Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson leads 6 of 8 career categories against Larry Bird, including playmaking (11.2 APG) and shooting efficiency (61.0% TS%). Head to head they met 37 times, 19 of them in the playoffs, with Magic Johnson winning the series 22–15.
The case for Larry Bird: scoring (24.3 PPG), rebounding (10.0 RPG).
The case for Magic Johnson: playmaking (11.2 APG), shooting efficiency (61.0% TS%), per-minute impact (25.3 PER), and 3 more.
PPG
24.319.5
RPG
10.07.2
APG
6.311.2
TS%
56.4%61.0%
PER
24.725.3
Win Shares
67.489.4
games played
897906
MVPs / All-Star nods
3 MVP · 2 FMVP · 10 All-NBA · 12 AS3 MVP · 3 FMVP · 10 All-NBA · 12 AS
Head to Head
| Larry Bird | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 15–22 | |
| Meetings | 37 (19 playoff) | |
| PPG | 23.5 | 20.1 |
| RPG | 11.0 | 7.2 |
| APG | 5.4 | 12.5 |
| First meeting | 1979-80 | |
| Last meeting | 1990-91 | |
Per Game
| Larry Bird | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| G | 897 | 906 |
| MIN | 38.4 | 36.7 |
| PTS | 24.3 | 19.5 |
| REB | 10.0 | 7.2 |
| AST | 6.3 | 11.2 |
| STL | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| BLK | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| FG% | 49.6 | 52.0 |
| 3P% | 38.0 | 30.4 |
| FT% | 88.5 | 84.8 |
Advanced
| Larry Bird | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| PER | 24.7 | 25.3 |
| TS% | 56.4 | 61.0 |
| USG% | 27.1 | 24.0 |
| WS | 67.4 | 89.4 |
| WS/48 | 0.200 | 0.240 |
| BPM | 6.8 | 8.6 |
| VORP | 36.0 | 48.1 |
Accolades
| Larry Bird | Magic Johnson | |
|---|---|---|
| MVP | 3 | 3 |
| Finals MVP | 2 | 3 |
| All-NBA | 10 | 10 |
| All-Star | 12 | 12 |
| All-Defensive | 3 | — |
| All-Star MVP | 1 | 2 |
| Rookie of the Year | 1 | — |
| All-Rookie | 1 | 1 |
Career percentiles
Scoring9790
Efficiency7695
Playmaking94100
Rebounding9686
Defense9185
Compare Larry Bird to someone else · Compare Magic Johnson to someone else