[chaParticipant]

This topic is sensitive so if you’re not up to it; disregard the post. Magic Johnson is not the greatest Laker because he retired too early and at a young age. I absolutely can’t stand it that when people come and say that Magic could have been more than what he was at a longer duration had it not been for his STD.I want to say that I respect Magic for who he is and what he has done to the game of basketball, the Lakers and its community altogether. But the fact is, it’s no excuse for him to be celebrated as the greatest Laker ever just because he didn’t ‘finish’ his career the way he intended to. The man had STD, it’s a sensitive topic back then and until now but really whose fault is it that he had that? It wasn’t hereditary so his genetics had nothing to do with it. It was his own fault for sleeping around.He was a playboy who obviously didn’t take proper caution with regards to his health.

How is that any different from a player who didn’t maximize their potential for as long as they could have just because he got caught up by the lifestyle that the NBA comes along with? I say that him retiring early was and still is his own fault.  He should not celebrated for not taking proper caution to his health. As an athlete it should be his responsbility to not only his team but also to his fans. 

[livinlegend4blkParticipant]

 He had HIV virus not STD…

[livinlegend4blkParticipant]

 He had HIV virus not STD…

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 I think HIV can be categorize as an STD.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 I think HIV can be categorize as an STD.

[chaParticipant]

 STD can come in many forms including HIV. 

[chaParticipant]

 STD can come in many forms including HIV. 

[JordoParticipant]

 Not everybody has a ride off into to sunset career. It is always unfortunate for an great player to have his career shortetend. But in his 10-11 year career he accomplished about everything you can accomplish and contracting HIV doesn’t diminish his legacy. I feel like you way off base with this.

[JordoParticipant]

 Not everybody has a ride off into to sunset career. It is always unfortunate for an great player to have his career shortetend. But in his 10-11 year career he accomplished about everything you can accomplish and contracting HIV doesn’t diminish his legacy. I feel like you way off base with this.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 Magic has 5 rings, I believe with a short carreer. He was a top 3 player almost from the get go when he entered the league, and if wasn’t for HIV why wouldn’t that continue ? He was also the first of his kind being a 6’8 player that has guard skills. It was a different era people were sleeping around without protection or doing drugs. At least he wasn’t into drugs. I’m pretty sure somebody here would have gotten caught up too in that era being young famous and rich.  

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 Magic has 5 rings, I believe with a short carreer. He was a top 3 player almost from the get go when he entered the league, and if wasn’t for HIV why wouldn’t that continue ? He was also the first of his kind being a 6’8 player that has guard skills. It was a different era people were sleeping around without protection or doing drugs. At least he wasn’t into drugs. I’m pretty sure somebody here would have gotten caught up too in that era being young famous and rich.  

[Lotto StudParticipant]

I’m sure everyone here grew up in the era of Chicken pox. Very contagious infection that no one wanted to catch but no matter who had it we never looked down upon our childhood buddies nor stopped playing with them. I say this to say, there should be no difference with any disease/illness etc. 

[Lotto StudParticipant]

I’m sure everyone here grew up in the era of Chicken pox. Very contagious infection that no one wanted to catch but no matter who had it we never looked down upon our childhood buddies nor stopped playing with them. I say this to say, there should be no difference with any disease/illness etc. 

[Lotto StudParticipant]

I’m sure everyone here grew up in the era of Chicken pox. Very contagious infection that no one wanted to catch but no matter who had it we never looked down upon our childhood buddies nor stopped playing with them. I say this to say, there should be no difference with any disease/illness etc. Life is too short to be condemning those of things that aren’t blatantly being passed around. Diseases are man-made.

[Lotto StudParticipant]

I’m sure everyone here grew up in the era of Chicken pox. Very contagious infection that no one wanted to catch but no matter who had it we never looked down upon our childhood buddies nor stopped playing with them. I say this to say, there should be no difference with any disease/illness etc. Life is too short to be condemning those of things that aren’t blatantly being passed around. Diseases are man-made.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Oscar Robertson.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Oscar Robertson.

