re: LeBron James ranked 10th, Kobe Bryant outside Kenny Smith’s all-time top ten

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DK why people rank Magic this high, outside of the early 80s when he thrived in the McAdoo smallball 1-3-1 trap

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Magic was an average defender, but he was the best passer and facilitator ever, plus he was an excellent scorer and rebounder for a pg.

I'll put it this way, if I had to pick a single guy to work with an unknown system or supporting cast, it would be Magic. As great as MJ and LeBron were/are, Magic is the ultimate guy for fitting with others.

He ran a fastbreak oriented team. Then, the Lakers slowed down and he led them to the 91 Finals as a half court team. He functioned in a Kareem centric offense as a great distributor. When Kareem got old and retired, he took the lead as the centerpiece scorer amd distributor and still excelled.

MJ and LeBron are the only players I can't legit make a case for Magic being better than. LeBron is close to Magic in distribution and IQ, and MJ is no slouch there. Both MJ and LeBron crush Magic in other areas. Magic is my favorite player ever, but overall I'd have him in the 3-6 range.