KJ just never struck me as a superstar kind of player. In fact, I always felt he was about the 4th or 5th best PG in the League for most of his career, although, you're right, there was a time when he was arguably the best PG other than Magic Johnson.
Yeah, 6 out of 22 GMS actually voted him as the best PG in the league in '90, and that was before the playoffs which may have raised his stock considering he led Phoenix to the WCF and played very well. I don't think he had a case over Magic(who was pretty much as good as ever and had arguably his 2nd best season). But I think that shows how good KJ was. With Magic retired, I think KJ was the best PG in both '92 and '94.
He seemed to have a superstar's game to me with his mid-range jumper and quickness allowing him to get to the basket at will making him such a scoring threat. And that ability to penetrate adding to his good passing ability to make him an elite playmaker. Some of those playoff games he took over makes me hold him in high regard. Injuries did hold him back to some degree, though. Particularly once Barkley got there.
Here's a Sports Illustrated article from 1990 with some parts about KJ's emergence.
Quote:
Though neither outplayed Magic individually in the Laker series—he averaged 30.2 points per game, after all—both were far more effective than Scott. KJ, who averaged 22 points and 11.2 assists, shredded Scott, against whom he was matched most of the time, with his quickness and versatility. "Once he gets a step on you, you might as well give it to him," said the Lakers' James Worthy after KJ scored 37 points in the Suns' series-clinching 106-103 win on May 15. "Either he'll get a layup or the free throws." There are few players in the NBA to whom the Lakers extend that kind of accolade.
Quote:
Let's be realistic here, though—it is Johnson who draws up the master plan for the Phoenix offense, and Hornacek who waits, analyzes and fills in the empty spaces. It was KJ, not Hornacek, who appeared on Arsenio Hall's show the night after the Suns' decisive win in L.A. And it was KJ, not Hornacek, who made the All-Star team this past season and will probably become a perennial. "Kevin carries me," Hornacek says with a laugh, and there's a degree of truth to that.
Johnson is one of those players who come along only a few times a decade, a wunderkind whose talents are uniquely tailored to the pro game. Besides Jordan, is there any other player who so quickly became that much better than anyone thought he would be? Utah's Karl Malone? Dumars, perhaps? At any rate, it's a short list. By the midway point of last season—only his second in the NBA—KJ had already elevated himself into that class of point guards just below Magic, where he is clustered with Detroit's Thomas, Utah's John Stockton, and Mark Price, the man for whom KJ was sacrificed by Cleveland.
I have often thought about players in KJ's situation. Does it nd should it lessen a players historical value if he came along at a time of great strength at his position. Had KJ played 10 years earlier, he'd likely have 2-4 all-NBA 1st team nods and perhaps would have led his teams deeper into the playoffs.
I go back and forth. On the one hand, it's about what a players does in the time they are given most of all for me. On the other, I know a guy like KJ was very close if not on the same level as Isiah, Stockton and Magic during his peak. Knowing that it's hard to put those guys all in the top 35 and keep KJ on the edge of the top 70-80
Memories fade over time so I re-watched a couple of KJ games from the 93 playoffs last week (game 5 West conference and games 1+2 Finals).
He was so fast and aggressive to the basket and his 17 foot jumpshot was money, and he always remained a pass-first guard. Hard to gauge him in the era of great PGs -- similar to the glut of talent at small forward in the 80s.
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