another round two battle with
Speaker 3: the Lakers, they lose after being up two zero. Duncan
Speaker 3: average twenty one to twelve and that's you know the
Speaker 3: famous uh Derek Fisher games that year where Derek Fisher
Speaker 3: hits the point four second shot after Duncan hits the
Speaker 3: crazy shot, but Duncan average twenty one to twelve gave
Speaker 3: Shack fits for the series. Two thousand and five, another
Speaker 3: angry playoff run for Duncan thirty nine and fourteen in
Speaker 3: round one against Mellow and Denver to go up three
Speaker 3: to one, twenty five and ten average in round two
Speaker 3: against Ray Allen against National Mary in the Western Conference
Speaker 3: finals twenty seven and fourteen for the series to close
Speaker 3: them out, goes thirty one, fifteen, four and three in
Speaker 3: Game five. Now he's back in the finals against the
Speaker 3: defending champion Pistons. Ben Wallace and Rashid Wallace are their
Speaker 3: front line. He opens the finals with the twenty four
Speaker 3: and seventeen and then it goes seven. In Game seven,
Speaker 3: has twenty five and eleven wins another finals MVP, averaging
Speaker 3: twenty and fourteen against a great defensive team and a
Speaker 3: team that was this close to winning back to back
Speaker 3: titles in the Five Pistons two thousand and six. See
Speaker 3: this is where you remember like man, if not for
Speaker 3: the Derek Fisher shot, does Duncan win the ring that year?
Speaker 3: In four? And then in six what happens? He has
Speaker 3: an all time duel with Dirk and round two average
Speaker 3: thirty two to twelve. For the series down three to one,
Speaker 3: has thirty six and twelve, and then in Game seven
Speaker 3: has forty one, fifteen and six in an overtime loss.
Speaker 3: The what if there is? That's the game where the
Speaker 3: MAVs are down three, Dirk's driving to the basket man
Speaker 3: who slaps him on the elbow. Dirk gets the end
Speaker 3: one they end up winning in overtime. They then go
Speaker 3: on to lose to the Miami Heat in the finals.
Speaker 3: But that's another gosh with the spersable in that title.
Speaker 3: But seven the angry Duncan years, the years he didn't
Speaker 3: coming off when he didn't win the title. Lookout another ring.
Speaker 3: This time he sweeps twenty two year old Lebron the
Speaker 3: biggest challenge was again in round two rather than the
Speaker 3: Western Conference Finals, was against Phoenix. He goes for twenty
Speaker 3: seven points, fourteen rebounds, four blocks per game, including a
Speaker 3: thirty three to nineteen game. In the finals, he averaged
Speaker 3: eighteen to twelve. They gave Tony Parker to the finals MVP.
Speaker 3: I didn't really agree with it, Dan, I don't agree
Speaker 3: with it now, but fine, it's whatever. And then it
Speaker 3: looks like maybe we're getting to the end. Oh eight.
Speaker 3: He opens his title offense with a forty to fifteen
Speaker 3: to five against Phoenix, averages twenty five to fifteen for
Speaker 3: the series. They lose, though, to the Lakers in the
Speaker 3: Western Roarmends Finals, despite the fact that in game one
Speaker 3: he has a thirty point eighteen rebound, two assists, two
Speaker 3: steeal four block game, and for the in the final
Speaker 3: game of the Western Umens Finals has triple double nineteen points,
Speaker 3: fifteen rebounds, ten assists, but they lose. And then two
Speaker 3: thousand and nine, twenty ten, twenty eleven, he only wins
Speaker 3: one series. His averages dropped to seventeen to ten, and
Speaker 3: it's like, oh, okay, all right, So the Spurs, you know,
Speaker 3: they won their four titles in eight years. It's unbelievable,
Speaker 3: but they're done. Twenty twelve, though, it's like, wait, are
Speaker 3: the Spurs gonna win the title? They open the playoffs
Speaker 3: with ten straight victories, but then if you remember they're
Speaker 3: up too to azer on ok see, then it all
Speaker 3: clicks for OKC. OKC wins four straight. Twenty thirteen, the
Speaker 3: Spurs are back in the finals. We are now fifteen
Speaker 3: years removed from their first championship. In the ray Allen game,
Speaker 3: he has thirty points in seventeen rebounds. In the game.
