Five-time NBA champion Magic Johnson was recently dubbed the greatest point guard of all-time in ESPN #NBARank. It’s hard to make an argument against Johnson being the best to play the point guard position in the NBA history, but things got a bit tricky as the list went on with the Los Angeles Lakers legend chiming in on one particular player.
During his career in the league, Magic had a close relationship fellow point guard Isiah Thomas as well as arch-rival Larry Bird. Johnson’s relationship with Thomas hit a rough patch after their playing days, but that has since changed due to a private conversation they had three years ago as he alluded to on Twitter.
With both players putting their differences aside a few years ago, Johnson came to Thomas’ defense for being ranked fifth on ESPN’s list behind John Stockton (No. 3) and Stephen Curry (No. 4). Magic went on a mini-rant on Twitter about Thomas falling to five behind the 27-year-old Curry and Stockton who was never able to win a championship during his time with the Utah Jazz:
ESPN ranked the Top 10 PGs of all time & they have @iamisiahthomas ranked 5th. There's no way Stockton & Curry are better than Isiah.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 13, 2016
Johnson made a point of it to remind people that he faced off against an injured Thomas during the NBA Finals back in 1988. Thomas torched the Lakers for 25 points in one quarter in Game 6 of that series in one of the most impressive Finals performances in NBA history:
Let me remind everyone, young and old, I played against @iamisiahthomas when he was hurt & hobbling on one leg…
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 13, 2016
…and @iamisiahthomas still scored 25 points in one quarter in the NBA Finals!
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 13, 2016
Magic may have been a bit more irritated that Curry was ranked higher than Thomas in ESPN’s #NBArank. Johnson seems to believe Curry has more to prove to be put ahead of Thomas:
I love @StephenCurry30, the best shooter we've ever seen, but he's not better than Isiah, at least not yet.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 13, 2016
With two NBA titles to his credit and being the undisputed leader of a dominant Detroit Pistons squad in the late 80s, Magic has a strong case for Thomas being ranked higher than Curry and Stockton. If anything, it’s a healthy debate with Curry being arguably the best player in the league today.
