History is on the line almost every time LeBron James takes the court at this point of his career.
Not only is he continuing to close the gap between him and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list, but James is working his way up the all-time assists list. With 10,133 career assists, James is only nine dimes shy of surpassing Magic Johnson in sixth place on the all-time leaderboards.
Whether it happens Friday or this weekend, it will be a big accomplishment for James, who has been compared to Johnson time and time again in his career. James has said in the past that Johnson was someone he looked up to growing up. Johnson even said recently that he thinks James has "a little of Jordan and a lot of me" in him because of the way he impacts the game.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at how the two Laker legends and NBA GOATs stack up statistically.
(All stats current as of Dec. 2, 2022)
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Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James: Regular season stats
There's no question that James is the superior scorer. He currently has the fifth-highest scoring average in NBA history, trailing only Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Kevin Durant. Even in his late 30s, he's scoring at a rate few can match.
What Johnson lacks in scoring compared to James he makes up for with assists. His career average of 11.2 assists per game is the highest in NBA history. The only other player to average double-digit assists for their entire career is John Stockton (10.5). Chris Paul leads all active players with 9.5 assists per game.
Both James and Johnson racked up the triple-doubles. Johnson ranks third all-time (138) while James ranks fifth (105).
| Magic | Per Game | LeBron |
| 19.5 | Points | 27.1 |
| 7.2 | Rebounds | 7.5 |
| 11.2 | Assists | 7.3 |
| 1.9 | Steals | 1.6 |
| 0.4 | Blocks | 0.8 |
| 3.9 | Turnovers | 3.5 |
| 36.7 | Minutes | 38.1 |
| 52.0 | Field goal % | 50.4 |
| 30.3 | 3-point % | 34.6 |
| 84.8 | Free throw % | 73.4 |
It should come as no surprise that James has Johnson beat in totals. His longevity is almost unmatched. He's top 10 all-time in points, assists and steals.
| Magic | Totals | LeBron |
| 906 | Games | 1,380 |
| 17,707 | Points | 37,423 |
| 6,559 | Rebounds | 10,331 |
| 10,141 | Assists | 10,133 |
| 1,724 | Steals | 2,152 |
| 374 | Blocks | 1,051 |
| 3,506 | Turnovers | 4,838 |
| 33,245 | Minutes | 52,633 |
Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James: Regular season advanced stats
This is almost a clean sweep for James.
The one advanced stat of note that Johnson has James beat in the regular season is true shooting percentage, which takes into account field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage.
Johnson wasn't the 3-point shooter James is, but he was more reliable from the free-throw line.
| Magic | Advanced | LeBron |
| 24.1 | Player Efficiency Rating | 27.3 |
| 80.0 | Value Over Replacement | 143.5 |
| 7.5 | Box Plus/Minus | 8.8 |
| 155.8 | Win Shares | 250.5 |
| 61.0 | True Shooting % | 58.8 |
| 22.3 | Usage % | 31.6 |
Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James: Playoff stats
The playoff stats paint an almost identical picture as the regular season ones, which James having the edge in scoring and Johnson having him beat in assists. Otherwise, their numbers are similar across the board, with both of them being nightly triple-double threats.
| Magic | Playoffs Per Game | LeBron |
| 19.5 | Points | 28.7 |
| 7.7 | Rebounds | 9.0 |
| 12.3 | Assists | 7.2 |
| 1.9 | Steals | 1.7 |
| 0.3 | Blocks | 0.9 |
| 3.7 | Turnovers | 3.7 |
| 39.7 | Minutes | 41.5 |
| 50.6 | Field goal % | 49.5 |
| 24.1 | 3-point % | 33.7 |
| 83.8 | Free throw % | 74.0 |
Nobody has played more playoff games than James, so there aren't many who can compete with his totals, Johnson being no exception.
| Magic | Playoff Totals | LeBron |
| 190 | Games | 266 |
| 3,701 | Points | 7,631 |
| 1,465 | Rebounds | 2,391 |
| 2,346 | Assists | 1,919 |
| 358 | Steals | 454 |
| 64 | Blocks | 252 |
| 696 | Turnovers | 975 |
| 7,538 | Minutes | 11,035 |
Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James: Playoff advanced stats
James and Johnson performed time and time again in the postseason.
James currently has the third-highest postseason PER of all time while Johnson ranks 20th.
| Magic | Advanced | LeBron |
| 23.0 | Player Efficiency Rating | 28.2 |
| 18.3 | Value Over Replacement | 33.9 |
| 7.6 | Box Plus/Minus | 10.2 |
| 32.6 | Win Shares | 55.7 |
| 59.5 | True Shooting % | 58.3 |
| 21.2 | Usage % | 32.0 |
Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James: Accolades and awards
Johnson has one more championship, three more assist titles and two more steal titles than James, but James has him beat when it comes to MVPs, All-Star selections, All-NBA selections and All-Defensive selections.
James even has one more Finals MVP than Johnson. Johnson won the award three times in his career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy were named Finals MVP over Johnson the two other times he won a championship.
While another title is going to be hard to come by for James, more All-Star and All-NBA selections are certainly within reach.
| Magic | Accolades | LeBron |
| 5 | Championships | 4 |
| 3 | MVPs | 4 |
| 3 | Finals MVPs | 4 |
| 10 | All-NBA | 18 |
| 0 | All-Defensive | 6 |
| 12 | All-Star | 18 |
| 0 | Scoring titles | 1 |
| 4 | Assist titles | 1 |
| 2 | Steal titles | 0 |
