Magic Johnson
Larry Bird
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Magic Johnson leads 3 of 5 categories. Our all-time ranking places Magic Johnson at #5 and Larry Bird at #7.
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The case for Magic Johnson
The greatest playmaker ever and the most instantly impactful rookie in league history. Johnson's career assist average of 11.2 per game remains the all-time record, and he attached it to five championships, three MVPs and three Finals MVPs in a 12-year prime shortened by his 1991 HIV announcement. The signature performance came first: in Game 6 of the 1980 Finals, the 20-year-old rookie started at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and produced 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists to close out Philadelphia — still the most famous positional improvisation in Finals history. At 6-foot-9 he redefined what a point guard could be, running Showtime fast breaks that made the 1980s Lakers the league's glamour franchise and its best offense; nine Finals appearances in 12 seasons is a Russell-era number achieved in the modern league. He won his three MVPs from 1987 to 1990 while sharing the floor with Kareem and James Worthy, and his 1979 NCAA title over Larry Bird's Indiana State — the most-watched college game ever — launched the rivalry that saved the NBA.
The case for Larry Bird
The greatest forward of his era and the most complete offensive skill set of the pre-analytics age. Bird won three straight MVPs from 1984 to 1986 — a feat otherwise achieved only by Russell and Chamberlain — and three championships with two Finals MVPs, anchoring Celtics teams that won 60-plus games five times. His career line of 24.3 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.3 assists is the classic all-around forward profile, and he was decades ahead of the sport as a shooter: two 50-40-90 seasons, in 1986–87 and 1987–88, when the feat was nearly unheard of, plus the first three Three-Point Contest titles. The 1985–86 Celtics, with Bird at his apex, went 67–15 and are routinely listed among the half-dozen best teams ever assembled. His trash-talking clutch resume — the 1981 comeback against Philadelphia, the steal of Isiah Thomas's inbound pass in the 1987 Eastern finals — and his rivalry with Magic Johnson, meeting in three Finals, carried the league's renaissance. Chronic back injuries ended his prime early; at his best, only Jordan was clearly better.