SI Flashback: NBA Finals

Led by a revolutionary rookie who turned in a sterling Game 6 performance -- playing center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- the Lakers opened the door to Showtime by beating the Sixers.

Snapshot from Arms and the Man

By John Papanek

May 26, 1999 Manny Millan

Magical: Like Bill Walton, Magic threw a scoring pass from the high post to Michael Cooper. Then, like Dave Cowens, he used position to get a rebound, dribbled upcourt and hit a jumper from the foul line. Next, like Moses Malone, he drove by Julius Erving for a bank shot. And then he drove to the hoop again. "That time I wanted to dunk it, like Kareem," he said. "But I saw [Darryl] Dawkins coming and I thought, well, I better change to something a little more ... " -- he bobbed his head, stroked his fuzzy little goatee, flashed his elfin smile -- "... magical." So he did. He hung in the air, double-pumped, made the layup and drew the foul. ... Magic Johnson played 47 minutes, scored 42 points, hitting seven of 12 shots from the field in the first half, seven of 11 in the second, and 14 of 14 from the foul line. He had 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and a blocked shot. He was everywhere. He did everything.

They Said It "What position did I play? Well, I played center, a little forward, some guard. I tried to think up a name for it, but the best I came up with was C-F-G Rover." —Johnson "It was amazing, just amazing. We went over everything they do when Kareem's not there, and still we couldn't do anything about it. They wanted to show us they were not a one-man team and got maximum effort. Magic was outstanding. Unreal.'' —Erving

The captain: One thing certain is that Johnson wouldn't have had the chance to do what he did in Game 6 were it not for Abdul-Jabbar's performance injury -- in Game 5. The Lakers led by two when Kareem wrenched his left ankle with four minutes left in the third quarter and hobbled to the dressing room. Johnson, who had had a desultory game at that point, ignited a Laker blitz, scoring six and assisting for two of the next 12 points to expand the lead to eight. He would finish with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. But it was Abdul-Jabbar, hobbling back to a thunderous ovation in the fourth quarter, who won the game, scoring 14 of his 40 points on the bad ankle, including a three-point play with 33 seconds left to break a 103-103 tie.

Issue date: May 26, 1980