Marques Johnson vs. Magic Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Magic Johnson and Marques 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 / 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.

Marques Johnson played 11 years in the NBA, 2 less than Magic Johnson, who played 13. Marques Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Magic Johnson had his rookie season in 1979-80. 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
Marques Johnson	11	6	1977-78 to 1989-90
Magic Johnson	13	13	1979-80 to 1995-96

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


Rookie Season
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1977-78	1979-80
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	80	34.6	19.5	3.7	6.9	10.6	2.4	1.2	1.3	2.2	2.8	7.9	15.1	.522	-	-	-	3.8	5.1	.736
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	9	35.7	24.0	3.9	8.6	12.4	3.4	1.1	1.9	1.6	2.8	9.3	17.0	.549	-	-	-	5.3	7.1	.750
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


Season 2
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1978-79	1980-81
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers 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		%
Marques Johnson	77	36.1	25.6	2.8	4.9	7.6	3.0	1.5	1.2	2.2	2.4	10.6	19.4	.550	-	-	-	4.3	5.7	.760
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

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


Season 3
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1979-80	1981-82
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	77	34.9	21.7	2.8	4.5	7.4	3.5	1.3	0.9	2.4	2.2	8.9	16.5	.544	0.0	0.1	.222	3.8	4.8	.791
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	7	43.3	19.9	2.4	4.4	6.9	2.9	0.7	0.9	1.1	2.9	7.7	18.3	.422	0.1	0.4	.333	4.3	5.7	.750
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


Season 4
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1980-81	1982-83
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	76	33.4	20.3	3.0	3.9	6.8	4.6	1.5	0.5	2.5	2.6	8.4	15.2	.552	0.0	0.1	.000	3.5	5.0	.706
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	7	38.0	24.7	5.9	3.6	9.4	4.9	1.4	1.0	1.9	2.0	10.7	19.3	.556	0.0	0.1	.000	3.3	4.6	.719
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


Season 5
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1981-82	1983-84
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Marques Johnson	60	31.7	16.5	2.6	3.5	6.1	3.6	1.0	0.6	2.4	2.4	6.7	12.7	.532	0.0	0.1	.000	3.0	4.3	.700
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	6	39.2	18.8	3.8	3.5	7.3	3.3	1.0	0.3	2.0	4.2	7.3	16.7	.440	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	7.0	.571
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


Season 6
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1982-83	1984-85
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 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		%
Marques Johnson	80	35.7	21.4	2.5	4.6	7.0	4.5	1.3	0.7	2.5	2.6	9.0	17.8	.509	0.1	0.3	.200	3.3	4.5	.735
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	9	42.4	22.0	3.1	4.9	8.0	4.2	0.9	0.8	2.3	2.4	9.4	19.4	.486	0.0	0.1	.000	3.1	4.8	.651
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


Season 7
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1983-84	1985-86
Team	Milwaukee Bucks	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers 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		%
Marques Johnson	74	36.7	20.7	2.3	4.1	6.5	4.3	1.6	0.6	2.4	2.6	8.7	17.4	.502	0.0	0.2	.154	3.3	4.6	.709
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	16	37.8	20.3	1.8	3.5	5.3	3.4	1.1	0.4	2.7	3.1	8.1	17.1	.473	0.1	0.3	.250	4.1	5.6	.722
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


Season 8
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1984-85	1986-87
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	72	34.0	16.4	2.6	3.3	5.9	3.4	1.0	0.4	2.4	2.7	6.9	15.2	.452	0.0	0.2	.231	2.6	3.6	.731
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

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


Season 9
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1985-86	1987-88
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	75	34.7	20.3	2.1	3.5	5.5	3.8	1.4	0.7	2.4	2.9	8.2	16.0	.510	0.0	0.2	.067	4.0	5.2	.760
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

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


Season 10
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1986-87	1988-89
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	10	30.2	16.6	0.9	2.4	3.3	2.8	1.2	0.5	1.7	2.4	6.8	15.5	.439	0.0	0.6	.000	3.0	4.2	.714
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

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

Note: Marques Johnson didn't play in 1987-88 and 1988-89.


Season 11
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	1989-90	1989-90
Team	Golden State Warriors	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game NVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Marques Johnson	10	9.9	4.0	0.8	0.9	1.7	0.9	0.0	0.1	1.0	1.2	1.2	3.2	.375	0.2	0.3	.667	1.4	1.7	.824
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

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


Season 12
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	-	1990-91
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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

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


Season 13
	Marques Johnson	Magic Johnson
Season	-	1995-96
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Marques Johnson	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

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

Marques Johnson vs. Magic Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Magic Johnson and Marques 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