Speaker 3: To win the title, he has thirty points in s
Speaker 3: seventeen rebounds, including twenty five in the first half. But
Speaker 3: they lose the most heartbreaking championship game ever. In Game seven,
Speaker 3: they lose. Duncan misses that little bunny that could have
Speaker 3: tied the game, but he did put up twenty four
Speaker 3: and twelve. So how do they respond? They win the
Speaker 3: damn title The next year twenty fourteen, he averages eighteen
Speaker 3: and eleven against Durant and OKC to win the Western
Speaker 3: Amorge Finals. At age thirty seven, to win the finals.
Speaker 3: To win the Western Arms Finals in six games, he
Speaker 3: averages eighteen and eleven twenty one and ten to open
Speaker 3: the finals, average fifteen and ten, and that year he
Speaker 3: could have won finals MVP. Again they give it to
Speaker 3: Kawhi and then twenty fifteen, he's thirty eight years old.
Speaker 3: They're playing a game seven against the Clippers. That's the
Speaker 3: Chris Paul falling down banking game. He has twenty seven
Speaker 3: and eleven at thirty eight years old. At thirty seven
Speaker 3: years old, he a he averaged. He's eighteen eleven to
Speaker 3: beat Durant. At thirty six years old, he has a
Speaker 3: thirty and seventeen to win the title and Ray Allen
Speaker 3: beats him. He's sixth all time in playoff minutes or
Speaker 3: second old time in playoff minutes, pardon me, sixth all
Speaker 3: time in playoff points, first all time in playoff blocks,
Speaker 3: third all time in playoff rebounds, behind only Wilton Russell.
Speaker 3: He has won one hundred and three career twenty and
Speaker 3: ten playoff games, which is the fourth most all time.
Speaker 3: He's the fifth best player of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: He is Tim Duncan. We have a Tim Duncan caller.
Speaker 3: Let's squeeze her in Tim Duncan at five.
Speaker 5: Finally, finally, I have nothing negative to say he's getting
Speaker 5: the respect that he deserves. He has five rings in
Speaker 5: three different decades, which PS makes him sound like he's
Speaker 5: a hundred, but he's not.
Speaker 3: It just timed out perfectly where that's how it worked out.
Speaker 5: Anyways, that's a two time MVP, and PS also let
Speaker 5: other members of the team shine. So yes, Tim Duncan
Speaker 5: top five. I mean probably could be higher, but five
Speaker 5: is fine.
Speaker 3: So listen, five is fine and appreciate miss Beatle help there.
Speaker 3: He couldn't be higher. I have you guys know the
Speaker 3: four names ahead of him. There is no real argument
Speaker 3: to put him ahead of any of those four. But
Speaker 3: I also don't think there's any argument to put him
Speaker 3: behind Kobe or Shack or Dream or Bird. I think
Speaker 3: Duncan is solidly where he is the fifth best player
Speaker 3: of the last fifty years. Guy won fifty games every year,
Speaker 3: was one of the in my opinion, the second best
Speaker 3: defensive player on this entire list, behind only a team
Speaker 3: the consonant pro, the consonant teammate, the consonant winner. Tim Duncan.
Speaker 3: We will now get to a player who truly did
Speaker 3: have goat potential but saw his career cut a little
Speaker 3: bit short. You know who he is. We'll discuss him next.
Speaker 3: What's right. Welcome back in as we continue our countdown
Speaker 3: to the fifty greatest players of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: And now a player that I truly regret that I
Speaker 3: was not able to enjoy his prime by watching it live.
