Magic Johnson vs. James Jones Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Jones and Magic Johnson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Magic Johnson played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than James Jones, who played 14. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while James Jones had his rookie season in 2003-04. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Magic Johnson	13	13	1979-80 to 1995-96
James Jones	14	12	2003-04 to 2016-17

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1979-80	2003-04
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	77	36.3	18.0	2.2	5.6	7.7	7.3	2.4	0.5	4.0	2.8	6.5	12.3	.530	0.1	0.4	.226	4.9	6.0	.810
James Jones	6	4.3	1.2	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.2	0.0	0.0	0.2	0.3	1.5	.222	0.2	0.7	.250	0.3	0.3	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	16	41.1	18.3	3.3	7.3	10.5	9.4	3.1	0.4	4.1	2.9	6.4	12.4	.518	0.1	0.5	.250	5.3	6.6	.802
James Jones	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1980-81	2004-05
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Indiana Pacers
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Pacers Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	37	37.1	21.6	2.7	5.9	8.6	8.6	3.4	0.7	3.9	2.7	8.4	15.9	.532	0.1	0.5	.176	4.6	6.1	.760
James Jones	75	17.7	4.9	0.5	1.8	2.3	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.6	1.6	1.7	4.2	.396	0.9	2.2	.398	0.7	0.8	.855

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	3	42.3	17.0	2.7	11.0	13.7	7.0	2.7	1.0	3.7	4.7	6.3	16.3	.388	0.0	0.0	-	4.3	6.7	.650
James Jones	13	16.1	4.0	0.4	1.7	2.1	0.8	0.5	0.5	0.3	1.4	1.5	3.5	.413	0.8	1.9	.400	0.3	0.7	.444


Season 3
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1981-82	2005-06
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	78	38.3	18.6	3.2	6.4	9.6	9.5	2.7	0.4	3.7	2.9	7.1	13.3	.537	0.1	0.4	.207	4.2	5.6	.760
James Jones	75	23.6	9.3	0.6	2.8	3.4	0.8	0.5	0.7	0.5	1.9	3.2	7.7	.418	1.5	3.8	.386	1.4	1.6	.851

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	40.1	17.4	3.9	7.4	11.3	9.3	2.9	0.2	3.1	3.6	5.9	11.2	.529	0.0	0.3	.000	5.5	6.6	.828
James Jones	20	17.7	4.3	0.8	2.8	3.6	0.3	0.3	0.9	0.5	1.3	1.4	4.1	.341	0.4	1.3	.308	1.1	1.3	.846


Season 4
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1982-83	2006-07
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	79	36.8	16.8	2.7	5.9	8.6	10.5	2.2	0.6	3.8	2.5	6.5	11.8	.548	0.0	0.3	.000	3.8	4.8	.800
James Jones	76	18.1	6.4	0.4	1.9	2.3	0.6	0.4	0.6	0.4	1.5	2.1	5.8	.368	1.2	3.1	.378	0.9	1.1	.877

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	15	42.9	17.9	3.4	5.1	8.5	12.8	2.3	0.8	4.3	3.3	6.7	13.7	.485	0.0	0.7	.000	4.5	5.4	.840
James Jones	11	15.5	5.0	0.3	1.1	1.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.4	1.0	1.7	3.3	.528	0.7	1.6	.444	0.8	1.0	.818


Season 5
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1983-84	2007-08
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	67	38.3	17.6	1.5	5.9	7.3	13.1	2.2	0.7	4.6	2.5	6.6	11.6	.565	0.1	0.4	.207	4.3	5.3	.810
James Jones	58	22.0	8.0	0.7	2.0	2.8	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.5	1.7	2.5	5.6	.437	1.6	3.5	.444	1.5	1.7	.878

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	21	39.9	18.2	1.2	5.4	6.6	13.5	2.0	1.0	3.8	3.4	7.2	13.0	.551	0.0	0.3	.000	3.8	4.8	.800
James Jones	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1984-85	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Heat Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	77	36.1	18.3	1.2	5.0	6.2	12.6	1.5	0.3	4.0	2.0	6.5	11.7	.561	0.1	0.5	.189	5.1	6.0	.843
James Jones	40	15.8	4.2	0.3	1.3	1.6	0.5	0.3	0.4	0.3	1.5	1.4	3.7	.369	0.8	2.4	.344	0.7	0.8	.839

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	19	36.2	17.5	1.0	6.1	7.1	15.2	1.7	0.2	4.0	2.5	6.1	11.9	.513	0.1	0.4	.143	5.3	6.2	.847
James Jones	7	33.6	9.6	0.3	2.0	2.3	0.7	0.4	0.1	0.6	2.7	2.4	4.6	.531	1.6	3.1	.500	3.1	3.4	.917


Season 7
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1985-86	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Heat Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	72	35.8	18.8	1.2	4.7	5.9	12.6	1.6	0.2	3.8	1.8	6.7	12.8	.526	0.1	0.6	.233	5.3	6.0	.871
James Jones	36	14.0	4.1	0.1	1.1	1.3	0.5	0.3	0.1	0.3	1.3	1.2	3.3	.361	1.0	2.5	.411	0.6	0.8	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	38.6	21.6	1.5	5.6	7.1	15.1	1.9	0.1	3.2	3.1	7.9	14.6	.537	0.0	0.8	.000	5.9	7.6	.766
James Jones	1	9.0	2.0	0.0	0.0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	1.0	.000	0.0	1.0	.000	2.0	2.0	1.000