[chaParticipant]

 ‘Unfortunate’. How is it unfortunate that he was with several women at the same time on each game night? It was his choice. There are literally hundreds of stories from his teammates that says he had girls come to the locker room with him and you can only guess what he was doing with them in public. Also, he had a woman engaged to at that time as well. Think about it, whats the difference of him being addicted or distracted by something lets say alcohol and drugs and having a short career with him basically being addicted to having different women each night which caused his disease and in turn shortened his legendary career? I think people are letting him off because it’s a life threatening, uncurable medical disease that can sometimes be passed on through birth (hereditary; though not Magic Johnson’s case) but my point is he wouldn’t have had that in the first place if it weren’t for his cravings. I sound like a crazy person but it’s true. Had he restrained himself or AT least become proactive and took precaution maybe he would have had a longer career. Just don’t use him retiring early a reason to call him the greatest Laker ever because of ‘what could have been’. 

[chaParticipant]

 ‘Unfortunate’. How is it unfortunate that he was with several women at the same time on each game night? It was his choice. There are literally hundreds of stories from his teammates that says he had girls come to the locker room with him and you can only guess what he was doing with them in public. Also, he had a woman engaged to at that time as well. Think about it, whats the difference of him being addicted or distracted by something lets say alcohol and drugs and having a short career with him basically being addicted to having different women each night which caused his disease and in turn shortened his legendary career? I think people are letting him off because it’s a life threatening, uncurable medical disease that can sometimes be passed on through birth (hereditary; though not Magic Johnson’s case) but my point is he wouldn’t have had that in the first place if it weren’t for his cravings. I sound like a crazy person but it’s true. Had he restrained himself or AT least become proactive and took precaution maybe he would have had a longer career. Just don’t use him retiring early a reason to call him the greatest Laker ever because of ‘what could have been’. 

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 I’m not sure where you are getting this from that he is greatest Laker ever because his carreer was shorten. He is one the greatest Lakers ever because he is. His wife wanna stick with guy that is blantly cheating on her then it’s her fault. It’s like all these hip hop wives or basketbal wives know the deal, but are in for the money. Like I said it was a different era, and all of us can only dream to have the ability to get down with serveral females at the same time.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

 I’m not sure where you are getting this from that he is greatest Laker ever because his carreer was shorten. He is one the greatest Lakers ever because he is. His wife wanna stick with guy that is blantly cheating on her then it’s her fault. It’s like all these hip hop wives or basketbal wives know the deal, but are in for the money. Like I said it was a different era, and all of us can only dream to have the ability to get down with serveral females at the same time.

[chaParticipant]

See, you just said right there "and all of us can only dream to have the ability to get down with serveral females at the same time" that means he has the luxury to do that because of his lifestyle. He’s a pro player, he can do it anytime. Just like having the resource to get drugs or alcohol, it’s that much easier if you have their lifestyle- the money, connections and whatever. My point is he let it get to his head and he slipped, he wasn’t careful with his addiction. Because of this, it shortened his career. 

[chaParticipant]

See, you just said right there "and all of us can only dream to have the ability to get down with serveral females at the same time" that means he has the luxury to do that because of his lifestyle. He’s a pro player, he can do it anytime. Just like having the resource to get drugs or alcohol, it’s that much easier if you have their lifestyle- the money, connections and whatever. My point is he let it get to his head and he slipped, he wasn’t careful with his addiction. Because of this, it shortened his career. 

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I get what you are trying to say, but the thing is we all have that addiction to getting down. It’s the era too because HIV was still new to everyone then, I think. It only takes one slip up to get caught with something like that. What people do behind closed doors that has nothing to do with the Basketball and to judge someone game over is just weird to me. Regardless of him getting caught with it shorten the length of his carreer. He is still one of the greatest players ever for how long he played, and him getting a std didn’t enhance his greatestness because it shorten it.

[For_Never_EverParticipant]

I get what you are trying to say, but the thing is we all have that addiction to getting down. It’s the era too because HIV was still new to everyone then, I think. It only takes one slip up to get caught with something like that. What people do behind closed doors that has nothing to do with the Basketball and to judge someone game over is just weird to me. Regardless of him getting caught with it shorten the length of his carreer. He is still one of the greatest players ever for how long he played, and him getting a std didn’t enhance his greatestness because it shorten it.

