Here’s a Magic Johnson highlight you might never see, because it was ruled an offensive foul. This is every Giannis drive you’ve seen in transition for 10 years, but 40 years ago it was illegal. Players were discouraged from plays like this. It wasn’t because they couldn’t.

It’s a bad call. Doc isn’t close to set and is moving sidewise even, jumping in the air, etc. I don’t necessarily think Doc should have been whistled for a foul either, as a no call looks like the best call there to me. But if there had to be a foul called, it would have had to be on Doc there, not Magic. Bad call.

It’s a bad call in 2025. In 1983 this is just a call. You can’t dislodge a defender.

@MakeUSA_Great He didn’t dislodge him though, they jumped into the same space and Doc only got his shoulder into the space before Magic got his chest there This is defensive or preferably a no call This is bad officiating regardless of era

@MakeUSA_Great He jumped to dunk the ball and Doc was in that occupied space. Didn’t have to be perfect like today, he just had to be in the area. Defender got the benefit of that play 90% of the time.

Here’s the exact moment from the replay that Magic begins rising up into the air. He has momentum and speed on his side with a clear and direct path to the rim. Doc is below Magic. Both here at the beginning as Magic starts to lift and the entire time. Doc jumps into the air and makes contact with Magic from the side. He has not established position anywhere. Magic never dislodges him as Doc never has any position to dislodge. Doc initiates the contact from the side as he jumps into the air, where he is always beneath Magic, because he has no direct momentum and is moving first backwards and then sideways, whereas Magic has full momentum moving straight with a clear and direct path to the rim with no one in his way. It was a bad call. For 1983. It should have been a no call, IMO.

@BobbyTimeclock It’s 1983. You didn’t have to establish position. You just had to be in the general area. Doc goes straight up and is blocked from doing so by Magic. Defense got that call 9 times out of 10 back then, which is why you almost never saw players attempting this in traffic.

To clarify: players were discouraged from driving and dunking in traffic back then. As long as the defender wasn’t too far under the basket, it was an offensive foul 90% of the time. There was no such thing as going through a player in the lane, whether he was set or not.

You can say Doc wasn’t set, you can say it was just a bad call, but you’re looking at it through modern eyes. There’s reason you don’t see Magic finish like this in his highlights and that’s because the way the game was called at the time made it a bad decision.

That’s a lie, Barkley did this regularly.

And no one was brave enough to stand in his way and take the charge

The NBA was better when the off arm wasn't a weapon you just threw around the entire game.

Wasn’t even using the off arm. He just lowered his shoulder and dislodged the defender, which players have been doing since the 90s

He gets called for the left arm on the shoulder. Blake Griffin wouldn't have a single career dunk if they still called games like this. Also, the number of offensive fouls on ball handlers would be astronomical. The game was so much cleaner.

Blake Griffin is probably the guy other than Giannis that’s benefitted the most from this type of play.

Yes, although if you count using the off arm while dribbling that list is extremely long. Have you seen LeBron? Cooper Flaag?...

Yeah but that’s extending the off arm and blatantly shoving. This isn’t that.

Same concept when it comes to how offensive initiated contact and off arm usage was officiated then vs now.

What was Magic supposed to do, put his left arm behind his back?

Not lean into the defender to prevent him from jumping. Believe it or not, the offensive player initiating contact used to be illegal

@CoogTom Dunno man. That seems like a natural body reaction considering he was bringing the ball from the right side to dunk it. Didn’t look like a foul at all. Riley was right to be livid.

@CoogTom Didn’t say it wasn’t a natural movement, but if you did anything to knock a defender off balance, no matter how small, it was usually an offensive foul. Erving tried to go straight up and couldn’t because Magic leaned into him. That’s all the ref needed to see to call it.

@paschal8719 @CoogTom So basically nba (or ABA based on things your saying) was a complete joke back then? He didn’t lean in he literally had the open spot and took off from it and defender came late. You beat defender to the spot it’s yours

@paschal8719 @CoogTom If it was his spot, Erving wouldn’t have hit him on the way up. He was vertical. You’re looking at it from today’s perspective where the offensive player gets every advantage. Back then it was the defense player.

At least from what I’ve watched and tracked Bang bang plays go the defender’s way a lot more in the 80s

Even back then, it shouldn’t have been called. Terrible call.

95 percent of the league travels on every play, all the 70s and 80s players were actually better ball handlers because they couldn't just use their whole hands, they had to actually keep dribbling

Magic, though rated as an all time great, is underrated at this point. Look at his handle here as a tall player! And later career magic shooting 90% from the line while constantly possessing the ball and able to draw a foul at will? Yikes!

