Rod Strickland Lists Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas As The Top Point Guards In NBA History
When people give their list of greatest point guards of all-time, it’s hard to ignore the ones who came before.
Former NBA player Rod Strickland recently joined Kevin Garrett on his podcast, KG Certified. When talking about greatest point guards, Strickland puts Los Angeles Lakers’ legend Magic Johnson atop the list.
“I’ll tell you, Magic was everything,” Strickland said. “I used to go to the store and buy the uniform, put 33 [Johnson wore 33 in college before switching to 32 in the NBA] and Magic on the back.”
Johnson’s assist numbers are amazing but it wasn’t what made him one of the greatest. Almost every game, he put on a show by throwing full-court no-look, and behind-the-back passes.
“Andre Barrett always talk about me, saying ‘You can’t throw a regular pass,’ Strickland continued. “He said ‘You always got to look the other way to throw a pass’. And that was all Magic. He said ‘You can never throw a regular pass’.”
Now, while players like Johnson and John Stockton make almost every fan’s list, the one player who often gets left out is Detroit Pistons’ icon Isiah Thomas. Not being the flashiest guard could be a reason or maybe it’s because of his beef with Michael Jordan. But Thomas is definitely one of the greatest point guards ever.
“But Isiah Thomas, he doesn’t get enough credit,” Strickland said. “You know, I guess, for whatever reasons. But he was a bad dude. See, I was in Chicago. I went to DePaul so I saw the Push Excel games. So I saw him absolutely embarrass people.”
Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.
