Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson was considered a great player in his first seven seasons in the NBA, and during that time, he led the team to five NBA Finals appearances and three world championships.
However, he left something to be desired.
Although Johnson averaged 18.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 10.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game during those first seven years, many felt that his arch-rival Larry Bird was a better player than him.
That perception ate away at Johnson.
Following the Lakers’ loss to the Houston Rockets in the 1986 Western Conference Finals, head coach Pat Riley told Johnson that he would have to become the team’s top offensive option moving forward, citing the fact that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 39 years of age.
Johnson took full advantage of that green light, putting up a career-high 23.9 points and still leading the league with 12.2 assists per game in the 1986-87 campaign.
The Lakers posted a league-high 65 wins, and on May 19, Johnson was rewarded with his first regular season MVP award. The voting wasn’t even close.
Via Lakers Nation:
“Johnson received 65 of 78 first-place votes and a total of 788 points in balloting. En route to becoming just the second player in NBA history to score more than 3,000 points in a single season, Michael Jordan placed second in voting with 449 points (10 first-place votes).
“He was followed by Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, who received just one first-place vote and 271 overall points. Johnson winning the MVP Award snapped Bird’s string of three consecutive seasons taking home the honor.
“‘I’d like to thank Larry Bird for having a slightly off year, and I want to strangle Michael Jordan for putting all the pressure on me,’ Johnson joked in his acceptance speech during a news conference.”
Everything lined up for the Lakers once again, as they went on to defeat Bird’s Celtics in the NBA Finals in six games. There, Johnson won his third Finals MVP award for good measure.
As it turned out, he wasn’t done yet, as he would win yet another championship the next season, then add two more MVPs in the following two years.