[Kinguy11Participant]

To put it bluntly, Magic Johnson is one of the greatest in the history of the game. While his offcourt behaviour is up for discussion he accomplished extraordinary things in his career and you can’t ignore his achievements just because of his offcourt incidents.

[Kinguy11Participant]

To put it bluntly, Magic Johnson is one of the greatest in the history of the game. While his offcourt behaviour is up for discussion he accomplished extraordinary things in his career and you can’t ignore his achievements just because of his offcourt incidents.

[chaParticipant]

 Let it be known that his accomplishments are well-documented in not only the history of the Laker Franchise but the game itself. Being a Laker fan, I for one admire this man for what he has accomplished; lead our franchise to 5 rings for crying out loud. He was a revolutionary talent simply put. And his legacy will continue to live on for generations to come. I’m not taking anything from him. I don’t think people understand the whole point of this post: because of his addiction he to retire early (like a number of players).

So what’s bothering is the fact that people say that he is the greatest Laker ever because of he retired early and he could have accomplished more. It bothers me that people won’t give conclusive evidence as to why he is instead of saying the ‘what-could-have-beens’. Those aren’t arguementative materials but rather a fantasy world- something no one will ever be able to say for sure nor debate about it. What would you feel if I argued that Michael wouldn’t have won any rings had he not been drafted by the Bulls? There’s no debating it simply because of the predecessing incidents that would or would not have happened if he went to the another team.  

For what it’s worth, Magic has accomplished a lot of things even with what happened. I will still however consider Jerry West as the greatest Laker ever. 

 

 

 

[chaParticipant]

 Let it be known that his accomplishments are well-documented in not only the history of the Laker Franchise but the game itself. Being a Laker fan, I for one admire this man for what he has accomplished; lead our franchise to 5 rings for crying out loud. He was a revolutionary talent simply put. And his legacy will continue to live on for generations to come. I’m not taking anything from him. I don’t think people understand the whole point of this post: because of his addiction he to retire early (like a number of players).

So what’s bothering is the fact that people say that he is the greatest Laker ever because of he retired early and he could have accomplished more. It bothers me that people won’t give conclusive evidence as to why he is instead of saying the ‘what-could-have-beens’. Those aren’t arguementative materials but rather a fantasy world- something no one will ever be able to say for sure nor debate about it. What would you feel if I argued that Michael wouldn’t have won any rings had he not been drafted by the Bulls? There’s no debating it simply because of the predecessing incidents that would or would not have happened if he went to the another team.  

For what it’s worth, Magic has accomplished a lot of things even with what happened. I will still however consider Jerry West as the greatest Laker ever. 

 

 

 

[Kinguy11Participant]

I think I see your reasoning more clearly after that post. You’re saying that people regard Johnson as the greatest Laker ever because he could’ve achieved more if he didn’t retire, kind of like how people say Greg Oden would be the best centre in the league if he didn’t get injured. While some may have that view, in Johnson’s relatively short career I personally think he achieved enough to be considered the greatest Laker ever.

Although guys like West had long and illustrious playing careers, I think the point most of us in the thread are trying to make is that Johnson’s sheer quality in his limited number of seasons outweighs the achievements of other greats even though they played for longer.

[Kinguy11Participant]

I think I see your reasoning more clearly after that post. You’re saying that people regard Johnson as the greatest Laker ever because he could’ve achieved more if he didn’t retire, kind of like how people say Greg Oden would be the best centre in the league if he didn’t get injured. While some may have that view, in Johnson’s relatively short career I personally think he achieved enough to be considered the greatest Laker ever.

Although guys like West had long and illustrious playing careers, I think the point most of us in the thread are trying to make is that Johnson’s sheer quality in his limited number of seasons outweighs the achievements of other greats even though they played for longer.

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Donald Sterling? Is that you?

[ChoppyParticipant]

 Donald Sterling? Is that you?

