Am I nuts or is Tracy McGrady vastly underrated?

[moss_is_1]

You're nuts

He was a never a superstar on the level of Kobe because he was injured half the time and when he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't anywhere as good as Kobe defensively

His peak has an argument for greater than Kobe's. Kobe just did it for far longer.

[Ito]

He was prolly lazy in real life and didn’t work out that much didn’t have that work ethic since he was so talented and could score without effort maybe that’s why he was always getting injured.. just a theory I don’t know maybe he wasn’t like LeBron and Kobe in that aspect you could tell LeBron is always working out

[Onlytimewilltel]

He was prolly lazy in real life and didn’t work out that much didn’t have that work ethic since he was so talented and could score without effort maybe that’s why he was always getting injured.. just a theory I don’t know maybe he wasn’t like LeBron and Kobe in that aspect you could tell LeBron is always working out

Nah, he had some serious back issues/question marks even as a youngster, something about his disks if I remember, seeing somewhere how it’s a miracle that he even stayed somewhat healthy as long as he did in those Orlando years. His injuries were not a result of him “not working out”. His body wasn’t built durable like a tank like a lebron and to some extent Kobe who also didn’t have major issues until late in the career.

[dennythedino]

I think he's rated just about right. Has HOF accolades but not sure he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Outside of his 7 All-NBA seasons and the 1999-00 season where he was a defensive-minded complementary player, the rest of his career is pretty much a whole lot of nothing.

He was a monster in that 2002-03 season though and was such a smooth scorer.

left out 2 time scoring champ.

That is true. But the 2nd year he was the scoring champ, his team was the worst team in the league and led to Orlando drafting their next franchise player (and then afterwards T-Mac asked to be traded).

[druggas]

In case some posters don't know, but there was a time that McGrady, Hill, and Duncan all came close to teaming up in their primes. That would have been a team to rule the NBA for a long time.

[Optms]

You're nuts

He was a never a superstar on the level of Kobe because he was injured half the time and when he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't anywhere as good as Kobe defensively

His peak has an argument for greater than Kobe's. Kobe just did it for far longer.

This. And I love Kobe. 2003 T-Mac was one of the greats and performed better offensively than Kobe that season. That version of T-Mac with a similar cast today would average 36-39 PPG today on elite efficiency.

[Fencer reregistered]

The time I participated in the Top 100 project, voters ranked him in the Top 40, slightly ahead of fellow Top 40 selection Paul Pierce.

[Rainwater]

He was prolly lazy in real life and didn’t work out that much didn’t have that work ethic since he was so talented and could score without effort maybe that’s why he was always getting injured.. just a theory I don’t know maybe he wasn’t like LeBron and Kobe in that aspect you could tell LeBron is always working out

T-Mac had scoliosis and one leg longer than the other. Pretty sure that was the source of most of his injuries. Shocked he played as long as he did.

[Rainwater]

He was prolly lazy in real life and didn’t work out that much didn’t have that work ethic since he was so talented and could score without effort maybe that’s why he was always getting injured.. just a theory I don’t know maybe he wasn’t like LeBron and Kobe in that aspect you could tell LeBron is always working out

Nah, he had some serious back issues/question marks even as a youngster, something about his disks if I remember, seeing somewhere how it’s a miracle that he even stayed somewhat healthy as long as he did in those Orlando years. His injuries were not a result of him “not working out”. His body wasn’t built durable like a tank like a lebron and to some extent Kobe who also didn’t have major issues until late in the career.

It was scoliosis, many didn't think he would play long.

[JXL]

It makes him overrated. In his prime, he's never made it to the conference finals, even when he had a good running mate in Yao Ming, his play leans more on the Carmelo Anthony side than the Kobe side; a great scorer but never reached he peak. Also, can't blame him, but his knee injuries also have been a factor.

[lamscott]

You are not nuts my friend. If he stayed healthy, he would have been one of the best. Kobe Lite.

[nikster]

You're nuts

He was a never a superstar on the level of Kobe because he was injured half the time and when he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't anywhere as good as Kobe defensively

His peak has an argument for greater than Kobe's. Kobe just did it for far longer.

This. And I love Kobe. 2003 T-Mac was one of the greats and performed better offensively than Kobe that season. That version of T-Mac with a similar cast today would average 36-39 PPG today on elite efficiency.

