When two-way great Shohei Ohtani turned his slugging slump into the greatest game in baseball history in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, it started a discussion in the newsroom: What are some of the other top individual performances in sports? And how do they compare to Ohtani’s 10 strikeouts and three home runs?
Here are our picks for the NBA and men’s college hoops.
NBA: Magic Johnson’s 1980 NBA Finals Game 6
Atop Magic Johnson’s lengthy list of accomplishments is one that makes a compelling case for the greatest accomplishment in NBA history. After losing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar late in Game 5 of the 1980 NBA Finals, the Lakers flew to Philadelphia faced with trying to close out the 76ers without the reigning MVP.
Who would fill the hole at center? How about Johnson, Los Angeles’s flashy, 6' 9" rookie point guard who started in the middle, manned all five positions and finished the game with 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. It was the first of five championships in the Magic Era and the birth of a dynasty that went by one name: Showtime.
Greater than Ohtani? Close, given the situation (Finals close-out game) but I’d say no. —