[chaParticipant]

 Sorry, I’m not a racist bigot. 

[chaParticipant]

 Sorry, I’m not a racist bigot. 

[MopgrassParticipant]

 I don’t mind the questioning of whether Magic Johnson is to blame for his  HIV… it’s hard to argue otherwise. However, the fact you’re also arguing that he wasn’t one of the best right after Donald Sterling lambasted Johnson for having HIV makes you sound like you’re really only here to back up Sterling.

[chaParticipant]

 Actually, I consider Magic as one of the best ever to do it. Heck, as much as it pains to say this being a Steve Nash fan (he’s the reason I got into basketball), Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time bar none. This guy was a 6’9 point guard, no one comes close to his versatility to play all five positions coupled with his feel for the game and vision that is what truly sets him apart. But my argument here is that, don’t use the he was ‘forced’ to ‘unfortunately’ call it quits at a young age and he COULD HAVE done more. There’s no verifying that. There’s no way to argue around that- it’s basically a your fantasy world vs my fantasy world.  Argue that he’s 5 time champion, but don’t argue the what could have beens simply because he was diagnosed by a medical condition in which he caused himself. 

[chaParticipant]

 Actually, I consider Magic as one of the best ever to do it. Heck, as much as it pains to say this being a Steve Nash fan (he’s the reason I got into basketball), Magic Johnson is the greatest point guard of all time bar none. This guy was a 6’9 point guard, no one comes close to his versatility to play all five positions coupled with his feel for the game and vision that is what truly sets him apart. But my argument here is that, don’t use the he was ‘forced’ to ‘unfortunately’ call it quits at a young age and he COULD HAVE done more. There’s no verifying that. There’s no way to argue around that- it’s basically a your fantasy world vs my fantasy world.  Argue that he’s 5 time champion, but don’t argue the what could have beens simply because he was diagnosed by a medical condition in which he caused himself. 

[MopgrassParticipant]

 I don’t mind the questioning of whether Magic Johnson is to blame for his  HIV… it’s hard to argue otherwise. However, the fact you’re also arguing that he wasn’t one of the best right after Donald Sterling lambasted Johnson for having HIV makes you sound like you’re really only here to back up Sterling.

[IhateusernamesParticipant]

 Dude this isn’t the pulpit. Take this holier than thou crap somewhere else

[IhateusernamesParticipant]

 Dude this isn’t the pulpit. Take this holier than thou crap somewhere else

[chaParticipant]

 I like how each and every post on here that I typed in was negged even though some of you don’t understand what I’m trying to say. And when I corrected the guy about the HIV and STD, I still got negged. Try some reading comprehession skills instead of just jumping on what everyone else is talking about. You’re better than that. But I say let the negs rain. 

[chaParticipant]

 I like how each and every post on here that I typed in was negged even though some of you don’t understand what I’m trying to say. And when I corrected the guy about the HIV and STD, I still got negged. Try some reading comprehession skills instead of just jumping on what everyone else is talking about. You’re better than that. But I say let the negs rain. 

[TheMOSTHATEDoneParticipant]

 you hate to be negged! hold your pants son, and dont complain like a mademoiselle!

[TheMOSTHATEDoneParticipant]

 you hate to be negged! hold your pants son, and dont complain like a mademoiselle!

[JoeWolf1]

 MJ and Chuck are/were big time gamblers, Wilt Chamberlain made Magic Johnson look like A.C. Green as far as sleeping around, and Kobe went to Colorado.

Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect, no you, not me. God knows what you do in your free time, but I think you’d be pretty irritated if you were considered worse at your job for a mistake you made 25 years ago that is completely unrelated to anything you’ve accomplished.

You think Magic Johnson hasn’t paid a price for that mistake? Hell yeah, he has. He had to retire when he wasn’t ready, I’m sure it greatly effected his personal life, and he succeeded outside of basketball despite that. He has to live with the stigma of having HIV the rest of his life. What did he do? He spoke out to help educate others on HIV and AIDS and how to prevent it, he pursed his business interests and had success in doing so. He’s done a lot of good things in his life, and he had the courage not to fade away out of fear or shame. That’s pretty awesome perserverance in my book. 

