Who is better, Russell or Magic?
Bill Russell leads with a GOAT score of 92.5 against 91.9 for Magic Johnson — a gap of 0.6 points on GOAT Rank's weighted model.
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Russell vs Magic
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Quick answer
GOAT Rank currently ranks Bill Russell above Magic Johnson: 92.5 vs 91.9. Bill Russell leads on Honours, Dominance. Magic Johnson leads on Peak, Statistics.
How the GOAT Score is calculated →GOAT verdictgoatrank.world
RussellWinner
92.5Russell wins: Dominance, Honours
Magic
91.9Magic wins: Peak, Statistics
Candidates
Locked to BasketballShareable URL · /compare/bill-russell-vs-magic
Time range
Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Weighted GOAT score
🇺🇸 Bill Russell
92.5
Russell leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories.
1. Bill Russell
2. Magic Johnson
Category breakdown
Season form · Form index per season
Career timeline · Form index per season
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through season 5 · Form index per season1. 🇺🇸 Bill Russell5 seasons played · career day 1,826112.9 points per game
Setting the pace at this stage
2. 🇺🇸 Magic Johnson5 seasons played · career day 1,82592.6 points per game
-18.0% vs Russell at the same stage
| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Russell | 0 | 0 | 19.6 | 42.3 | 88.9 | 208.9 |
| 🇺🇸 Magic | 0 | 0 | 18 | 39.6 | 92.6 | 172.5 |
Careers are aligned from debut; the first 5 season periods are measured against the same career window.
Fan vote — data vs the people
GOAT Rank · the data
Russell92.5
Magic91.9
FAQ
Where does Magic beat Russell?
Magic scores higher on peak, statistics. Russell leads on dominance, honours.
How is the Russell vs Magic score calculated?
Both are scored on peak, dominance, honours, statistics, longevity within their sport. Russell: 92.5, Magic: 91.9.
What do you think?
0 commentsMake your case for Russell vs Magic. The scoring is published in full — if you can point at the pillar or the weight you disagree with, we read it. Read the methodology paper.