Almost All of the Western Finalists Agree With Choice of Magic as MVP

Nearly every player on the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers said Tuesday that the Lakers’ Magic Johnson deserved his second consecutive NBA most-valuable-player honor, although most diplomatically added that any of six players could have been selected.

“The man deserves it,” Trail Blazer forward Buck Williams said. “Magic is the best player that’s come down the pike in a long time. He is phenomenal, but he makes people like A.C. Green, Mychal Thompson and Vlade Divac better players.”

The lone dissenting vote was cast by Portland guard Clyde Drexler. Although Drexler did not begrudge Johnson the honor, he said he would have voted for fellow Houstonian Akeem Olajuwon.

“Any time you pick Magic Johnson for MVP, you can’t go wrong,” Drexler said. “But maybe I’m a little biased. I would’ve taken Akeem. It’s hard to overlook his statistics. He was up there in almost every category.”