You don’t like that he slept around. Great. Tell your kids to wear a rubber, or save themselves, whatever your values tell you to do, but I strongly disagree with you holding some kind of grudge and think Magic Johnson cemented his on court legacy, and when faced with a HUGE personal challenge, the first of it’s kind for a high profile athlete, he didn’t back down, and is a great ambassador to this game despite how many T cells he has.

[chaParticipant]

First off, I never said I was perfect. Those examples that you just said about Chuck and Michael’s gambling were prime examples of what I want to point out. Those things comes with the NBA Lifestyle. And it’s up to you as a person to focus on the court, you know your job/career and keep away from those vices or at least contain yourself in order to have a successful career. The difference between Michael/Chuck and Magic or any other player that got caught up was that Michael didn’t get in too deep. Did Michael and Chuck retire the way they intended to? Yes. Would you call them successful? Yes. Did Magic Johnson or any other player that had a gambling or alcohol problem retired that way they intended to? Ask Magic if he wanted to retire at that age.

 Personally, I could care less if he slept around or did drugs. Vices are vices; be it gambling, women, drugs, alcohol you name it. My point is only this, don’t use the ‘he had to early to retire early’ to ensue that had he not been diagnosed and retire early he would have had more things written on his resume in order to argue that he’s the greatest Laker of all time. His accomplishments on the court should be only things being used as the arguments not the ‘what could have been’s because no one will ever know for sure what would have happened. When one thing changes everything is affected. It’s like me arguing that Michael wouldn’t have amounted to 6 rings had he not been drafted by the Bulls. That’s not an argument right there- that’s a fantasy world. That’s a world that I came up with with all these variables that need to be aligned perfectly in order to prove my point. PS: Try understanding the post first before replying next time.

[JoeWolf1]

P.S. Good one

It just seems stupid that because of Donald Sterling, Magic Johnson is now on the spot. If you didn’t want people to misunderstand you, why did you pepper in that preachy stuff in your OP? You clearly don’t approve of him having AIDS, and think it was irresponsable to contract it. Maybe it was, but don’t act like you are posing a completely rational question devoid of your own judgement.

If you had it would have been about the duration of Magic’s career, not citing stories of his promiscuity from the late 80’s and early 90’s. It’s not like the guy played 5 years. He played 906 games as a Laker. That ranks him 6th All-Time, he never played for another team.

He didn’t get to retire on his own terms, and if you think he is overrated thats fine, he has more 10,141 assista as a Laker, Jerry West is 2nd with 6,238. I kinda feel like his career speaks for itself, despite him being a lowly 6th All-time in games played, and not a huge gap between him and Kareem. Bill Russell is 5th All-Time in games played for the Celts, Larry Bird is 8th…If this was really a subjective conversation, and you truly don’t care about his off court antics, why did you preface this whole thread with his sexual behavoir? There was a great conversation about Zeke vs. Stockton that addressed prime impact vs. longevity, but you made this about AIDS, and I think that’s kinda fucked up.

[chaParticipant]

 PS Nice, I like the way you just assume things.

 I have nothing against Magic or people with AIDS. I think it’s a tragic disease that I do not wish on anyone even on my worst enemy. I do however have something to say about him getting excused for retiring early. It was his own fault that he retired early. Was it not? Tell me it was and let’s get this over with. That is the ONE and ONLY thing I was trying to point out. I agree, I could have done a better job phrasing my OP in order not too sound so ‘pissed’ off with people with AIDS but if you’ve read it completely and try to fully understand (like you should before commenting) you’d know that it was not my intention to sound like I do. 

And by the way, who cares about Donald Sterling? I never once mentioned him on my OP. That racist daft should not be in the NBA in the first place. 

  

[JoeWolf1]

It may not have been your intent, but last week Donald Sterling put Magic on blast for having "AIDS" for literally no reason at all. You’re right this is a charged subject, and maybe your intent was not to pile on to Sterling’s talking point, but it was just bad timing. I don’t know if you watched the interview, but it was pretty pathetic.

