Magic Johnson vs. Pete Maravich Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Pete Maravich 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 / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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 Pete Maravich, who played 10. Magic Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Pete Maravich had his rookie season in 1970-71. 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 achievements, 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
Pete Maravich	10	4	1970-71 to 1979-80

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


Rookie Season
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1979-80	1970-71
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+4	+0.2	+5.2			+4.0	+2.9				-0.1	+2.6	+7.6	+.072				+0.1	+0.2	+.010
Pete Maravich	81	36.1	23.2	-	-	3.7	4.4	-	-	-	2.9	9.1	19.9	.458	-	-	-	5.0	6.2	.800

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
difference:	+11	+1.3	+3.7			+5.3	+4.6				-0.1	+2.8	+12.0	+.141				+1.7	+1.4	+.110
Pete Maravich	5	39.8	22.0	-	-	5.2	4.8	-	-	-	2.8	9.2	24.4	.377	-	-	-	3.6	5.2	.692


Season 2
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1980-81	1971-72
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Steals Leader	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+29	+2.2	+2.3			+4.7	+2.6				-0.4	+1.4	+0.4	+.105				+0.8	+0.5	+.051
Pete Maravich	66	34.9	19.3	-	-	3.9	6.0	-	-	-	3.1	7.0	16.3	.427	-	-	-	5.4	6.6	.811

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
difference:	+3	+5.8	+10.7			+8.4	+2.3				-0.7	+2.7	+3.9	+.058				+5.4	+5.1	+.167
Pete Maravich	6	36.5	27.7	-	-	5.3	4.7	-	-	-	4.0	9.0	20.2	.446	-	-	-	9.7	11.8	.817


Season 3
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1981-82	1972-73
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Hawks Lost East Conf Semis

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+1	+0.8	+7.5			+5.2	+2.6				-0.2	+2.9	+9.3	+.096				+1.9	+2.1	+.040
Pete Maravich	79	39.1	26.1	-	-	4.4	6.9	-	-	-	3.1	10.0	22.6	.441	-	-	-	6.1	7.7	.800

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
difference:	+8	+1.1	+8.8			+6.5	+2.6				-0.4	+4.9	+14.6	+.110				+1.0	+0.9	+.034
Pete Maravich	6	39.0	26.2	-	-	4.8	6.7	-	-	-	4.0	10.8	25.8	.419	-	-	-	4.5	5.7	.794


Season 4
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1982-83	1973-74
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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4th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+3	+1.4	+10.9	+1.4	+2.3	+3.7	+5.3	+0.7	+0.4		-0.9	+4.3	+11.8	+.091				+2.4	+2.7	+.026
Pete Maravich	76	38.2	27.7	1.3	3.6	4.9	5.2	1.5	0.2	-	3.4	10.8	23.6	.457	-	-	-	6.2	7.5	.826

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 5
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1983-84	1974-75
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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5th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+12	+2.2	+3.9	+0.3	+1.7	+2.0	+6.9	+0.7	+0.5		-0.4	+1.7	+8.2	+.146				+0.6	+0.8	+.001
Pete Maravich	79	36.1	21.5	1.2	4.2	5.3	6.2	1.5	0.2	-	2.9	8.3	19.8	.419	-	-	-	4.9	6.1	.811

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1984-85	1975-76
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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6th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+15	+2.2	+7.6	+0.5	+0.9	+1.4	+7.2	+0.1	+0.1		-1.2	+3.2	+9.5	+.102				+1.3	+1.9	+.032
Pete Maravich	62	38.3	25.9	0.7	4.1	4.8	5.4	1.4	0.4	-	3.2	9.7	21.2	.459	-	-	-	6.4	7.9	.811

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 7
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1985-86	1976-77
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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7th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+1	+5.9	+12.3		+0.8	+0.8	+7.2	+0.4	+0.1		-0.8	+5.4	+15.2	+.093				+1.6	+2.2	+.036
Pete Maravich	73	41.7	31.1	1.2	3.9	5.1	5.4	1.2	0.3	-	2.6	12.1	28.0	.433	-	-	-	6.9	8.2	.835

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 8
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1986-87	1977-78
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	Assists Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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8th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+30	+4.5	+3.1	+0.5	+2.2	+2.7	+5.5	+0.3	+0.3	-1.2	-0.2	+2.6	+8.7	+.078				+1.9	+2.4	+.022
Pete Maravich	50	40.8	27.0	1.0	2.6	3.6	6.7	2.0	0.2	5.0	2.3	11.1	25.1	.444	-	-	-	4.8	5.5	.870

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1987-88	1978-79
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	New Orleans Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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9th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+23	+0.6	+3.0	+0.5	+3.2	+3.7	+6.9	+0.4	+0.2	-0.4	-0.1	+2.1	+7.3	+.071				+1.0	+1.1	+.012
Pete Maravich	49	37.2	22.6	0.7	1.8	2.5	5.0	1.2	0.4	4.1	2.1	8.9	21.1	.421	-	-	-	4.8	5.7	.841

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
Pete Maravich	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Magic Johnson	Pete Maravich
Season	1988-89	1979-80
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Utah Jazz, Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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10th Season Stats Comparison
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
difference:	+34	+15.1	+8.8	+1.0	+5.0	+6.1	+10.9	+1.2	+0.2	-2.2	-0.4	+1.8	+2.2	+.060	+0.6	+2.1	+.353	+4.6	+4.9	+.044
Pete Maravich	43	22.4	13.7	0.4	1.4	1.8	1.9	0.6	0.1	1.9	1.8	5.7	12.6	.449	0.2	0.3	.667	2.1	2.4	.867

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
difference:	+5	+25.4	+12.4	+1.1	+4.0	+5.0	+11.1	+1.6	+0.2	-2.8	-0.8	+3.3	+6.7	+.001	+0.5	+1.8	+.047	+5.4	+5.8	+.240
Pete Maravich	9	11.6	6.0	0.0	0.9	0.9	0.7	0.3	0.0	1.0	1.3	2.8	5.7	.490	0.2	0.7	.333	0.2	0.3	.667


Additional Years
* Magic Johnson played 3 seasons more than Pete Maravich in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 13, from 1990 to 1996—Magic Johnson played in 3 Playoffs. In those 3 extra years over Pete Maravich, Magic Johnson got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 2 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP

Magic Johnson vs. Pete Maravich Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Pete Maravich 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

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years