When talking about the Showtime Lakers, the three players who are almost always brought up are James Worthy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson. These three players are the most famous and all are in the Hall of Fame.
However, all three of the players were some of the most scandalous players on the Lakers and truly embody the Showtime Era.
James Worthy is looked at as the third option during the Showtime Era. Though this is at least somewhat true, Worthy’s prime was towards the end of Magic’s prime and the twilight of Kareem’s career.
Worthy was also very different from the Lakers as he was faithful to his wife and avoided drugs and alcohol, similarly to AC Green. He was a pretty innocent guy who was focused on basketball.
However, in 1990, Worthy was arrested in Houston for soliciting prostitutes after an escort service that he called had been seized by the police. Worthy messed up and it led to his wife leaving him. Though this incident did look bad, Worthy still is not nearly as bad as the other Lakers stars.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is looked at as a quiet man who often was not involved in the media. However, Kareem was no druggie, and though women were on top of him, he didn’t completely indulge. Some say that Kareem was actually racist and refused to talk to the white media, but he claims that he really only disliked white people in High School and at UCLA.
He was a quiet guy who was very involved in politics. But he was not humble. In fact, Kareem was really really arrogant. Almost all NBA players are arrogant, especially stars.
But Kareem always wanted to be the center of attention, even in his twilight. He often clashed with those who didn’t admire him and ignored the fans and media.
When Kareem retired in 1989, many media members chipped in to get him a ski trip, which only covered lodging. This angered Kareem considering Julius Erving got a fully paid vacation to the Bahamas when he retired. Kareem claims he should’ve been more open during his career and that would’ve prevented him from his image being a bit tarnished.
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