Speaker 3: I was alive for a lot of his prime, but
Speaker 3: I was too young to remember it. But when you
Speaker 3: go back and watch these games, playoffs or regular season,
Speaker 3: he is just playing the sport differently than anyone ever
Speaker 3: had up to that point, and honestly than anyone ever
Speaker 3: has since. Another thing to remember about this man is
Speaker 3: while we go through this, keep in mind he essentially
Speaker 3: played twelve years. He had twelve healthy seasons, and then
Speaker 3: the career cut short. He is the fourth greatest player
Speaker 3: of the last fifty years. He is, of course number four.
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson so again twelve years, playing nine time first
Speaker 3: team All NBA, one time second team All NBA. He
Speaker 3: is a three time MVP with nine top three MVP finishes.
Speaker 3: Seventy five percent of his SEA seasons, he finished in
Speaker 3: the top three in MVP voting. He retired as the
Speaker 3: NBA's all time assist leader. He's now six he's a
Speaker 3: four time assist champion. He averaged for his career eleven
Speaker 3: assists per game, and he has won one hundred and
Speaker 3: thirty eight career triple doubles. So that's the top line,
Speaker 3: regular season resume stuff, the playoff stuff. It is. Honestly,
Speaker 3: I am just believe me when I tell you I
Speaker 3: left a lot out because there is so much here.
Speaker 3: So he's a five time champion, a three time finals MVP,
Speaker 3: and a nine time finalist. So again, nine of his
Speaker 3: twelve years he was top three in the MVP voting.
Speaker 3: Nine of his twelve years he got his team to
Speaker 3: the NBA finals. It's just unbelievable that he had twelve
Speaker 3: seasons before the before the HIV diagnosis, and he had
Speaker 3: nine top three MVPs, nine finals, five rings three MVPs.
Speaker 3: Still the all time playoff leader and assists, retired as
Speaker 3: the all time playoff leader in steals, He's now fourth.
Speaker 3: He's the all time playoff leader in triple doubles with thirty.
Speaker 3: Lebron might catch him. Lebron's at twenty eight, but when
Speaker 3: he retired, the second most playoff triple doubles ever was
Speaker 3: Bird with ten. He had thirty He is the all
Speaker 3: time finals leader and assists and steals. His career average
Speaker 3: is twenty and eleven. His career playoff average is twenty
Speaker 3: and twelve. Only Kareem and Lebron in the last fifty
Speaker 3: years have played more finals games. Only Jordan, Kareem and
Speaker 3: Lebron in the last fifty years have scored more points
Speaker 3: in the finals. So how to do it well? He
Speaker 3: did it by instantly kicking ass So again, trust me
Speaker 3: when I say I had to gloss over some of
Speaker 3: this or else this would have been forty five minutes
Speaker 3: on Magic alone. But we'll start with nineteen eighty his
Speaker 3: first two playoff games. He's a rookie. He's a kid too,
Speaker 3: because he was young when he came into the league
Speaker 3: on like bird first two playoff games thirteen twelve and sixteen,
Speaker 3: followed by twenty five, thirteen eleven, and six his first
Speaker 3: series ever. He averaged a triple double fifteen eleven and eleven.
Speaker 3: And keep in mind with Magic that the we're gonna
Speaker 3: say is points and sometimes points, rebounds, assists, sometimes just
Speaker 3: points and assists. You hear a lot a guy at
Speaker 3: twenty four and seventeen that typically means twenty four points,
Speaker 3: seventeen rebounds with magic. If we only give you two numbers,
Speaker 3: remember the second number is assists, because these assists totals
Speaker 3: are so bananas. He closed out Seattle in the Western
Speaker 3: Governerence Finals as a rookie with twenty ten to ten,
Speaker 3: and then, of course, the game that still might be
Speaker 3: the finest game of his career came as a rookie
Speaker 3: in the finals. No Kareem in game six because Kareem
Speaker 3: is hurt. He plays center and goes forty two points,
Speaker 3: fifteen rebounds, seven assists, playing out of position to win
Speaker 3: the championship as the rookie. As a rookie for the finals,
Speaker 3: playing against Doctor J and Philly, averaged twenty one points,
Speaker 3: eleven rebounds, nine assists for the playoffs that year, eighteen
Speaker 3: points per game, eleven rebounds per game, nine assists per game,
Speaker 3: three steals per game. He's twenty years old, nineteen eighty one,
Speaker 3: so that was nineteen eighty nineteen eighty one. Loses in
Speaker 3: round one to Moses the guy, also very high on
Speaker 3: our list, despite averaging seventeen points, fourteen rebounds, seven assists.
