Tracy McGrady was one of the most elite scorers in the NBA during his relatively short-lived prime. He averaged 26.1 points per game over an eight-year span with the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets, but injuries sent his career downhill in a hurry. Despite that, T-Mac recently hinted that he believes he was as good as Kobe Bryant during his best years.
“Numbers don’t lie. I was in the conversation of being one of the best in the league,” McGrady told FOX Sports Radio’s Jay Mohr Sports on Wednesday. “Whether I was better than Kobe, or he was better than me … I was in the conversation and it didn’t matter at the time. I was playing at a high level and was very confident when I was on the court.”
If T-Mac feels that his game was comparable to Kobe’s, that must mean he believed he could have won multiple championships with Shaquille O’Neal as well.
“We would have had a great run,” he said when asked about Shaq. “I don’t know how many but, I know it would have never ended like it did with he and Kobe. I have a great relationship with Shaq. We would have never clashed heads like that. Two Alpha dogs going at there will always be (something going on).”
That’s easy to say when the two never actually played together. If Kobe and Shaq were never teammates, there’s no telling whether the two would have had a great relationship like the one McGrady says he has with the big man. They didn’t just start out hating each other from day one.
We’ll never know how good McGrady could have been if he stayed healthy. When asked if he believes he is a future Hall of Famer, T-Mac said he doesn’t know but to “look at my numbers.” If you ask me, he simply didn’t do it long enough.
