Magic Johnson predicts a Showtime Lakers sweep against the Warriors
Would the Showtime Lakers do well against the 2017 Warriors? Some people have asked that question. Magic Johnson has answered it. He called a sweep.
We’re a day away from Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Golden State has looked strong. Cleveland has looked tired. Fans everywhere are celebrating dominance and lack of competitive balance as the best things that have ever happened to the NBA. This looks to be more of a crowning than a contest. The biggest question remaining is “Can they sweep?” Magic Johnson says yes.
Unfortunately, that pronoun, in his mind, refers to the Showtime Lakers. Unfortunately, he has put that thought into words. Also unfortunately, there is video of said words being said.
Magic Johnson says the "Showtime" Lakers would have swept today's Golden State Warriors. pic.twitter.com/D9wm2T35ZA
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) June 6, 2017
“We would probably sweep ’em.”
Well, then.
I do realize that it’s important for a lesser team playing a better team to delude themselves into believing they have a fighting chance to win, but this is slightly different. Magic Johnson isn’t playing. It appears to be a trend for retired players to come out and trivialize the league today and to assert their own superiority from chairs and microphones and computers around the world.
It’s slightly regrettable that Magic Johnson went and joined this group:
Five stories we're actively reporting this afternoon:
— The Step Back (@The_Step_Back) June 6, 2017
1. Adam Keefe says the '96 Jazz would have crushed the Warriors
(1/5)
Granted those are fictional, but comparing generations is a work of fiction anyway.
I don’t call this unfortunate because I believe he’s wrong. I’m abstaining from that kind of thing. It’s important to recognize how difficult it is to compare across eras. Rules have changed, and style of play has changed, and what makes a player or team great now is very different than what made a player or team great 30 years ago. It’s comparing apples to bicycles.
Next: The 20 different emotions of Gregg Popovich
It’s unfortunate because it’s just another point on a line that doesn’t need to be drawn. What the Warriors are doing is incredible. What the Showtime Lakers did was incredible. These two things don’t need to be in competition. They can’t be. But somehow they are. That’s too bad.