Speaker 3: Now we're to nineteen eighty two. Round one. They sweep
Speaker 3: the opposition. He has three round one triple doubles and
Speaker 3: averages twenty twelve and eleven. Western Armends Finals sweeps. The
Speaker 3: Great George Gervin against Doctor J in the finals averages sixteen,
Speaker 3: eleven and eight for another Finals MVP and for the playoffs.
Speaker 3: He's now twenty two years old and a two time
Speaker 3: champion and a two time finals MVP. He averages for
Speaker 3: the playoffs seventeen points, eleven rebounds, nine assists, three steals
Speaker 3: nineteen eighty three. Opens his title defense with nineteen points,
Speaker 3: nine rebounds, eighteen assists and seven steals nineteen nine eighteen
Speaker 3: seven to open the playoffs. Closes out Round one with
Speaker 3: a twenty five point seven rebound fifteen assist for steal.
Speaker 3: Game playing George Gervin again Game four of the Western
Speaker 3: Conference Finals thirty one points, eight rebounds, seventeen assists. Again
Speaker 3: do you know how bad insane that is? Just throws
Speaker 3: up a humble thirty one point eight and seventeen for
Speaker 3: the series, averaged eighteen eleven and fourteen. In the reason
Speaker 3: the points were low was Game six of the Western
Speaker 3: Almends Finals. He had one of the most bizarre games ever.
Speaker 3: He scored two points, but had fifteen rebounds and sixteen assists.
Speaker 3: Now in the finals they're playing Philly, who again they
Speaker 3: beat nineteen eighty a Philly team that beat them in
Speaker 3: nineteen No, Moses beat them in eighty one, but who
Speaker 3: they beat nineteen eighty and who they also beat nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty two in the finals, and this time Philly has
Speaker 3: Moses and Philly sweeps them. But Magic does average nineteen points,
Speaker 3: eight rebounds, thirteen assists put up we're being fair six
Speaker 3: turnovers per game still nineteen eight and thirteen for the
Speaker 3: series nineteen eighty four one sweep of the Kings, averages
Speaker 3: twenty two, seven and twelve in round two against Dallas,
Speaker 3: averages seventeen, six and thirteen averaged in the Western Commens
Speaker 3: Finals eighteen six, fifteen and three. Again for Magic is
Speaker 3: flu series averages because there's there's too many games like, oh,
Speaker 3: he had nineteen, Sissy had twenty one, a Sissy at eleven.
Speaker 3: It's too much. Gets back to the finals, this time
Speaker 3: playing Bird in the Celtics for the first time, averages
Speaker 3: eighteen points, eight rebounds, fourteen assists. But Bird was better
Speaker 3: than him in the series, and it's unbelievable. Magic in
Speaker 3: game four, had twenty points, eleven rebounds, seventeen assists, but
Speaker 3: missed a couple of free throws and had a bad
Speaker 3: turnover late. And that's the game where people came up
Speaker 3: with tragic Johnson again. You think the media has only
Speaker 3: been hard now The guy had twenty eleven and seventeen
Speaker 3: was already a two time champion in two times finals
Speaker 3: MVP and people are like, oh joker nineteen eighty five,
Speaker 3: right after the tragic Johnson label gets thrown on him.
