Five Kevin Durant critics who need to look in the mirror
Tracy McGrady
Tracy McGrady is one of the biggest “what ifs?” in basketball.
What if he didn’t sustain so many injuries? What if teammate Yao Ming stayed healthy? What if his Houston Rockets teams were better?
McGrady was a great player who couldn’t get a ring. In fact, until his stint on the San Antonio Spurs’ bench in 2013, he never even made it past the first round of the playoffs. His ring chasing at the end of his career is irrelevant here.
What really stands out is how he almost formed a super team in 2000.
After three years in Toronto, McGrady was ready to leave, partly due to power struggles with Vince Carter. The Orlando Magic were trying to recruit three young studs, McGrady being one of them. The other two? Grant Hill and Tim Duncan.
The Magic pulled out all the stops in trying to convince two All-NBA players and a rising star.
McGrady was reportedly third on Orlando’s list, but he was still a part of what they were trying to build. They won over Hill, but lost Duncan to David Robinson and the Spurs who managed to keep him in San Antonio despite his apparent interest in the Magic.
Then McGrady signed. If Duncan hadn’t gotten cold feet, they would have built a super team.
Like Barkley, T-Mac was a player whose legacy is greatly changed because of a lack of postseason success. So there’s no reason why he shouldn’t sympathize with someone wanting to avoid that especially when he tried to do the same.
If a 73 win team offered him a chance to win a championship, there’s no way he would turn that down. Instead, he’s taking the fake high road and claiming that he’s “highly disappointed” in Durant.
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