Magic Johnson Once Accused Media of Trying to Ruin Relationship With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

In the 76 years of the NBA, there have been plenty of Center Guard duos, but none so iconic as Hall of Famers as Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the LA Lakers. Playing together from 1979-1989, the pair won 5 NBA championships. And while they are celebrated for it, a lot has been said about the tensions between the two veterans. But according to this conversation Johnson had with David Letterman in 1983, it was primarily a media-fueled frenzy.

Kareem and Magic first met when the latter was 11 years old, looking for an autograph from the 7-foot-2 center of the mighty Milwaukee Bucks. Their next meeting would be 8 years later, when Magic was the NBA #1 draft pick and Kareem was 33 with the Lakers, hoping to squeeze every ounce of performance they could out of him.

In a conversation with the LA Times in 1987, Magic admitted they weren’t the best of friends. Johnson claimed he wanted Kareem to understand that he wasn’t trying to intrude on his territory and be the man. Abdul-Jabbar, however, had a different side to the story.

“Magic was very distant,” Kareem had asserted back then. And he was simply not going to go out of his way to look for more than there was to it. “I guess he held back because of my stature in the game, the whole aura around me. There was never any conflict or anything like that,” he added.

The pair would eventually get along after getting to know each other better after a few years. But during those years, the debate about whether the Lakers were simply a better team without Kareem would rage on, especially after he broke his foot during the 1981-82 season. In his absence, the Lakers would go on to secure 6 straight wins.

Apparently, Magic had told two LA writers that without Kareem, they would be able to see ‘the real Magic.’ In response, an enraged Kareem claimed that the reports of his demise had been greatly exaggerated.

The matter would reportedly get solved after coach Pat Riley gave the locker room the hairdryer treatment. But according to Magic, the newspapers and the TV media at the time greatly overplayed what they believed to be a real conflict between the two.

“There was never a problem between me and Kareem. I think that the media really took effect, and now, I wouldn’t say, try to create a problem. But I think they thought it was, and so they said little things to let the public think that there was a problem, but there’s no problem between us. We are both going for the same goal. We don’t let our egos play effect when we hit the basketball court,” he told Letterman.

When Letterman pushed Johnson further about whether the new lofty contract that promised him everything south of Ohai in California had any part to play in their alleged feud, Magic joked that Johnson was promised Arizona and the rest of the state.

“The contract was a thing where it was kind of complicated. Because after I get done playing, I have a job with the Lakers if I decide to take it. So he wanted to know whether I was management or am I still a player or what,” he clarified.

“I just want to play. That’s the bottom line,” Johnson asserted. Now, whether or not there is any truth to the stories of their feud remains incumbent on the statement of both parties involved, even in the face of media reports telling a different tale.

That said, it does seem that over the years since then, their relationship has blossomed into a great friendship. Earlier this year, Magic ran into Abdul-Jabbar while attending a game between UCLA and Michigan State.

And even though the conversation between them was inaudible, the one thing everyone heard was Johnson laughing like it was the funniest thing he had ever heard.

He later retweeted a video of them meeting and called Kareem the ‘GOAT’ of college basketball.

Well, it might have taken a good few years, but everything seems to have worked out. Any beef that Magic and Kareem may have had has since dissolved, and one of the most iconic duos in the history of the league are as close off the court as they once were on it.