Sometimes I get fired up and get a little preachy, I’m sorry for that. 

I understood it. You think Magic should have been more responsible off the court, and as a consequence of his own actions he was forced into retirement thus cutting short his own long term potential. You feel he shouldn’t be excused from retiring early because contracting HIV is his fault.

Yeah, I get it, and it is his fault. My point is that he paid and is paying an enormous price living with HIV, when you look at the numbers, he’s not even required to be graded on a scale. 906 games for 1 team is a lot. I say give the guy a pass, he’s the one with a virus with all sorts of stigma attached, he got it 22 years ago. I don’t like the notion that his legacy should have an * next to it because his mistake cut his career short. I think he’s paid his price and yes, should get a pass.

I realize I too got a little preachy, and I’m sorry for that, but Idisagee strongly.

[JoeWolf1]

It may not have been your intent, but last week Donald Sterling put Magic on blast for having "AIDS" for literally no reason at all. You’re right this is a charged subject, and maybe your intent was not to pile on to Sterling’s talking point, but it was just bad timing. I don’t know if you watched the interview, but it was pretty pathetic.

Sometimes I get fired up and get a little preachy, I’m sorry for that. 

I understood it. You think Magic should have been more responsible off the court, and as a consequence of his own actions he was forced into retirement thus cutting short his own long term potential. You feel he shouldn’t be excused from retiring early because contracting HIV is his fault.

Yeah, I get it, and it is his fault. My point is that he paid and is paying an enormous price living with HIV, when you look at the numbers, he’s not even required to be graded on a scale. 906 games for 1 team is a lot. I say give the guy a pass, he’s the one with a virus with all sorts of stigma attached, he got it 22 years ago. I don’t like the notion that his legacy should have an * next to it because his mistake cut his career short. I think he’s paid his price and yes, should get a pass.

I realize I too got a little preachy, and I’m sorry for that, but Idisagee strongly.

[chaParticipant]

 PS Nice, I like the way you just assume things.

 I have nothing against Magic or people with AIDS. I think it’s a tragic disease that I do not wish on anyone even on my worst enemy. I do however have something to say about him getting excused for retiring early. It was his own fault that he retired early. Was it not? Tell me it was and let’s get this over with. That is the ONE and ONLY thing I was trying to point out. I agree, I could have done a better job phrasing my OP in order not too sound so ‘pissed’ off with people with AIDS but if you’ve read it completely and try to fully understand (like you should before commenting) you’d know that it was not my intention to sound like I do. 

And by the way, who cares about Donald Sterling? I never once mentioned him on my OP. That racist daft should not be in the NBA in the first place. 

  

[JoeWolf1]

P.S. Good one

It just seems stupid that because of Donald Sterling, Magic Johnson is now on the spot. If you didn’t want people to misunderstand you, why did you pepper in that preachy stuff in your OP? You clearly don’t approve of him having AIDS, and think it was irresponsable to contract it. Maybe it was, but don’t act like you are posing a completely rational question devoid of your own judgement.

If you had it would have been about the duration of Magic’s career, not citing stories of his promiscuity from the late 80’s and early 90’s. It’s not like the guy played 5 years. He played 906 games as a Laker. That ranks him 6th All-Time, he never played for another team.

He didn’t get to retire on his own terms, and if you think he is overrated thats fine, he has more 10,141 assista as a Laker, Jerry West is 2nd with 6,238. I kinda feel like his career speaks for itself, despite him being a lowly 6th All-time in games played, and not a huge gap between him and Kareem. Bill Russell is 5th All-Time in games played for the Celts, Larry Bird is 8th…If this was really a subjective conversation, and you truly don’t care about his off court antics, why did you preface this whole thread with his sexual behavoir? There was a great conversation about Zeke vs. Stockton that addressed prime impact vs. longevity, but you made this about AIDS, and I think that’s kinda fucked up.

