Magic Johnson is known for his plain, matter-of-fact, and cheerful presence on Twitter. He drops obvious truths like they are exciting revelations, and rarely does he offer an opinion that can – or will – be debated.
Johnson made a recent exception, though. The Los Angeles Lakers legend weighed in on recent talk about the Golden State Warriors – currently taking the NBA Finals by storm – and his 1980’s “Showtime” squads.
After Warriors guard Klay Thompson said the Warriors would beat those Lakers, a team that featured his dad Mychal (and after Mychal agreed), Magic had to dissent. He took to Twitter on Tuesday morning:
I disagree with Mychal Thompson and his son Klay, my "Showtime" Lakers would beat the Warriors.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) June 7, 2016
All of this is, of course, a bit silly. It’s unfortunate that Magic’s legacy, for a generation of fans who only know his revolutionary court presence from YouTube, see him primarily as a bland and out-of-touch voice. It’s also unfortunate that he, or anyone, feels it necessary to comment on a complete hypothetical. Especially one that was a relatively facetious take by the younger Thompson in the first place.
The game the Warriors are playing is fundamentally different from the one Magic and Mychal and Kareem and James Worthy excelled at (the rules have changed many times since then, for starters) and neither of these two teams would recognize themselves, or simple truths of the space-time continuum, if they were ever to actually play. But as we all know, former NBA players are nothing if not obsessed with time travel and positing potential matchups that will never happen. And Magic is no exception.
