Magic Johnson vs. JaVale McGee Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of JaVale McGee 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, 3 less than JaVale McGee, who played 16. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while JaVale McGee had his rookie season in 2008-09. 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
JaVale McGee	16	8	2008-09 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16


Rookie Season
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1979-80	2008-09
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington Wizards
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
JaVale McGee	75	15.2	6.5	1.6	2.3	3.9	0.3	0.4	1.0	0.8	2.1	2.5	5.2	.494	0.0	0.0	-	1.4	2.2	.660

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1980-81	2009-10
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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	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
JaVale McGee	60	16.1	6.4	1.5	2.6	4.1	0.2	0.3	1.7	0.9	2.0	2.6	5.1	.508	0.0	0.0	.000	1.2	1.9	.638

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1981-82	2010-11
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington Wizards
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	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	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
JaVale McGee	79	27.8	10.1	2.8	5.2	8.0	0.5	0.5	2.4	1.3	2.9	4.2	7.6	.550	0.0	0.0	.000	1.7	2.9	.583

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1982-83	2011-12
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Washington Wizards, Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets Lost West 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	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
JaVale McGee	61	25.2	11.3	2.7	5.1	7.8	0.5	0.6	2.2	1.4	2.7	5.0	9.0	.556	0.0	0.0	-	1.3	2.7	.461

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
JaVale McGee	7	25.9	8.6	3.3	6.3	9.6	0.7	0.7	3.1	0.6	3.0	3.3	7.6	.434	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.7	.538


Season 5
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1983-84	2012-13
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Nuggets Lost West 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	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
JaVale McGee	79	18.1	9.1	2.0	2.8	4.8	0.3	0.4	2.0	1.1	2.3	3.8	6.7	.575	0.0	0.0	1.000	1.4	2.4	.591

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
JaVale McGee	6	18.7	7.2	2.8	2.3	5.2	0.0	0.7	1.0	1.8	2.8	3.0	5.2	.581	0.0	0.0	-	1.2	3.0	.389


Season 6
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1984-85	2013-14
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	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	36.1	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
JaVale McGee	5	15.8	7.0	2.0	1.4	3.4	0.4	0.2	1.4	1.6	3.2	3.4	7.6	.447	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.2	1.000

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1985-86	2014-15
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 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	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
JaVale McGee	23	11.1	4.6	0.8	1.9	2.7	0.1	0.1	0.9	0.8	1.3	1.8	3.4	.532	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	1.4	.667

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1986-87	2015-16
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Mavericks Lost West 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	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
JaVale McGee	34	10.9	5.1	1.6	2.4	3.9	0.1	0.1	0.8	0.6	1.4	2.3	3.9	.575	0.0	0.0	.000	0.5	1.1	.500

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
JaVale McGee	2	7.0	2.0	1.0	0.5	1.5	0.0	0.5	0.0	1.5	1.5	0.5	1.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	1.0	3.0	.333


Season 9
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1987-88	2016-17
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors
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
JaVale McGee	77	9.6	6.1	1.3	1.9	3.2	0.2	0.2	0.9	0.5	1.4	2.7	4.1	.652	0.0	0.0	.000	0.7	1.4	.505

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
JaVale McGee	16	9.3	5.9	1.4	1.6	3.0	0.3	0.1	0.9	0.5	1.9	2.6	3.5	.732	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.1	.722


Season 10
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1988-89	2017-18
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Golden State Warriors
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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	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
JaVale McGee	65	9.5	4.8	0.9	1.7	2.6	0.5	0.3	0.9	0.4	1.4	2.1	3.4	.621	0.0	0.1	.000	0.6	0.8	.731

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
JaVale McGee	13	12.2	6.5	1.2	2.0	3.2	0.3	0.2	0.8	0.4	1.5	3.0	4.5	.672	0.0	0.1	.000	0.5	0.7	.667


Season 11
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1989-90	2018-19
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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
JaVale McGee	75	22.3	12.0	2.6	4.9	7.5	0.7	0.6	2.0	1.4	2.8	5.3	8.5	.624	0.0	0.2	.083	1.3	2.0	.632

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
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1990-91	2019-20
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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	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
JaVale McGee	68	16.6	6.6	1.8	3.9	5.7	0.5	0.5	1.4	0.8	2.3	2.9	4.5	.637	0.0	0.1	.500	0.8	1.2	.646

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
JaVale McGee	14	9.6	2.9	1.1	2.0	3.1	0.5	0.1	0.7	0.6	1.6	1.4	2.3	.625	0.0	0.1	.000	0.1	0.1	.500

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


Season 13
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	1995-96	2020-21
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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
JaVale McGee	46	14.7	7.3	1.7	3.5	5.2	0.8	0.4	1.2	1.3	2.6	3.1	6.1	.511	0.1	0.5	.208	1.0	1.5	.657

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
JaVale McGee	4	8.5	2.0	0.8	2.3	3.0	0.8	0.3	1.3	0.3	1.0	0.8	2.5	.300	0.0	0.5	.000	0.5	1.5	.333


Season 14
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	74	15.8	9.2	2.2	4.5	6.7	0.6	0.3	1.1	1.3	2.4	3.9	6.2	.629	0.0	0.1	.222	1.4	2.0	.699

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	12	11.1	6.8	1.3	2.7	4.0	0.6	0.3	0.4	0.8	2.3	2.9	4.2	.700	0.0	0.1	.000	0.9	1.1	.846


Season 15
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Dallas Mavericks
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	42	8.5	4.4	0.7	1.8	2.5	0.3	0.1	0.6	0.9	1.3	1.9	3.0	.640	0.0	0.1	.400	0.6	1.0	.585

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 16
	Magic Johnson	JaVale McGee
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Sacramento Kings
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	46	7.4	4.0	0.9	1.8	2.7	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.7	1.0	1.7	2.9	.598	0.0	0.2	.143	0.6	1.0	.578

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Magic Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
JaVale McGee	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Magic Johnson vs. JaVale McGee Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of JaVale McGee 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

Season 15

Season 16