Six-time NBA champion Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s resume speaks for itself, but it doesn’t tell the full story of his true impact. During the course of his decorated career, he helped many star players reach their full potential, Magic Johnson being one of them.
Advertisement
Abdul-Jabbar’sentire career was a demonstration of extreme dominance, courtesy of which he made a lot of friends and more than a few rivalries. NBA legend Julius Erving was one of those people who shared a great competitive rivalry with Abdul-Jabbar.
The two went head-to-head in the iconic 1980 NBA Finals. Unfortunately, for Erving, the Lakers would go on to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers in six games. But even though, Abdul-Jabbar was sensational, he didn’t carry the Lakers to the title by himself. He had the help of rookie sensation Magic Johnson.
Johnson, himself would go on to have a legendary career with the Lakers, having benefited from playing alongside the 7-foot-2 big man. After all, the two won five titles together. Johnson wasn’t the only one who benefitted from playing alongside Abdul-Jabbar either. According to Erving, there have been at least half a dozen legends of American basketball who owe a lot of their success to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
“I think Kareem is responsible for 8-10 players in the Hall-of-Fame,” Erving said on All the Smoke. “Magic can take some of that credit, but that combination was tough.”
Erving didn’t go into depth regarding who those players may be, but it’s safe to assume he’s referring to most of the Hall-of-Fame players from the Showtime Lakers era.
This isn’t a shot at any of those greats at all. Of course, they have the individual skill set to succeed at a high level in the NBA. However, it certainly helps when one of the top-five players in league history is taking a large portion of the defense’s attention.
Considering that Erving and Abdul-Jabbar had countless battles on basketball’s biggest stage, that is the biggest compliment he could have whipped up.
There’s a reason why Abdul-Jabbar is one of the most beloved and respected athletes of all-time. It’s time that more players give Abdul-Jabbar the flowers he deserves for the great player truly is.
