Big Bird and Magic, who are known as the peerless duo and won 8 championships, why did they only get 5 FMVPs?
Back in the late 70s of the last century, the NBA was at a low ebb in ratings, and even reached the point of bankruptcy at one point, and the league was facing the cruel situation of disbanding. However, the Celtics and Lakers have worked together to save the NBA, and the key role behind it is the "Big Bird" Larry Bird and "Magic" Johnson, who are known as the "peerless duo", these two have superb playing styles and are very competitive, with their help, the Lakers and Celtics have staged classic yellow-green battles many times, thus raising the NBA's ratings to unprecedented heights, and they have also won a total of 8 championships, and their careers are very successful. Shockingly, though, they only got 5 of them, so who got the remaining 3? Where did these two legendary superstars lose?
1.80-81 season
FMVP winner: Cedric Maxwell
Finals stats: 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists
For many current NBA fans, including Celtics fans, Maxwell seems to be a relatively unfamiliar name, after all, he has only played 11 seasons in his career in total, and he has only averaged 12.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game.
However, it was in the 1981 Finals that he beat Bird to get the only major honor of his career, that is, FMVP. That year, in the face of the successful raid of the Rockets, the Celtics focused on team basketball, the first two games of Maxwell's performance was average, but from the third game, his state became more and more hot, after contributing 24 points and 14 rebounds in the fourth game, he scored 28 points and 15 rebounds in the key battle of Tianwang Mountain, plus 19 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists in the last game, the Green Army successfully defeated the Rockets to win the championship. With a team-high 17.7 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists, he managed to win the FMVP.
In fact, there were many media and experts who were unhappy with Bird, although Bird's average of 15.3 points per game in the series was indeed less, but he also had 15.3 rebounds, 7 assists and 2.3 steals to contribute, it can be said that this year's Bird completely showed his all-round side to the world, and you must know that it was Moses Malone, one of the best centers at the time, who was later selected as one of the top 50 superstars, and it can be said that Bird won the game in order to help the team, He sacrificed a lot of stats, but limited Malone as much as he could, and helped the team on the defensive end.
In addition, Bird's stats are much more comprehensive than Maxwell's. If it were placed in this era, maybe this FMVP would most likely be in Bird's pocket, but fortunately, he still got 2 FMVPs later to make up for his regrets.
2.84-85 season
FMVP winner: Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Finals stats: 25.7 points, 9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 blocks
Then came the 1985 Finals, this time the East-West matchup lineup was the most classic yellow-green battle, and finally the Lakers defeated the Celtics with a total score of 4-2 and successfully won the championship on the head of the old enemy. However, this year's FMVP winner is the 38-year-old "Sky Hook" Jabbar. In fact, Abdul-Jabbar maintained a very good form this year, he maintained an excellent performance of 22 points, 7.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.1 blocks in the regular season, and in the playoffs, he is more and more courageous.
Especially in the crucial battle of Tianwang Mountain, he dreamed of returning to the top, scoring 36 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists on 16-of-28 shooting from the field to help the Lakers win the game. In Game 6 of the championship, he scored 29 points again and finally won the FMVP with 25.7 points, 9 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 blocks.
Let's take a look at the performance of the Magic, as Abdul-Jabbar is getting older, the team's tactical core is gradually leaning towards the Magic, who can contribute 18.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 12.6 assists and 1.5 steals in the regular season this year, firmly holding the throne of the league's No. 1 point guard.
And on the stage of the Finals, his performance is actually good, because Abdul-Jabbar is extremely active on the scoring end, so the Magic put more energy into the playmaking tandem, and the 26-year-old can also contribute 18.3 points, 6.8 rebounds and 14 assists, perfectly playing the role of the team's offensive engine. However, because Abdul-Jabbar's performance was too dazzling, and his excellent performance in key games was also obvious to all, the Magic also failed to get the FMVP, but it was acceptable to award it to Abdul-Jabbar.
3. 87-88 season
FMVP Winner: James Worthy
Finals stats: 22 points, 7.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists
Finally, there is the 1988 FMVP, which was won by James Worthy, one of the Lakers team members in history, and the Lakers lineup in those years can be described as extremely luxurious, just the stars who entered the NBA as champions, they have three, namely Abdul-Jabbar, Magic and Worthy. As Michael Jordan's North Carolina brother, Worthy's career has been relatively low-key, and he has played fewer roles on the team than Magic and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but that doesn't mean he's not important. Especially as Abdul-Jabbar aged, Worthy became the most trusted helper around the magicians.
In this year's Finals, the Lakers faced the rising Pistons and did not win the championship until the seven-game game, and Worthy became the key man. In Game 6, the Lakers narrowly beat the Pistons by 1 point, and Worthy scored a team-high 28 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. In the tie-break, he played the best game of his career, scoring 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, so he also won this FMVP.
Also this year, the Magic's performance was also good, because Abdul-Jabbar has reached the age of 41, his fitness and condition have been difficult to maintain a high level in such a long series, so the Magic not only has to continue to connect the team's offense, but also score more scoring pressure.
As a result, he put up a perfect 21.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 13 assists and 2 steals in this series, and he finished Isaiah Thomas on both ends of the floor except for Game 6. It's a pity that Worthy's game in the last game was really too eye-catching, and Worthy is no less important to the Lakers than Magic, so it's a pity that Magic missed FMVP again.