Giannis is bigger, stronger, and faster than Magic. This is not a knock at Magic’s, but those calls don’t go on Giannis because there would be no one at the rim when he gets there.

Yes, all of Giannis’s dunks are famously wide open with no one else in the paint

My point was that he is bigger, taller, faster than magic. The statement was because of this play. Very few people are jumping in front of Giannis with a full head of steam.

@Charlottean28 Because they know they’ll be called for the foul, not Giannis Different rules today

@Charlottean28 Correct, different roles. The athleticism is different today as well. Whether you want to void those are not are up to you. Giannis is more explosive, bigger, stronger, and faster than magic. I would also argue that no one is stepping in front of a 6’11 monster going downhill.

What was the reasoning behind a call like this…?

Initiated contact going for a dunk. Doc tried to go up to contest but gets underneath Magic’s shoulder and that’s all the ref needed to see to waive it off. 90% of those plays at the rim were either no calls or offensive fouls. They wanted you to go around or shoot over the top.

That’s pretty horrrific tbh

Because you grew up seeing the game played differently. Same reason people think players couldn’t dribble with their left back then because basic crossovers had a high risk of being called carrying. The turnover volume back then was hilariously high. Everything was a violation.

@KuKhahil the dribbling thing is why Zeke will always rank above Kyrie for handles

@KuKhahil Not fair to Kyrie or Zeke to compare. They grew up playing differently versions of basketball. Case in point: this is what usually happened when you tried to switch to your left back then:

@Whojive I just realized how fast the ref got the ball to the opponent to start the next possession 😭😭😭

@Whojive One of the things that I actually do like about 80s games. They kept the pace moving even with all the whistles

Let's not gloss over how excited that ref is to wave it off and call an offensive foul 🤣

Why I always laugh at people saying Magic wouldn’t translate bc of his lack of shooting. Ignoring the fact that in a more shooting centered league he’d obviously focus on that, with the way defense is played today he could still give you 20ppg just driving lol

i’m just now realizing this was on dr. j lol…

Eliminate the gather step plz

But i was told by pre-teens on this app that players are more skilled today than in previous eras and that it had nothing to do with rules changes allowing offensive players to do whatever they wanted. Could they be wrong?

Why was this even called back then? Where is the offensive foul?

The fact that everyone is mad and confused tells me that this was just a bad call and not the norm. Guys like Kemp and Dominique did this all the time without a call.

All that while actually dribbling!! That would have been 3 dribbles with Giannis

Seems a lot of people just don’t understand or accept that the NBA has changed drastically to make scoring easier. It’s a business first and high scores and displaying athleticism is appealing to the masses. Better or worse is an opinion but the fact is it’s different.

Giannis is a bull in a China shop. He actually sucks. Really. He’s just huge. Puts his head down, uses his body well enough. He’s not a skilled big man. He’s just a load for a softball league that shoots 42% of its shots from 3. He wouldn’t have any knees left in the 90s.

Poster of the decade holy moly. And against Doc J!

Educate them brother.

How often was something like this getting called?

Not often, because players weren’t initiating contact often, mainly because any little thing like this was an offensive foul.

SGA would foul out in 6 minutes if they played by these rules today

The ruling needs to change, I can't stand watching a single Oklahoma City Thunder game. What is happening to the league is outrageous to say the least. Basketball is soon to become a no contact sport whatsoever.

Same thing for Curry and guys like him today, if they took 1 of those shots, they would be on the bench so fast their heads would spin. Guys back then could shoot like that , they just were not allowed too

And the post players had to make moves back then not just shoulder into people It all starts now with more arms/hands on defense and offense has to respond A shame they don’t just call the simple fouls

That was a bad call now and 40yrs ago

The rule should just be: If the defensive player initiates contact that impacts the play, it’s a defensive foul. If the offensive player initiates contact that impacts the play, it’s an offensive foul. If either the offensive or defensive player flops, it’s a technical foul.

Why do we act like LeBron doesn’t do this every drive

I love how dramatic everything is in the 80s like look at the fucking ref 😂

Referees have got significantly better since the 80s. Professionalism, technology, use of the international talent pool and they still miss about 5%. With all these style clips there's a very good chance it was just a bad call.

How in the world was that an offensive foul? Holy cow!

That shouldn’t be an offensive foul. Magic took off, Doc was out of position and jumped in his way while he was already airborne