[chaParticipant]

First off, I never said I was perfect. Those examples that you just said about Chuck and Michael’s gambling were prime examples of what I want to point out. Those things comes with the NBA Lifestyle. And it’s up to you as a person to focus on the court, you know your job/career and keep away from those vices or at least contain yourself in order to have a successful career. The difference between Michael/Chuck and Magic or any other player that got caught up was that Michael didn’t get in too deep. Did Michael and Chuck retire the way they intended to? Yes. Would you call them successful? Yes. Did Magic Johnson or any other player that had a gambling or alcohol problem retired that way they intended to? Ask Magic if he wanted to retire at that age.

 Personally, I could care less if he slept around or did drugs. Vices are vices; be it gambling, women, drugs, alcohol you name it. My point is only this, don’t use the ‘he had to early to retire early’ to ensue that had he not been diagnosed and retire early he would have had more things written on his resume in order to argue that he’s the greatest Laker of all time. His accomplishments on the court should be only things being used as the arguments not the ‘what could have been’s because no one will ever know for sure what would have happened. When one thing changes everything is affected. It’s like me arguing that Michael wouldn’t have amounted to 6 rings had he not been drafted by the Bulls. That’s not an argument right there- that’s a fantasy world. That’s a world that I came up with with all these variables that need to be aligned perfectly in order to prove my point. PS: Try understanding the post first before replying next time.

[JoeWolf1]

 MJ and Chuck are/were big time gamblers, Wilt Chamberlain made Magic Johnson look like A.C. Green as far as sleeping around, and Kobe went to Colorado.

Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect, no you, not me. God knows what you do in your free time, but I think you’d be pretty irritated if you were considered worse at your job for a mistake you made 25 years ago that is completely unrelated to anything you’ve accomplished.

You think Magic Johnson hasn’t paid a price for that mistake? Hell yeah, he has. He had to retire when he wasn’t ready, I’m sure it greatly effected his personal life, and he succeeded outside of basketball despite that. He has to live with the stigma of having HIV the rest of his life. What did he do? He spoke out to help educate others on HIV and AIDS and how to prevent it, he pursed his business interests and had success in doing so. He’s done a lot of good things in his life, and he had the courage not to fade away out of fear or shame. That’s pretty awesome perserverance in my book. 

You don’t like that he slept around. Great. Tell your kids to wear a rubber, or save themselves, whatever your values tell you to do, but I strongly disagree with you holding some kind of grudge and think Magic Johnson cemented his on court legacy, and when faced with a HUGE personal challenge, the first of it’s kind for a high profile athlete, he didn’t back down, and is a great ambassador to this game despite how many T cells he has.

[TenSecondTomParticipant]

All the points you attempted to make only show the true greatness of Magic in that in SPITE of the fact that he had all of these personal issues he still is the BEST LAKER EVER. His stats show it, his championship rings show it, his game shows it. It’s really not even close between him and Kobe although Kareem and Magic are much closer imo.

[chaParticipant]

That’s an interesting way of looking at it, I guess. A self inflected diseases that shortened his career and yet he manage to do all the things only a number of players were able to do. Good point but I’ll still go with Jerry West as the greatest Laker ever: Logo, what he brought, won 1 ring in an era dominated by the Captain, first ever Defensive player of the year as a guard, made a ridicolous whole court heave down by 2 to tie the game and as a GM he brought in Kobe (that’s another 20 years of Laker greatness)

[chaParticipant]

That’s an interesting way of looking at it, I guess. A self inflected diseases that shortened his career and yet he manage to do all the things only a number of players were able to do. Good point but I’ll still go with Jerry West as the greatest Laker ever: Logo, what he brought, won 1 ring in an era dominated by the Captain, first ever Defensive player of the year as a guard, made a ridicolous whole court heave down by 2 to tie the game and as a GM he brought in Kobe (that’s another 20 years of Laker greatness)

[TenSecondTomParticipant]

All the points you attempted to make only show the true greatness of Magic in that in SPITE of the fact that he had all of these personal issues he still is the BEST LAKER EVER. His stats show it, his championship rings show it, his game shows it. It’s really not even close between him and Kobe although Kareem and Magic are much closer imo.

[Author]

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