Magic Johnson Makes Frustrated Admission After Celtics Win NBA Finals

ESPN analyst Magic Johnson before Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics.
ESPN analyst Magic Johnson before Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Boston Celtics. / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Celtics are once again NBA champions, marking the 18th time in franchise history the team has won a championship.

The 106–88 victory in Game 5 over the Dallas Mavericks clinched the 4–1 series win for the Celtics, and with it Boston surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers as the all-time winningest franchise in NBA history.

That didn't sit too well with Magic Johnson, who, as he so often does, weighed in with some thoughts after the game.

Johnson admitted defeat, for now, in terms of the battle of banners between the L.A. and Boston, though he made it clear he wasn't happy about it.

"I hate that the Celtics officially have more championships than us now," wrote Johnson on X, formerly Twitter, along with an eye-rolling emoji.

The 2024 NBA Finals are the Celtics' first championship since 2008. The Lakers last won a ring in 2020.

Of course, those two franchises dominated the earlier days of the league. From 1957 to '69, Boston went on a historic run during which they won 11 championships in 13 seasons, including eight straight from '59 to '66. The Lakers won five of the first six championships in league history and enjoyed a three-peat in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Now that Boston has once again surpassed L.A. in terms of NBA championships, Johnson seems eager to see the Lakers even things back up.


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Karl Rasmussen
KARL RASMUSSEN

Karl Rasmussen is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News team for Sports Illustrated. A University of Oregon alum who joined SI in February 2023, his work has appeared on 12up and ClutchPoints. Rasmussen is a loyal Tottenham, Jets, Yankees and Ducks fan.