If Jordan was the best player of the last 30 years, who was/is the second best?

I thought this might be an interesting debate.

As much as I can't stand him, I think I'd have to go with Kobe.

 

Magic Johnson. Exhibit A - This Date in History: May 16, 1980, The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 123-107 to win the NBA title in six games. Rookie guard Magic Johnson fills in at center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and comes up with 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists and is named the Finals MVP. The 42 points are the most scored by a rookie in an NBA Finals game.

 

It's Magic.

 

I'd say Shaq. With his decline the last few years, people seem to have forgotten just how dominant he was in his prime.

 

2. Kobe
3. Magic
4. Duncan
5. Bird


I can't bring myself to put LeBron in the top five yet.

 

If the criteria is "the last 30 years", then Kareem shouldn't be even be one of the choices. Best of the 70s, no doubt, but he was past his prime and in decline after 81.

 

Magic.

 

Good point.

 

This is a very interesting thread. I'd say O'Neal because he was almost unstoppable in his prime. Magic would be right there as well.

 

Magic, although I would say Kobe is the most individually skilled behind Jordan.

 

Oh, ho, ho it's Magic, you know
Never believe it's not so

 

Kobe. Scored way more and will pass Magic in steals and rebounds. Magic's assists, it could be argued, mitigate Kobe's scoring numbers to an extent, but I'd say 30,000 points (13,000 more than Magic) would be a bigger notch in Kobe's belt than 10,000 assists in Magic's.

PTS PPG STL REB AST FG% 3FG%
Kobe 27,868 25.3 1,653 5,829 5,154 .454 .339
Magic 17,707 19.5 1,724 6,559 10,141 .520 .303

Of course, y'all don't know how old I am and I'm sure someone will tell me how Magic learned to pass under Tommy Amaker at Michigan.