Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson: The Bullies of the NBA

I don’t understand what Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson are talking about.

Listen, I like them as players, they were no doubt the best players to play their respective positions, but when it comes to making comments after they retire, they are horrible.

Magic told reporters that "We didn't think about it [joining Larry Bird] cause that's not what we were about, from college, I was trying to figure out how to beat Larry Bird."

Then, MJ went on record to say "There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team,' but that's...things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys."

OK guys, you are sounding more like bullies right now. You guys are calling out LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh for wanting to team up and win championships. But, when you look at your respective championship teams, don’t we see the same?

Let’s be honest here Mike, you had a cavalcade of superstars at your disposal in Chicago. Players like B.J. Armstrong, John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, and your pal Scottie Pippen. They all helped you win titles from 1991-1993, and then again from 1996-1998.

You had amazing players playing with you, players that on any other team would have been superstars. Now, look at LeBron’s teammates in Cleveland: Delonte West, Daniel Gibson, Carlos Boozer (in the first year), Anthony Parker, J.J. Hickson, and Mo Williams.

Then, to try and get him to stay in Cleveland, the Cavs' big offseason move last season was trading for a past-his-prime Shaq that had arguably nothing left in the tank.

Come on Mike, compare those guys and tell me honestly, would you have stayed in Chicago if your team had players like that? Nope, I wouldn’t, and I don’t know about you.

I don't even now where to start with you Magic. How can you say that you didn’t have superstars around you?

Did you forget that your Lakers were called the "Showtime Lakers?"

You had players like Byron Scott, James Worthy , Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ,  Norm Nixon , Jamaal Wilkes , Michael Cooper, and of course, you can’t forget the head coach of your team, the great Pat Riley himself. 

Again, same thing I told Mike I’ll tell you, any of those players could have easily been superstars on any other team in the league, so I don’t understand your concept of superstar.

So you didn’t join Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, but you did have other great players around you.

How can you two criticize Wade, LeBron, and Bosh about having their great idea to join together while they were in their prime?

Chris Paul is thinking of creating his own super team in New York. Are you guys going to crack on him too?

The fact of the matter is every player wants one thing and one thing only: to win a championship.

I bet Magic would have left the Lakers if they didn’t win. He was spoiled in the fact that in his rookie year he was the Finals MVP and a Rookie of the Year. He never had the taste of a 15-67 season like Wade did, he never had the taste of a disappointing exit from the playoffs.

Yes, he lost in the playoffs. They lost that series against the Rockets back in the 1981 NBA playoffs and then again in 1991 when they lost to Jordan and his Bulls.

But in all, Magic never had the sour taste of a bad season in his mouth. I hear of reports that Magic said that he would only play for the Lakers after his sophomore year at school because he wanted to play with Kareem and that if the Bulls had picked him, he would have gone back to college.

So Magic, you won championships by yourself huh?

Here’s the deal, if LeBron had superstar talent around him in Cleveland, I doubt that he would have left his beloved state. But the fact of the matter is that he didn’t, and this is why he left a bad Cavaliers team that were only as good as LeBron himself was.

He came to a team in which he doesn’t have to worry about being “the man." Like LeBron himself said, “Kobe in Game Seven of the finals had a horrible game. But his teammates picked him up.” He wants that. He doesn’t want a team that if he is having an off night (for example Game Five of the Boston series this past postseason) can’t help him and end up losing 120-88.

He wants to know that even if he goes 3-for-14 from the field, his team will still have the opportunity to win the ball game, and Miami gave him that with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Someone needs to stand up to Michael Jordan and Magic. Why are they being the bullies of the NBA if they themselves didn’t win it alone?

Now, if they were the only great player on their team, they could have said anything they wanted.

The fact of the matter is that they weren’t. They had great talent around them.