Yeah TMac would probably average close to 10 more points then players like Steph, Harden or Durant

[BK_2020]

You're nuts

He was a never a superstar on the level of Kobe because he was injured half the time and when he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't anywhere as good as Kobe defensively

His peak has an argument for greater than Kobe's. Kobe just did it for far longer.

This. And I love Kobe. 2003 T-Mac was one of the greats and performed better offensively than Kobe that season. That version of T-Mac with a similar cast today would average 36-39 PPG today on elite efficiency.

2003 T-Mac had 102 TS+. Kobe didn't score that inefficiently after his rookie season until his age 31 season after the injuries started mounting.

[Kobe187]

T-Mac and AI were arguably the 2nd & 3rd best pure scorers of their era behind only Kobe Bryant. T-Mac was an effortless scorer and was okay defensively, what he lacked was that grit, tenacity and intensity. Injuries took a toll as well, a very talented player that could have been much more. Lol he always looked baked.

[Ambrose]

His peak has an argument for greater than Kobe's. Kobe just did it for far longer.

This. And I love Kobe. 2003 T-Mac was one of the greats and performed better offensively than Kobe that season. That version of T-Mac with a similar cast today would average 36-39 PPG today on elite efficiency.

2003 T-Mac had 102 TS+. Kobe didn't score that inefficiently after his rookie season until his age 31 season after the injuries started mounting.

This is incorrect. It was 109, which is higher than any Kobe season ever.

[radeonboy]

Weird how this one turned out. On the Raptors Vince was always getting injured and getting called injury prone. McGrady looked good and on his way up even on the Raptors as a young player. Funny it turned out Vince got healthier and less injury prone but McGrady ended up with the opposite getting more injuries throughout his career. Vince had the better career because less injuries. McGrady if healthy long term would have had an even better career. McGrady is not overrated or underrated by most, he's where he should be considering how his career went. Multiple time scoring champ is no joke when Kobe was also doing his thing at the same time.

[birdlives_ma]

Anyone who was there for it knows how great he was. One of the nastiest offensive players ever, and a pretty clear blueprint for Durant IMO. Also one of the unluckiest guys ever when it came to how his career played out; Those teams with him and Grant Hill would have made at least a few deep playoff runs, no doubt in my mind. It's not either of their faults that the Magic (and Pistons before them) mishandled that injury to the point where Hill almost **** died from a Staph infection...

[BK_2020]

T-Mac is the guy who scored effortlessly yet sported a 99 career TS+ for his career, which is just 1 point over Iverson who always gets brought up as an example of inefficient chucking. Except T-Mac's career ended when he was only 32, while Iverson played until he was 34 and could have played a few more seasons if he wasn't blackballed.
Very few NBA players are more overrated than T-Mac.

[Onlytimewilltel]

Anyone who was there for it knows how great he was. One of the nastiest offensive players ever, and a pretty clear blueprint for Durant IMO. Also one of the unluckiest guys ever when it came to how his career played out; Those teams with him and Grant Hill would have made at least a few deep playoff runs, no doubt in my mind. It's not either of their faults that the Magic (and Pistons before them) mishandled that injury to the point where Hill almost **** died from a Staph infection...

Yup pretty much this. Super short prime but was great during it. Never had a good team really. His rockets teams with an injured Yao featured two injured stars (Mcgrady was not the same player after his back injuries in Orlando) , Shane battier who was an ok role player , and a bunch of nobodies basically. His team in Orlando sucked.

This is exactly why players today team up since their reputation is much greater after some winning, even if the deck is stacked. Just look at Hardens reputation now vs rockets. Night and Day. So yea T-Mac is rated fairly I’d say by most reasonable fans. He was absolutely awesome during his actual 2 or so year prime in Orlando before the injuries clearly slowed him down.

So yea overall his career can’t be compared to the greats and rightfully so. Availability and durability are important. Buy looking at simply his peak, he was right up there with the best of them. As many have mentioned T-Mac vs Kobe was a super serious debate for a couple of years before the injuries totally slowed him down.

[otwok]

You're nuts

He was a never a superstar on the level of Kobe because he was injured half the time and when he wasn't, he sure as hell wasn't anywhere as good as Kobe defensively

Yea he was. If you remember at the time the Kobe/TMac debate was real and it was probably the most talked about debate. When healthy he was legit in top 5-8 range and was the best player on the floor on any given night.

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