Magic Johnson vs. Jim King Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jim King 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.

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 more than Jim King, who played 10. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Jim King had his rookie season in 1963-64. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13
Rookie Season
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1979-80	1963-64
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers Lost West Div 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	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
Jim King	60	12.7	3.9	-	-	1.9	1.8	-	-	-	1.7	1.4	3.3	.424	-	-	-	1.1	1.7	.653
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
Jim King	4	12.8	3.0	-	-	1.0	1.5	-	-	-	0.5	1.0	2.5	.400	-	-	-	1.0	1.0	1.000

Season 2
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1980-81	1964-65
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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	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
Jim King	77	21.7	6.3	-	-	2.8	2.3	-	-	-	2.5	2.4	6.1	.392	-	-	-	1.5	2.0	.781
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
Jim King	11	16.7	6.5	-	-	3.3	2.2	-	-	-	2.6	2.5	5.7	.444	-	-	-	1.4	1.5	.882

Season 3
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1981-82	1965-66
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Lakers 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	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
Jim King	76	19.7	7.5	-	-	2.7	2.9	-	-	-	2.4	3.1	7.2	.437	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.817
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
Jim King	13	22.1	6.3	-	-	2.5	2.4	-	-	-	3.1	2.7	6.5	.417	-	-	-	0.9	1.3	.706

Season 4
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1982-83	1966-67
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Warriors 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	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
Jim King	67	24.9	11.1	-	-	4.8	3.6	-	-	-	2.9	4.3	10.2	.418	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.787
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
Jim King	15	30.5	16.3	-	-	6.7	3.3	-	-	-	3.9	6.8	14.4	.472	-	-	-	2.7	3.9	.690

Season 5
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1983-84	1967-68
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Warriors Lost West Div 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	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
Jim King	54	32.3	16.6	-	-	4.5	4.2	-	-	-	3.2	6.3	14.8	.425	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.810
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
Jim King	9	12.6	4.9	-	-	2.1	2.2	-	-	-	1.7	1.8	4.2	.421	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.632

Season 6
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1984-85	1968-69
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Warriors Lost West Div 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	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
Jim King	46	22.0	7.7	-	-	2.6	2.7	-	-	-	2.2	3.0	8.6	.348	-	-	-	1.7	2.3	.722
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
Jim King	6	23.7	12.0	-	-	4.2	2.8	-	-	-	1.7	4.8	13.0	.372	-	-	-	2.3	3.0	.778

Season 7
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1985-86	1969-70
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	San Francisco Warriors, Cincinnati Royals
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
Jim King	34	11.5	4.1	-	-	1.8	1.5	-	-	-	1.4	1.6	3.8	.411	-	-	-	1.0	1.2	.805
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
Jim King	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1986-87	1970-71
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls 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	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
Jim King	55	11.7	4.8	-	-	1.2	1.4	-	-	-	1.0	1.8	4.1	.439	-	-	-	1.2	1.4	.810
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
Jim King	7	21.0	6.6	-	-	3.0	3.9	-	-	-	3.6	2.7	6.4	.422	-	-	-	1.1	1.7	.667

Season 9
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1987-88	1971-72
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bulls 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	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
Jim King	73	13.9	5.7	-	-	1.1	1.4	-	-	-	1.4	2.2	4.9	.455	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.788
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
Jim King	4	14.0	6.5	-	-	1.5	1.3	-	-	-	2.8	2.8	6.0	.458	-	-	-	1.0	1.0	1.000

Season 10
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1988-89	1972-73
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Chicago Bulls
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Bulls 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	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
Jim King	65	12.1	4.2	-	-	1.2	1.2	-	-	-	1.2	1.8	4.0	.441	-	-	-	0.7	0.8	.846
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
Jim King	4	3.5	1.3	-	-	0.3	0.5	-	-	-	0.8	0.5	1.5	.333	-	-	-	0.3	0.5	.500

Season 11
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1989-90	-
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	-
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Lakers 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	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
Jim King	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Jim King	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 12
	Magic Johnson	Jim King
Season	1990-91	-
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	-
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers 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	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
Jim King	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Jim King	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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