LOS ANGELES – After officially being elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame yesterday, Magic Johnson welcomed comparisons to another likely future Hall of Fame point guard – Jason Kidd.
Before Kidd’s Nets lost 99-94 to the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals last night, Johnson said, “He’s magic with the ball – Magic 1 and Magic 1A.”
Besides Johnson, others who will be inducted into the Hall on Sept. 27, are 76er coach Larry Brown; University of Arizona coach Lute Olson; the late Drazen Petrovic, a star with the Nets and Trail Blazers; North Carolina State women’s coach Kay Yow, and the Harlem Globetrotters.
That makes 246 individuals and five teams in the Hall.
The inductees, along with Petrovic’s mother, were introduced at a downtown hotel. It was the first time the Hall of Fame, located in Springfield, Mass., has introduced its new members on the West Coast.
Afterward, Johnson touched on a range of topics, including the Shaq-Kobe Lakers not stacking up with the Showtime Lakers.
Johnson, listed as a Lakers’ VP, also believed L.A. was “vulnerable” for last night’s Game 1 – can’t get ’em all right – and thought New Jersey will present the Lakers with as formidable a challenge as Sacramento.
Celtic coach Jim O’Brien said last week Kidd was the “best point guard I’ve ever seen.” Of course, Kidd will have to string together some titles before leapfrogging past Johnson. But the newest Hall of Famer sees the similarities.
“It’s a great comparison because Jason and I, we do a thing very well that most guys can’t do,” said Johnson, who will be inducted in September in Springfield, Mass. “We both get the rebound ourselves and take off. That way, we already beat three guys. That’s why Jersey is so tough.
“They used to say put this guard on Magic and he’ll slow him down. You can’t slow me down. Why? Because I’m a guard who can go in and get the rebound himself that starts the fastbreak already. He’s one of the only players in our game today who makes other guys better. He’s a creator and you don’t have as many creators in our game.”
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Brown has posted winning records in 26 of his 30 seasons; his record in the NBA is 831-651, he was 229-107 in the ABA and 177-61 in college.
The 67-year-old Olson has a 767-255 record in 29 years as a Division I college coach – the last 18 at Arizona.
Petrovic, who died nine years ago in an automobile accident in Germany, was a star for the teams from Yugoslavia (1988) and Croatia (1992) that won Olympic silver medals. He averaged 15.4 points in four NBA seasons before his death at age 28.
Yow, 60, has a 611-252 record at Elon (1972-75) and North Carolina State (1976-present).
Founded in 1927, the Globetrotters have entertained fans throughout the world, playing more than 20,000 games in over 100 countries.