Speaker 3: Opens the playoffs with an eighteen point nineteen assist game,
Speaker 3: closes out Drexler and Portland in round two with thirty
Speaker 3: four nine and nineteen thirty four, nine and nineteen in
Speaker 3: a series where he averaged twenty two, seven and seventeen.
Speaker 3: Dude average seventeen assists per game regularly in these playoffs,
Speaker 3: gets revenge on Boston beats him in six. In the finals.
Speaker 3: Magic has another just typical for the finals and for
Speaker 3: the playoffs eighteen points, seven rebounds, fourteen assists per game.
Speaker 3: It's his finals and playoffs averages, getting eighteen seven and
Speaker 3: fourteen doad win Finals MVP Kareem wins nineteen eighty six,
Speaker 3: defending champ lose to Houston the Western Conference Finals, and
Speaker 3: for the first time in four years, he does not
Speaker 3: make the finals. In that playoff run were they lose
Speaker 3: in Houston to Houston, Magic average twenty one points per game,
Speaker 3: six rebounds per game, fifteen assists per game. It's too
Speaker 3: many insane games to list them all again. He averaged
Speaker 3: twenty one, six and fifteen for the postseason run nineteen
Speaker 3: eighty seven, wins League MVP for the first time, and
Speaker 3: guess what he's gonna be back in the finals. Missed
Speaker 3: the finals for a year, said that it was whack.
Speaker 3: Let's go back to the finals. Run to the finals,
Speaker 3: the Lakers go eleven to one. He averages on the
Speaker 3: way to the finals twenty eight and twelve, and then
Speaker 3: in the finals it's the rubber match with Boston. Game one,
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson twenty nine points, eight rebounds, thirteen assists. Game two,
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson twenty two points, five rebounds, twenty assists. Game three,
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson thirty two points, eleven rebounds, nine assists. For
Speaker 3: this series, twenty six points per game, eight rebounds per game,
Speaker 3: thirteen assists per game, and another Finals MVP nineteen eighty
Speaker 3: eight another year, So yeah, It's probably time for Magic
Speaker 3: to make the finals again, this one not quite as easy.
Speaker 3: Round two Game seven against Malone and stocked It twenty three,
Speaker 3: nine and sixteen against against Stockton's one of the best
Speaker 3: defensive point guards ever twenty three to nine and sixteen.
Speaker 3: That Round two go seven, Round three goes seven against
Speaker 3: Dallas in game seven, Magic twenty four, nine and eleven.
Speaker 3: Another seven game series in the finals. This should have
Speaker 3: been Magic's MVP. They gave it to Worthy because Worthy
Speaker 3: of the unbelievable Game seven. But Magic in those finals
Speaker 3: averaged twenty one points, six rebounds, thirteen assists. Don't bring
Speaker 3: those finals up to Isaiah Thomas and the Pistons. They
Speaker 3: think that should have been there is understand it still Magic.
Speaker 3: If the Lakers are gonna win it, Magic's probably got
Speaker 3: to be finals MVP. Despite what Worthy did twenty one,
Speaker 3: six and thirteen. Nineteen eighty nine, Magic wins another league MVP.
Speaker 3: They're going for three straight titles. They sweep their way
Speaker 3: to the finals. And this is one of the things
Speaker 3: that has forgotten about Magic's career. They're going for three
Speaker 3: straight titles. Magic is League MVP. They sweep the entire
Speaker 3: Western route to the finals. Magic averages twenty points, seven rebounds,
Speaker 3: thirteen assists in route to the finals. In the finals,
Speaker 3: Detroit is awesome, but we also never know what will
Speaker 3: happen because Magic got hurt in game two and they
Speaker 3: get swept. Magic misses games. He gets hurt in game two,
Speaker 3: so we don't know. I think Detroit probably wins no
Speaker 3: matter what. But heart it is a it's hard to prove.
