Magic Johnson won the finals 9 times in his career, who did he lose to those 4 times? He was swept 2 times

When it comes to the greatest point guard in NBA history, it must be the Magic Johnson, who even Jordan personally admitted, who entered the league in 1979. He played in the NBA for a total of 13 seasons, won the MVP three times, won the assist king four times, won the steal king twice, and was selected into the All-Star 12 times and 9 best teammates. The most important thing is that under the leadership of the Magician, the Lakers fully played dominance at the dominance level in the 1980s. They won a total of 5 championships in those 10 years, and the Magicians also won 3 FMVPs during this period.

However, the Lakers led by the Magicians have been defeated. Therefore, they have also lost to their opponents 4 times during their 9 finals. Next, we will take stock of which teams have defeated the Magicians and the Lakers in the finals that year. In 1983 and 1989, two different teams swept them!

1. The 76ers in the 1983 Finals 4-0 Lakers

Magic Johnson, who entered the league at the beginning of the 1979-1980 season, successfully helped the Lakers reach the peak this year. He first helped the Lakers win 60 wins with his personal performance of 18 points, 7.7 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.4 steals in the regular season. Then he led the team to the finals in the playoffs. In the end, facing the 76ers, G6 did not play, the Magic scored 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists to help the Lakers successfully defeat the 76ers and won the championship. He personally became the youngest FMVP in NBA history.

Then in 1982, the Lakers and the 76ers met again in the finals. This time, the Lakers were the ones who laughed the last time. The Lakers averaged double-digit points per game in the entire series, and the Magicians averaged 16.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8 assists and 2.5 steals per game. With his performance, the team once again won the O'Brien Cup with a 4-2 score.

Just a year later, the Lakers and the 76ers met in the finals again, but this time the 76ers were more prepared. After losing to the Lakers in 1982, they introduced Moses Malone in the offseason. Under the leadership of him and Julius Irving, the 76ers achieved a 65-win record in the league in the new season. In the finals, Malone averaged 25.8 points, 18 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. In contrast, the Lakers' inside core Jabbar averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. It can be seen that he was being suppressed by Malone in all aspects.

For the Magician, he averaged 19 points, 7.8 rebounds, 12.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Although his performance was still very comprehensive, he still failed to help the Lakers defend the title this time, and they didn't even get a win in the finals, so the Lakers became the fourth team to be swept in the history of the finals.

2. After the Celtics lost to the 76ers in 1983, the Lakers still maintained outstanding competitiveness in the new season, so they also reached the finals again in 1984, and this time their opponent was the number one rival Celtics. Before this, the Lakers and the Celtics staged a total of 7 yellow-green battles in the finals, but at that time, each ended with the Lakers' defeat, so this time, the Lakers' desire to win was also very strong. After finishing the first three games of the finals, the Lakers achieved a 2-1 lead. Among them, the Magicians used magic again in the G3, scoring 14 points, 11 rebounds and 21 assists in the game. With his performance, the Lakers also won the game with a 33-point victory. Unfortunately, after that, the Lakers failed to continue their form. G4 and G5 lost two consecutive games, which led to their opponents being the first to get the series match point. With the outbreak of Jabbar in G6, the Lakers tied the big score, so they still got the opportunity to finish the series in tiebreak.

But unfortunately, the entire Celtics team came out in better form in tiebreaks. The combined six players scored in double digits and completely broke the Lakers' inside. The Lakers Magic scored 16 points, 5 rebounds, 15 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks, but they still couldn't lead the team to win this game. In the end, the Lakers had no choice but to swallow the eighth defeat in the finals in the yellow and green battle.

3. After the Pistons 4-0 Lakers

After experiencing a 1984-1985 season, the Magic led the Lakers to make a comeback. In 1985, they once again stood in the finals. This time they faced the Celtics, they finally won, so this has become a very important championship in the history of the Lakers. Then, under the leadership of the Magician, the Lakers won two consecutive championships for the first time in 1987 and 1988, but due to the decline of Jabbar and others, the Lakers' peak was coming to an end.

By the 1988-1989 season, Jabbar ushered in his retired season in his player age. This year, he averaged only 10.1 points per game in the regular season, and his shooting percentage was less than 50%. It can be said that his decline was still very obvious. However, the Magicians were still at their peak during this period. He carried the team to win the first place in the Western Conference again in the regular season, and he also won the MVP. In the playoffs, he even led the Lakers to the West with a complete victory.

But before the Finals began, Lakers' core defender Scott suffered a serious hamstring injury, so he missed the series. The Magicians also suffered this injury later. They were originally ahead of G2 and were also reversed by their opponents due to the Magician's injury. In the end, they fell behind to 0-2 after the two games.. The G3 Magician only played for 5 minutes and then withdrew from the game. Although the Lakers played tenaciously, they still lost to the Pistons after losing their backbone, so they were forced to the edge of the cliff. G4 Worthy scored 40 points, but unfortunately he was still alone in the end. The Lakers, without Magic, were eventually reversed by their opponents again, so they were swept by their opponents again in the finals after 6 years.

4. The Bulls 4-1 Lakers

1990-1991 season was the last full season of Magic Johnson in the NBA. Under his leadership, the Lakers still reached the Finals, and their opponent was the rising Bulls. The Bulls star Jordan also said that this round of the series will be a showdown between him and the Magic, the two best players. In the first game of the finals, Jordan and the Magic were both playing in their best ways. The former scored a game-high 36 points, while the Magic only made 5 attempts but still contributed a triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. In the end, the Lakers made a refresh and won a good start to the finals. However, the Bulls then switched to Pippen to defend the Magician, so Jordan was able to have more physical strength to perform on the offensive end. For the Magician, his physical strength had a significant decline compared to the peak, so many times he had to go off the court to rest, but he was not present, and the Lakers could not resist the Bulls at all.

Then when Worthy and Scott were also suffering from injuries, the series completely lost its suspense, and in the end the Bulls won four games in a row and took away the victory directly. In this round of the series, the Magic averaged 18.6 points, 8 rebounds, 12.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Although his performance was already excellent, Jordan's performance clearly declared that the NBA was about to enter a new era. In this round of the series, he averaged 31.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, 11.4 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks, and was elected FMVP without any suspense.