´Showtime´ Lakers would beat Warriors - Magic Johnson
NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson does not believe reigning champions the Golden State Warriors could beat the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s.
Johnson was replying to comments made by former Lakers team-mate Mychal Thompson, who claimed Golden State would beat the Los Angeles franchise in a matchup as the Warriors close in on back-to-back titles.
Thompson - a member of two of the Lakers’ five championships in the ’80s - had agreed with son Klay after the Warriors star said his team-mates “are better than the ‘Showtime’ Lakers” following Sunday’s blowout win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game two.
But Johnson, who won five championships with the Lakers and was named NBA Finals MVP in three of them, strongly disagreed with the Thompsons.
“We’ve never seen two guys who can shoot like Stephen [Curry] and Klay, and I give them that,” Johnson told ESPN on Tuesday.
“But they’ve never ran up against somebody like us. I’m telling you, whoever is going to dog me, I’m going to be wearing them down. I’m going to be wearing them out. James Worthy will be wearing them out, wearing them down. Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] is going to be wearing them out, wearing them down.
“Klay’s dad, Mychal Thompson, is one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with in all of basketball. But the Warriors would have bad matchups against us. There’s no way they’re going to deal with Kareem. There’s no way they’re going to deal with James Worthy.
“The thing that we could do, that would affect them and cause some problems, is that we could set up and we could run on them on the fast break.”
Johnson added: “I think what [Curry and Thompson] have done for the league has been amazing. They are going to be great for this league, the NBA, for a long time, especially if they sign Steph to a long-term contract.
“But at the same time, I’m never going to give in to nobody - I don’t care who it is. I don’t care what Mychal said. My ‘Showtime’ Lakers would beat the Warriors. I don’t care what you say or anybody else. I’m coming at them and I’m coming hard at them.