Speaker 3: Let me put it like that. In that ended an
Speaker 3: eight year stretch of seven finals appearances in four titles.
Speaker 3: Overall in the eighties, he had eight finals appearances in
Speaker 3: five titles in that decade. Nineteen ninety Kareem is now retired.
Speaker 3: Magic wins another MVP, but they lose to Phoenix in
Speaker 3: around to despite and this is what was amazing about
Speaker 3: Magic all those games. I told you he's not scoring
Speaker 3: forty in really any of them. Kareem retires in the playoffs,
Speaker 3: they're facing adversity Games four and five against Phoenix. Forty
Speaker 3: three points in game four, forty three points in game five.
Speaker 3: Averages for the playoffs twenty five, six and thirteen, nineteen
Speaker 3: ninety one, it's been a year not being in the finals.
Speaker 3: Like we said, Magic didn't go multiple years without being
Speaker 3: in the finals, so nineteen ninety one he's back in
Speaker 3: the finals. Average twenty three, eight and thirteen in the
Speaker 3: playoffs leading up to the finals. In round one, he
Speaker 3: had a twenty assist game and a thirty eight point game.
Speaker 3: In the same series, round two, he had a forty
Speaker 3: four point game and averaged in round two a triple
Speaker 3: double twenty six, ten and thirteen. This nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 3: This is his twelfth year in the league. In the
Speaker 3: Western Conference Finals, averages twenty one to eight and thirteen
Speaker 3: against Portland, who's the defending conference champs. They're facing MJ's Bulls.
Speaker 3: Game one is a triple double, but then they lose
Speaker 3: three straight down three to one. Magic did put up
Speaker 3: in game five sixteen eleven and twenty assist, playing all
Speaker 3: forty eight, but it's not enough and then he's diagnosed
Speaker 3: with HIV so again. Nine years first year Finals MVP Champion,
Speaker 3: second year Finals MVP Champion, sixth year Champion, eighth year
Speaker 3: League MVP, ninth year League or tenth year League MVP,
Speaker 3: with three more titles mixed in there. Year twelve back
Speaker 3: in the finals and could have won a couple of
Speaker 3: years prior, but lost in the finals when he got hurt.
Speaker 3: And then he gets diagnosed with HIV and his career
Speaker 3: is over, but not actually so. He's out of basketball
Speaker 3: for four full seasons, comes back at age thirty six
Speaker 3: after missing his age thirty two to thirty three to
Speaker 3: thirty four in thirty five seasons. In his first game
Speaker 3: back after four years out of basketball nineteen eight and ten,
Speaker 3: he played the two time defending champion Rockets in Round
Speaker 3: one of the playoffs. An average for the series twenty
Speaker 3: three or average of the first two games of the series.
Speaker 3: I should say twenty three to ten and four. He's
Speaker 3: thirty six years old. He's been out of the league
Speaker 3: for four years. But then that's it, and the career
Speaker 3: is over. One one hundred and forty three career ten
Speaker 3: assist playoff games, a two full seasons of double digit
Speaker 3: assist playoff games. Ten career twenty assist playoff games. Little
Speaker 3: context there. The rest of NBA history combined has ten
Speaker 3: twenty assists payoff games. Magic has ten, and the career
Speaker 3: was cut. I don't know, three four five years short.
Speaker 3: He's the fourth greatest player of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: Magic Johnson let's go to a couple of magic callers.
Speaker 3: Is joke time? What of I had to holler at you,
Speaker 3: Nick is Calvin Man and I heard you got magic
Speaker 3: in the top five. Matter of fact, you got magic
Speaker 3: in them before you see he's smiling. I'm smiling because
Speaker 3: that's the right place for him, right transcend It six
Speaker 3: foot nine running a point, dropping dives. Two Bucs said,
Speaker 3: how do you want it? You want rebounds, assist points,
Speaker 3: it don't matter. He delivered five rings. Transcend It on
Speaker 3: and off the court, The Magic Man.