Season 8
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1986-87	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Heat Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	80	36.3	23.9	1.5	4.8	6.3	12.2	1.7	0.5	3.8	2.1	8.5	16.4	.522	0.1	0.5	.205	6.7	7.9	.848
James Jones	81	19.1	5.9	0.3	1.7	2.0	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.3	1.6	1.8	4.3	.422	1.5	3.5	.429	0.7	0.9	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	18	37.0	21.8	1.6	6.2	7.7	12.2	1.7	0.4	2.8	2.1	8.1	15.1	.539	0.1	0.6	.200	5.4	6.6	.831
James Jones	12	22.7	6.5	0.3	2.3	2.5	0.2	0.5	0.2	0.3	2.0	2.0	4.3	.471	1.4	3.1	.459	1.1	1.1	1.000


Season 9
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1987-88	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	72	36.6	19.6	1.2	5.0	6.2	11.9	1.6	0.2	3.7	2.0	6.8	13.8	.492	0.2	0.8	.196	5.8	6.8	.853
James Jones	51	13.1	3.6	0.1	0.8	1.0	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.9	1.1	2.9	.380	0.9	2.2	.404	0.5	0.6	.833

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	24	40.2	19.9	1.3	4.1	5.4	12.6	1.4	0.2	3.5	2.5	7.0	13.7	.514	0.3	0.6	.500	5.5	6.5	.852
James Jones	20	8.7	2.6	0.3	0.8	1.0	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.6	0.8	2.2	.372	0.5	1.5	.300	0.5	0.5	1.000


Season 10
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1988-89	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	77	37.5	22.5	1.4	6.4	7.9	12.8	1.8	0.3	4.1	2.2	7.5	14.8	.509	0.8	2.4	.314	6.7	7.3	.911
James Jones	38	5.8	1.6	0.0	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.4	0.6	1.6	.344	0.4	1.4	.302	0.1	0.1	.500

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	14	37.0	18.4	1.1	4.9	5.9	11.8	1.9	0.2	3.8	2.1	6.1	12.4	.489	0.7	2.5	.286	5.6	6.1	.907
James Jones	9	3.7	1.0	0.0	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.8	.429	0.3	0.4	.750	0.0	0.0	-


Season 11
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1989-90	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Heat Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	79	37.2	22.3	1.6	5.0	6.6	11.5	1.7	0.4	3.7	2.1	6.9	14.4	.480	1.3	3.5	.384	7.2	8.1	.890
James Jones	20	11.8	4.9	0.1	1.1	1.2	0.5	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	1.6	3.4	.456	1.4	2.7	.519	0.4	0.6	.636

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	9	41.8	25.2	1.3	5.0	6.3	12.8	1.2	0.1	4.0	3.1	8.4	17.2	.490	0.6	2.8	.200	7.8	8.8	.886
James Jones	15	8.4	3.5	0.2	0.5	0.7	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.0	1.1	1.2	2.7	.450	1.0	2.1	.469	0.1	0.2	.667


Season 12
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1990-91	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	79	37.1	19.4	1.3	5.6	7.0	12.5	1.3	0.2	4.0	1.9	5.9	12.4	.477	1.0	3.2	.320	6.6	7.3	.906
James Jones	57	11.7	4.4	0.2	0.9	1.1	0.4	0.2	0.1	0.2	1.2	1.3	3.5	.368	1.1	3.1	.360	0.7	0.8	.848

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	19	43.3	21.8	1.2	6.9	8.1	12.6	1.2	0.0	4.1	2.3	6.2	14.1	.440	1.1	3.7	.296	8.3	9.4	.882
James Jones	20	15.6	4.4	0.1	1.4	1.5	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.3	2.1	1.3	3.8	.347	1.1	3.2	.344	0.7	0.7	.929

Note: Magic Johnson didn't play in 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94 and 1994-95.


Season 13
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	1995-96	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	32	29.9	14.6	1.3	4.5	5.7	6.9	0.8	0.4	3.2	1.5	4.3	9.2	.466	0.7	1.8	.379	5.4	6.3	.856
James Jones	48	9.6	3.7	0.2	0.9	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3	1.0	1.2	3.0	.408	0.9	2.2	.394	0.4	0.5	.808

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	4	33.8	15.3	2.0	6.5	8.5	6.5	0.0	0.0	3.0	0.8	3.8	9.8	.385	0.8	2.3	.333	7.0	8.3	.848
James Jones	12	4.6	0.5	0.1	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.8	.200	0.1	0.6	.143	0.1	0.3	.250


Season 14
	Magic Johnson	James Jones
Season	-	2016-17
Team	-	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Cavaliers Lost NBA Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Jones	48	7.9	2.8	0.1	0.7	0.8	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.8	0.9	1.9	.478	0.6	1.4	.470	0.3	0.4	.650

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
James Jones	8	3.8	0.3	0.1	0.4	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	0.4	0.1	0.6	.200	0.0	0.4	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Magic Johnson vs. James Jones Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of James Jones and Magic Johnson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14