WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN MVP? : Jordan: Without Him, There Is No Chicago

All I ask is that you ask yourself one question. That’s all. Just one question. Answer it honestly. After that, if your opinion still differs from mine, OK, so be it. You’re entitled.

Please, though, do that much for me.

Ask yourself this:

How many basketball games would the Lakers have won without Magic Johnson, and how many games would the Chicago Bulls have won without Michael Jordan?

Maybe that’s two questions.

Anyway, ask.

I’ll pretend this is Final Jeopardy and hum some theme music while I wait for you to think it over.

Da da da da, dum dum dum. Da da da da DUM, da da da da da.

Sorry, time’s up.

The answer is:

The Lakers would have won about two-thirds as many games without Magic Johnson, but the Bulls would have won about two games without Michael Jordan.

Agreed?

Swell.

So, let’s think about this announcement made Monday, the news that Mr. Johnson, not Mr. Jordan, is the most valuable player in professional basketball for 1988-89.

I have two words in response. Two simple words.

Come on .

Look, nobody loves Magic (Earvin) Johnson more than I do. The guy might be my favorite human being in pro sports. He is a winner, a champion, a marvel, a miracle, a sweetheart of a person. I don’t just like watching him play, I’d like to adopt him.

But take a message from Michael:

Jordan’s the real MVP.

He outscores Johnson, probably because he can and definitely because he has to. He makes the National Basketball Assn.’s all-defensive team. He also rebounds and passes, not better than Johnson, but better than most. He brings the ball down, breaks the press, shoots the shot, crashes the boards, drops back to guard the other team’s best guy. And he leads the league in minutes played.

Defenses swarm Michael Jordan wherever he goes. Do other teams double-cover Magic Johnson whenever possible? Of course not. They can’t afford to. The rest of the Lakers are too good.

You think the Bulls would be any good without Jordan?

Spare me.

The Chicago Bulls without Michael Jordan would be Northwestern.

Here’s Coach Chuck Daly of the Detroit Pistons, whose team currently is under siege by Jordan in the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals:

“I’m scared to death just watching him. He’s a frightening player. He’s one of those players who comes along once in a lifetime.”

Here’s Joe Dumars of Detroit, whose job is guarding Jordan:

“I know I’m going to work hard. So will the rest of the team. But with Jordan, sometimes it just doesn’t matter.”

Here’s Mark Jackson of the New York Knicks, who recently tried and failed:

“I just can’t imagine any way of stopping him for a full game. We tried, we tried hard--but he’s Michael.”

Good explanation.

He’s Michael.

If only somebody would say that about me.

Magic Johnson is a VP. He’s a very VP. He’s an extremely VP. But he wasn’t the most VP. Not this season.

Valuable.

Tom Chambers was more valuable to the Phoenix Suns than Magic Johnson was to the Lakers. The Suns never could have turned that 28-54 record upside down without Chambers. You think Phoenix would have even made the playoffs without Chambers? Doubtful.

Now, look at the Bulls. These guys have bounced Cleveland. They have bounced New York. They are tormenting Detroit, taking a 1-0 advantage into tonight’s Game 2.

The Chicago Bulls could--holy cow, Harry Caray--meet the Lakers for the NBA championship.

You think the Lakers couldn’t beat the Bulls in the NBA finals if they had to play without Magic Johnson, if Magic got hurt the day before the series began?

The hell they couldn’t.

You think the Bulls could beat the Lakers in the NBA finals if they had to play without Michael Jordan, if Michael got hurt the day before the series began?

They’d lose every game, 100-50.

Michael Jordan is more valuable than the NBA’s most valuable player.