Michael Jordan Texted Stephen A. Smith And Made The Case For Why Magic Johnson Is Better Than Steph Curry

Steph Curry made headlines earlier this week thanks to an appearance on Gilbert Arenas’ podcast, “Gil’s Arena.” After being asked if he’s the best point guard to ever play the game, Curry simply said yes, although he made sure to say that the other name in the conversation is Hall of Fame inductee Magic Johnson.

This sort of thing is almost always going to give First Take a few days worth of content, and on Wednesday, Stephen A. Smith and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo went back-and-forth with one another about this. Russo laid out his full case for why he thinks Curry is wrong, and instead, backs Johnson for this title.

Smith, meanwhile, threw a bit of a curveball: Instead of diving right into his answer (he picked Curry), he read a text message that he received at 5:54 a.m. on Wednesday. It laid out why Johnson is the answer, and after he finished, Smith revealed that he got this from Michael Jordan, who Smith claims explicitly requested that he would read the whole thing on the air.

“Good morning, sir,” Smith read. “Although greatest of anything is always a debate, I beg to differ on greatest point guard of all time, with what you said. Magic Johnson is easily the best point guard of all time. Steph Curry is very close, but not in front of Magic. You must define ‘point guard’ to really have a serious debate. Steph Curry is by far the best shooter of all time — yes, his movement has created many shots for his teammates, he’s a career 43 percent three-point shooter.

“But Magic Johnson invented the triple-double,” Smith continued. “Not true invented, but makes it more noticeable in terms of the impact on the game. It’s a point guard stat, to be honest. Magic was the best. We can go on, but I don’t want to take up too much of your time. I know you get the point. By the way — Magic has five NBA championships.”

It was at this point that Smith revealed the text came from Jordan.

“He asked me to read it on the air,” Smith said. “He said I’m not backing up for it, I’m tired of this argument about Magic Johnson not being the best point guard in the history of the game. He is the best point guard in the history of basketball. That is from Michael Jordan.”

Jordan has spoken reverentially about Johnson for decades now, as he idolized the former Lakers star during the early days of his basketball career. Their relationship, particularly during their time as teammates on the Dream Team, was brought up on a few occasions during The Last Dance. It’s hardly a shock that Jordan would take this stance, but for someone who doesn’t usually wade into these sorts of debates, it’s a pleasant surprise that he’d text Smith and lay out his pro-Magic case here.