I could make the arguement, probably not win it, but could make it, that Magic wasn't the MVP of the Lakers during the 80's run. Imagine the joy of being able to feed a guy in the paint who had an unstoppable shot? A guy who had led his previous team to 2 NBA championships in 6 seasons; A guy who averaged better than 30 PPG and 15 Boards per game over six seasons with the Bucks. The Big O never won a championship before The Big Guy came to Milwaukee, and Magic didn't win one without him either.
Kareem was an absolutely dominant force in the NBA for 20 seasons (BTW, his rookie season he averaged 29/14).
Pretty tough to leave Abdul-Jabbar's chiseled face off any mountain representing NBA's greatest.
EDIT: Sorry, Magic did win one in 1991 after KAB retired. Wind out of my sails.