Otis Birdsong vs. Magic Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Magic Johnson and Otis Birdsong, 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.

Otis Birdsong played 12 years in the NBA, 1 less than Magic Johnson, who played 13. Otis Birdsong 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
Otis Birdsong	12	7	1977-78 to 1988-89
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1977-78	1979-80
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-Rookie First Team
	-	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		%
Otis Birdsong	73	25.7	15.8	1.0	1.4	2.4	2.4	1.0	0.2	2.0	2.5	6.4	13.1	.492	-	-	-	3.0	4.2	.697
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1978-79	1980-81
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Steals Leader
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Semis	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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	34.6	21.7	2.1	2.2	4.3	3.4	1.5	0.2	2.4	3.1	9.0	17.8	.509	-	-	-	3.6	5.0	.725
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		%
Otis Birdsong	5	33.6	21.0	1.6	2.0	3.6	1.8	2.0	0.0	2.0	2.6	7.8	15.2	.513	-	-	-	5.4	7.6	.711
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1979-80	1981-82
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Otis Birdsong	82	35.2	22.7	2.1	2.0	4.0	2.5	1.7	0.3	2.2	2.8	9.5	18.9	.505	0.1	0.4	.278	3.5	5.0	.694
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		%
Otis Birdsong	3	37.3	22.0	3.7	4.0	7.7	2.3	1.3	0.0	2.0	1.7	10.0	20.7	.484	0.0	1.0	.000	2.0	4.7	.429
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1980-81	1982-83
Team	Kansas City Kings	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Kings Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Otis Birdsong	71	36.5	24.6	1.7	2.0	3.6	3.3	1.3	0.3	2.4	2.4	10.0	18.4	.544	0.1	0.5	.286	4.5	6.4	.697
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		%
Otis Birdsong	8	29.3	15.5	1.0	1.6	2.6	3.4	1.5	0.0	2.5	1.6	7.0	12.3	.571	0.1	0.1	1.000	1.4	2.3	.611
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1981-82	1983-84
Team	New Jersey Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Otis Birdsong	37	27.7	14.2	0.8	1.8	2.6	3.4	0.8	0.1	1.7	2.0	6.1	13.0	.469	0.0	0.3	.000	2.0	3.4	.583
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1982-83	1984-85
Team	New Jersey Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Otis Birdsong	62	30.4	15.1	0.9	1.6	2.4	3.9	1.4	0.3	1.8	2.5	6.9	13.5	.511	0.0	0.1	.333	1.3	2.3	.566
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		%
Otis Birdsong	2	18.5	6.5	0.5	0.5	1.0	4.5	1.5	0.0	0.5	1.5	3.0	8.0	.375	0.0	0.5	.000	0.5	1.0	.500
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1983-84	1985-86
Team	New Jersey Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	69	31.4	19.8	1.1	1.4	2.5	3.9	1.2	0.2	2.5	2.6	8.4	16.6	.508	0.1	0.3	.250	2.8	4.6	.608
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		%
Otis Birdsong	11	35.2	15.2	0.6	1.7	2.4	3.7	1.8	0.1	2.0	3.5	6.5	15.5	.415	0.0	0.1	.000	2.3	4.4	.521
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1984-85	1986-87
Team	New Jersey Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Assists Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	56	32.9	20.6	1.1	1.6	2.6	4.1	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.6	8.8	17.3	.511	0.1	0.4	.190	2.9	4.6	.622
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1985-86	1987-88
Team	New Jersey Nets	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Nets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Otis Birdsong	77	31.1	15.8	1.1	1.5	2.6	3.4	1.1	0.2	2.3	3.0	7.0	13.7	.513	0.1	0.3	.364	1.6	2.7	.581
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		%
Otis Birdsong	3	44.0	23.0	1.7	2.3	4.0	3.3	2.0	1.0	3.0	4.7	9.7	18.3	.527	0.0	1.0	.000	3.7	6.3	.579
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1986-87	1988-89
Team	New Jersey Nets	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		%
Otis Birdsong	7	18.1	6.3	0.4	0.6	1.0	2.4	0.4	0.0	1.3	2.3	2.7	6.0	.452	0.0	0.1	.000	0.9	1.3	.667
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Season 11
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1987-88	1989-90
Team	New Jersey Nets	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		%
Otis Birdsong	67	28.1	10.9	1.1	1.4	2.5	3.3	0.8	0.2	1.9	2.1	5.0	11.0	.458	0.1	0.4	.360	0.7	1.4	.511
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Otis Birdsong	Magic Johnson
Season	1988-89	1990-91
Team	Boston Celtics	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Otis Birdsong	13	8.3	2.8	0.3	0.7	1.0	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.9	0.8	1.4	2.8	.500	0.1	0.2	.333	0.0	0.2	.000
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		%
Otis Birdsong	3	6.7	0.7	0.0	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.3	0.3	1.0	1.0	0.3	1.7	.200	0.0	0.7	.000	0.0	0.0	-
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
	Otis Birdsong	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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Otis Birdsong	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Otis Birdsong vs. Magic Johnson Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Magic Johnson and Otis Birdsong, 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