Magic Johnson vs. Lonnie Shelton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Lonnie Shelton 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 Lonnie Shelton, who played 10. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Lonnie Shelton had his rookie season in 1976-77. 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	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1979-80	1976-77
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New York Knicks
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
Lonnie Shelton	82	25.7	11.6	2.7	5.0	7.7	1.8	1.5	1.2	-	4.4	4.9	10.2	.476	-	-	-	1.9	2.7	.707
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1980-81	1977-78
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Knicks 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
Lonnie Shelton	82	28.3	14.9	2.5	4.6	7.1	2.4	1.3	1.4	2.8	4.3	6.2	12.0	.514	-	-	-	2.5	3.4	.736
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
Lonnie Shelton	6	25.2	11.0	3.0	4.3	7.3	2.8	0.3	0.8	2.3	4.8	5.0	9.3	.536	-	-	-	1.0	1.3	.750

Season 3
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1981-82	1978-79
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Steals Leader	-
	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	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
Lonnie Shelton	76	28.4	13.5	2.4	3.8	6.2	1.4	1.0	1.0	2.5	3.5	5.9	11.3	.519	-	-	-	1.7	2.5	.693
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
Lonnie Shelton	17	33.3	12.9	3.6	4.8	8.4	2.0	1.1	1.1	1.8	4.7	5.9	12.3	.483	-	-	-	1.1	1.5	.692

Season 4
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1982-83	1979-80
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Supersonics 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	76	29.5	13.6	2.6	5.0	7.7	1.9	1.2	1.0	2.2	3.8	5.6	10.6	.530	0.0	0.1	.200	2.4	3.2	.763
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
Lonnie Shelton	15	31.3	12.0	2.3	6.0	8.3	1.7	1.5	0.8	2.5	3.6	4.9	9.7	.507	0.0	0.1	.000	2.1	3.4	.627

Season 5
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1983-84	1980-81
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
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
Lonnie Shelton	14	31.4	13.0	2.2	3.4	5.6	2.5	1.6	0.2	2.9	3.4	5.2	12.4	.420	0.0	0.0	-	2.6	3.9	.655
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1984-85	1981-82
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	81	32.9	14.9	2.0	4.3	6.3	3.1	1.2	0.5	2.5	3.9	6.3	12.9	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	3.0	.783
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
Lonnie Shelton	8	33.3	12.8	3.0	4.4	7.4	2.0	0.6	0.9	2.5	4.8	5.0	10.6	.471	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	4.0	.688

Season 7
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1985-86	1982-83
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Supersonics 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	82	31.4	12.4	1.9	4.1	6.0	2.9	0.9	0.9	2.1	3.8	5.3	11.2	.478	0.0	0.1	.167	1.7	2.3	.754
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
Lonnie Shelton	2	26.5	5.0	6.5	4.0	10.5	2.5	0.5	0.0	1.0	3.5	2.0	11.5	.174	0.0	1.5	.000	1.0	2.5	.400

Season 8
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1986-87	1983-84
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists 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	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
Lonnie Shelton	79	26.6	10.8	1.8	3.1	4.8	2.3	1.0	0.7	2.1	3.5	4.7	9.9	.476	0.0	0.1	.200	1.4	1.8	.764
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1987-88	1984-85
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Cavaliers Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

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
Lonnie Shelton	57	21.8	6.4	1.4	3.2	4.7	1.7	0.8	0.3	1.3	3.3	2.8	6.4	.435	0.0	0.1	.000	0.9	1.4	.662
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
Lonnie Shelton	4	26.5	11.5	1.5	4.0	5.5	1.0	0.5	0.3	1.5	5.0	4.8	8.5	.559	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.5	.800

Season 10
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
Season	1988-89	1985-86
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Cleveland Cavaliers
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	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	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
Lonnie Shelton	44	15.5	4.5	0.9	2.4	3.3	1.4	0.5	0.1	1.1	2.9	2.1	4.3	.489	0.0	0.0	.000	0.3	0.4	.875
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 11
	Magic Johnson	Lonnie Shelton
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	-

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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
Lonnie Shelton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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

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