Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James stats: How the Lakers legends and two of the NBA GOATs compare

Scott Rafferty

Magic Johnson vs. LeBron James stats: How the Lakers legends and two of the NBA GOATs compare image

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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Larry Bird y Magic Johnson

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
LeBron James

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
LeBron James Magic Johnson 112222
(NBAE via Getty Images)

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

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.