NBA superstars Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, and Steve Smith pick Magic Johnson over Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the all-time great.
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It’s almost impossible to look past Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird during the conversation of all-time NBA greats. These legends define different eras of the league.
Michael Jordan has played a huge role in popularizing the NBA globally. Probably one of the biggest superstars in American sports history. MJ was one of the first few athletes to sign multimillion dollars endorsement deals.
The Bulls superstar has one of the greatest storylines in sports history and has left behind an untouchable legacy. Before the Jordan era was the Lakers-Celtics rivalry headlined by two of the biggest superstars in Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.
Both Magic and Bird were multiple NBA champions and MVPs. The two legends faced each other in 3 NBA Finals, with the Lakers having winning 2-times compared to the Celtics’ 1-time.
In a conversation on the show Open Court, veterans Shaq, Webber, and Smith choose Magic Johnson over Jordan and Bird as the greatest ever.
Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, and Steve Smith pick Magic Johnson as the leader of their starting team.
There is no greater consensus than Magic Johnson in the debate of greatest point guard of all time. The Lakers legend is the only player to win Finals MVP in his rookie year. The 6″9′ guard was known for his exceptional play-making skills and passing.
There have been endless debates regarding the GOAT NBA player, with Michael Jordan being the answer in most cases. However, former NBA players Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Webber, and Steve Smith had a different take on this subject.
When asked to chose between Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson, the guests on the Open Court show, had Magic as their choice.
For me it’s the fact of what you guys just brought up, who wants to play with other people on the team. When I think of Magic Johnson, if I’m starting my team with the point guard that sat in the captain’s chair and played center in every position in the game in the championship, It’s no way I’m going against Magic.
-Chris Webber.
“If I had to pick because I started my team always with a center and a point guard. If I’m going to start my guy with a team with a point guard or center I have to go with Magic Johnson.”
-Steve Smith.
“It would have to be Magic Johnson because if you look at the traditional point guard they have always been not small but smaller. Magic was the first oversized guy that excelled at being a point guard.”
-Shaquille O’Neal
It was clear from the conversation that Magic would be their primary ball facilitator in the team. The participants in the discussion wanted a player to run their offense and who was better than the player with the best basketball IQ Magic Johnson to do that.
![Jason Williams and Chris Webber have always been known to indulge in strange antics with each other, which was raised by Comedian Andrew Schulz, on his show, Flagrant. Appearing on the show, Jason Williams was asked whether he was involved "in a drive-by paintball shooting of Chris Webber's house in Sacramento". The White Chocolate burst into laughter and "plead the fifth". Williams confessed that maybe "his house caught some bullets along the way". However, to everyone's surprise, he told the comedian that "he [Chris Webber] was probably with me in some them drivebys." Adding to this, Williams also shared a hilarious story of a similar driveby with Webber, where the latter's shoe fell off but he had to somehow get it back. "We were doing that one time..we couldn't get in the gate or something so we decided we're going to go down and do our thing at the security guard at night, right, so we got two little scooters we are riding on these scooters and we dropped them in the dark and we are walking through the woods and whatever, we go the paintballs, we got the rocks, boom boom and we take off and left the scooters. But C Web's shoe falls off. And we got back and I was like 'Bro, where is your shoe?'" The story left everyone in the panel in splits as Williams made the 2021 Hall of Fame Inductee go all the way back to fetch his shoe because living in an all-white community, Webber was probably the only one with that size of shoe. However, on a serious note, the 2006 NBA champion confessed that it was one of the most fun times he had with his former teammate. He added that "it was a blessing in disguise" because they had to play a lot of games in different locations. It is obviously heartwarming to see such a chemistry between the legendary duo of Sacramento Kings. Jason Williams once had to travel in the undercarriage of the team bus Rookie hazing has been a part of teams in the NBA, where the veterans on the team try to build chemistry with young players in their own ways like alotting chores. Chris Webber once narrated one such incident where the rookie Jason Williams hid in the undercarriage of the team bus to avoid it. Upon reaching the hotel, the team noticed that Williams was missing. After searching for some time, the team looked under the bus and there was the 1998 draftee. When Webber asked him the reason, White Chocolate responded, "I don't wanna ride with y'all bi*ches up here." Even though it is a fun tradition among teammates to get to know each other, it did take a toll on the one-time All-Star. However, it was not long after this, the two developed good team ability to make some amazing plays together.](https://cdn-wp.thesportsrush.com/2023/11/7f3ad985-nba-2023-11-08t231816.707.jpg?format=auto&w=384&q=75)
