“Magic Johnson would not have played as a point guard in this era”: Isiah Thomas explains how the Lakers legend would have played differently, akin to Draymond Green and Nikola Jokic

Isiah Thomas believes that Magic Johnson would have played as a center in this league rather than point guard position which he revolutionized in the ’80s.

Today’s game demands scoring point guards who are quick and can shoot 3’s. Since the game is played from the outside-in nowadays, high pick and roll is a very common offensive play behind the arc.

Back in the ’80s, the pick and roll were done inside the 3 point line as the scoring in the paint was prominent back then. According to Isiah’s theory, Magic would have struggled to play high pick and roll in today’s game.

And defensively Magic would have struggled to guard the new smaller and faster guards. Magic even struggled to guard faster guards back then. The Bad Boy Pistons were the first team to play 3 guards in their lineup. They eventually dethroned Showtime Lakers in 1989 NBA Lakers.

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Isiah Thomas believes Magic Johnson would’ve played center in the modern game

Regardless of position, Magic still would have been great. Magic is 3rd in The All-Time NBA triple-double list. Which goes to say he can impact the game in multiple ways.

While many ex-NBA players debate that NBA legends of the previous eras would have dominated the current NBA, the Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has a different take on that.

Isiah said “I think there are some players in the ’80s that couldn’t play in this era. And I think it’s because of the rules.” He gave the example of Magic Johnson to prove his point.

He said, “Magic Johnson would have probably played centre in this era. Magic Johnson probably wouldn’t be running the point playing high pick and roll “.

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Isiah believes that Magic would have “revolutionized” the center position in this era. But one can argue someone else is already doing that in this league.

Nikola Jokic is vastly considered to be the best passing Big Man in NBA history so far. He is known for his spectacular passing from the low and mid-post. The Joker averaged 8.3 assists per game during his MVP season last year.

It looks like Joker took note of Isiah’s theory on Magic and made it a reality.