Most, if not all NBA fans know the big story of those finals. Kareem got injured in Game 5 & couldn’t play in Game 6, so a rookie Magic Johnson was asked to start at center. Magic delivered an iconic masterpiece, probably the greatest game of his career with 42 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists (teammate Jamaal Wilkes shouldn’t go unmentioned here too, putting up 37 points and 10 rebounds). That performance earned Magic his first of 3 career Finals MVP awards.

However, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the Lakers’ best player in the regular season where he won MVP (25 ppg, 11 rpg, 4.5 apg, 3.4 bpg on 60% shooting), the playoffs (32 ppg, 12 rpg, 3 apg, 4 bpg on 57% shooting), and also the NBA finals against Julius Erving’s Philadelphia 76ers.

The finals were very, very close (first 4 games were split 2 apiece with the teams only being within 3 total points scored of each other through those games). Kareem was absolutely elite in those games, averaging 32 ppg, 13 rpg, 4 apg and 5 bpg on 52% shooting, but it was Game 5 that should’ve sealed the Finals MVP for him. Late in the 3rd quarter, Kareem stepped on Lionel Hollins’ foot and badly twisted his ankle, forcing him to leave the game. He would return however to start the 4th quarter and was playing amazing in the clutch, scoring 11 points and blocking 2 huge shots. Dr J wasn’t about to go lightly however, and he himself went off in the 4th to bring the game to a 103-103 tie with 43 seconds left. Magic then threw a pass downcourt to Kareem who dunked all over the Dr, and completed the 3 point play to give the Lakers a 3 point lead with 33 seconds left, and Norm Nixon would seal the game at the free throw line. 

Kareem’s 14 4th quarter points on a bad ankle gave him 40 for the game, along with 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocks on 16-24 from the field. After the end of game 5, Kareem’s averages for the Finals looked like this:

33.4 PPG

13.6 RPG

3.2 APG

4.6 BPG

55 FG%

In contrast, Magic’s numbers, while still very impressive especially for a rookie, didn’t exactly stand out compared to Kareem (17 ppg, 10 rpg, 9 apg, 2.6 spg on 56% shooting through the first 5 games). Kareem had the Finals MVP seemingly locked up. And then Game 6 happened, and Magic played the game of his life, stealing Finals MVP with a single performance, although it sounded like even the voters at the time wanted to give Kareem the award:

“Sports columnist Bill Livingston publicly confessed that he and others changed votes to deny Kareem the award because CBS did not want to present an award to an empty seat. Enough of us saps changed our votes to deny Kareem the award 4-3.”

https://thesportsrush.com/nba-news-kareem-abdul-jabbar-deserved-1980-finals-mvp-award-over-magic-johnson-statistics-give-the-lakers-center-a-massive-advantage-over-earvin-johnson/ 

Kareem was very clearly the best player in 4 out of the 5 games he played in, and had the absolute monster numbers and heroic Game 5 performance that should’ve gotten him the Finals MVP, but he ended up being denied the award because of one game in which he wasn’t there. 

So, what’d you guys think? Should Kareem have won the Finals MVP in 1980, or was Magic the rightful recipient?