Lakers' Biggest Hater Offers Engaging Take on Magic Johnson, Nikola Jokic

Ricardo Sandoval | Dec 8, 2024

Nov 23, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Magic Johnson attends the 2024 NWSL Championship match at CPKC Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have made some enemies over the years, beating some teams to a pulp, and their opponents have never recovered. 

The Lakers are a winning franchise, and because of that, many don't like them, including former Lakers rival and their biggest hater, George Karl. Karl loves to troll and sometimes terrorizes the basketball world with his savage opinions on his social media account. 

Karl is one of the more opinionated people on X and his latest take falls under that category. 

According to the former NBA Coach of the Year, Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokić is a better passer than arguably the greatest point guard of all time, Lakers legend Magic Johnson. 

Karl took to X to share his opinion with the basketball world. 

"Magic was passing to Kareem and other Hall of Famers! Jokic has never even passed the ball to an All Star!!" Karl stated in an X post.

Magic was passing to Kareem and other Hall of Famers!

Jokic has never even passed the ball to an All Star!! https://t.co/46kuhVlXu2

— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) December 7, 2024

Although Jokić has never had an All-Star teammate, that fact alone doesn't mean he is a better passer than Johnson. The argument could be made, but Karl's argument is not strong enough to prove that point.

Nonetheless, there is no doubting Jokić's ability to pass the ball and improve his team, just like how Magic would do at the peak of his powers.

Johnson is the winner of all winners. He won five NBA titles with the Lakers during their dynasty in the 1980s, and he had a ton of All-Star and Hall-of-Fame teammates to dish the ball out to. 

The three-time Finals MVP had a flurry of options, including arguably the greatest center of all time, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and had the luxury of having Michael Cooper, James Worthy, and Byron Scott filling the lanes. Then, there was Bob McAdoo and Jamaal Wilkes, with whom he shared the wealth as well.

As for Jokić, although he is a tremendous talent, he has never had an All-Star to dish the ball to. The best teammate of his career, Jamal Muray, has never had a season worthy of an All-Star spot, regardless of his incredible playoff performances. 

In Johnson's historic and Hall of Fame career, he averaged 11.2 assists in 906 games. His best mark in a season came in the 1983-84 season, where he averaged 13.1.

Jokić averages 7.0 assists per game in his career, with his best mark coming this season, averaging 10.3 assists per game.

Regardless of who you think is the best, these two are game-changers in their position. 

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