Speaker 4: I did some research on Magic Johnson, trying to find
Speaker 4: the most interesting thing possible. Here's what I came up
Speaker 4: with Isaiah Thomas on open Court a few years ago.
Speaker 4: I'll read you the quote. In this era, we would
Speaker 4: be talking about Magic Johnson as probably one of the
Speaker 4: greatest centers to ever play the game. Hmmm, food for thought.
Speaker 4: I liked it. What do you think?
Speaker 3: I agree? I think Magic is truly positionless, could dominated
Speaker 3: any spot, and in this era where you don't have
Speaker 3: to defend dominant centers, could be the ultimate small ball
Speaker 3: cheap code. The only question about Magic is if not
Speaker 3: for Hi, would he be considered the goat if he
Speaker 3: would have kept playing. Keep in mind he has five rings.
Speaker 3: Is it likely he would have gotten one more? I
Speaker 3: think so? If he gets one more, is it one
Speaker 3: of the years Jordan won? And would Jordan now have five?
Speaker 3: And Magic of six? Kareem is in the Goat conversation.
Speaker 3: Kaream has six, but Kaream won five of his alongside Magic.
Speaker 3: He is. I can't call him underrated, but it is,
Speaker 3: you know, a little frustrating to me when I heard
Speaker 3: people arguing, is Steph the greatest point guard ever? No,
Speaker 3: the conversation the greatest point guard ever starts at number
Speaker 3: two because Magic Johnson transcended the rankings. He is, without questioning,
Speaker 3: the greatest point guard of all time. He is the
Speaker 3: fourth greatest player of the last fifty years. And if
Speaker 3: we did all time, would he still be the fourth
Speaker 3: greatest player? Would I have him ahead of Wilton Russell?
Speaker 2: I would.
Speaker 3: He's the fourth greatest player of the last fifty years.
Speaker 3: Also the fourth greatest player ever. Irvin Magic Johnson, We'll
Speaker 3: be right back, all right, Welcome back in fifty greatest
Speaker 3: Players the last fifty years. And next week we get
Speaker 3: into our top three. And for the final three they
Speaker 3: each have stand alone episodes, and I want to reveal
Speaker 3: something here. I originally made this list three years ago,
Speaker 3: and obviously there have been some major changes since then.
Speaker 3: Three years ago, Giannis wasn't on it. Now he's in
Speaker 3: the top Twenty three years ago, different guys active players
Speaker 3: had to move up. And by the way, I had
Speaker 3: a few guys on it that haven't played in years
Speaker 3: and years. They got kicked off. For example, Pistol Pete
Speaker 3: was on my initial list and then I really dug
Speaker 3: into it and I said he can't be on the
Speaker 3: initial list. So there's been some movement. The movement was
Speaker 3: pretty except for guys like Yannis Katie Steph. There wasn't
Speaker 3: a lot of movement amongst the very very best guys
Speaker 3: except for in the top three. And I know everybody
Speaker 3: already thinks they know how this list is ending, and
Speaker 3: they think they have, you know, they have figured out
Speaker 3: how this thing's going to go one through five. What
Speaker 3: I will tell you is this, six months ago, I
Speaker 3: had a different top three than I currently have, and
Speaker 3: it has to do with digging into the full depth
Speaker 3: and width of all of these guys' careers, which is
Speaker 3: why I think maybe I'm wrong I think most of
Speaker 3: you will be surprised by who I have at number three,
Speaker 3: But everyone left you know who they are. Kareem has left,
Speaker 3: Michael has left, Lebron is left, has an argument to
Speaker 3: be the greatest player ever. We will just go us
Speaker 3: each of them within the context of why they are
Speaker 3: or are not the greatest player ever, as we give
Speaker 3: a full episode to each of our last three. As
Speaker 3: we amazingly finish off our countdown of the fifty greatest
Speaker 3: players of the last fifty years, the number three coming
Speaker 3: to you next week.