I ask this question because appearently there are some fans that truly believe he is since he decided not to play in some games in late March and all of April of last season, even though the Magic's fate had already been determined. I certainly don't think he is a quitter, considering how big his monkey was, and how Orlando's management kept it that big by not providing a good enough supporting cast for T-Mac.
I remember he said he wanted to retire before last season started. But anyways...our team is much better. Hopefully it all works out..we succeed. We win.
Shaq missed almost half a season the past two years because he didn't want to have surgery in the offseason. So in T-Mac is a quitter, Shaq is an even bigger one. What T-Mac did personally doesn't concern me at all. It was a lost season, and by not playing he actually helped the team get more lottery balls(ala Robinson with the Spurs). And we don't really know if he truly could play well had he returned. If it isn't for hockey guy trying to run him out of town and publicizing it, it would probably be a non-issue.
There was no point for TMac to finish the season, the team was in last place and there were no signs of being able to improve. TMac not finishing the season was probably a split decision by both the organization and himself. No point getting injured to win 1-2 more games, especially when you're on the worst team in the NBA.
I think most people are "quitters" in certain situations. There are exceptions, of course, people that try hard no matter what the circumstances... but my guess is, they're few. What's important, is when a person quits. If T-Mac quits when his team needs him most... then he's not going to succeed here. If, on the other hand, he just quits when the situation is hopeless. Well, I guess that means he's not the most determined player in the world, but it probably won't affect us.
Examples of quitters: 1. Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield's ear. 2. Scottie Pippen refusing to enter a playoff game. 3. The dude from the Raiders who went out and got drunk the day before the Super Bowl (although he did have a medical condition). 4. Vernon Maxwell, 1995 (although if Rudy kicked him off the team, then it doesn't apply).
Is this what our fans have already relegated to? Questioning our new star player's heart, three weeks into getting him, DURING THE OFFSEASON? It takes the fun out of obtaining one of the top five players in the league and two-time scoring champion. This is a pointless thread.
i won't say i was thrilled by the news he was essentially sitting out the end of the season (and not just because my fantasy team really needed him) but at the same time i really didn't give a damn then and i don't really give a damn now. considering he's not the most healthy person in the world (the back issue), what was he gonna do, risk hurting himself to drag orlando up from worst to second worst? not exactly a worthwhile goal. i can't really see myself sitting out because i just get more pissed off when i lose and wanna get back out there even quicker but i suppose at some point the situation would just break you mentally and you'd stop caring. so again, not great that he quit, but i'm not exactly concerned the division title's gonna be on the line and he's gonna just decide to chill on the bench for the last week of the season.
Magic put TMac on the injured list near the end of reason. Clearly they were thinking of lottery balls than trying to win a few more games to have the second worst record in the league...
It was during their 0-19 start, when teams started zoning up on him. He was frustrated and said that he couldn't figure out zone defenses and that they may drive him to retire. I think he statements were more out of frustration than anything else. I guess it just shows that he's not necessarily the most determined person, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I was under the impression that he was put on IR. He DOES infact have minor back problems(could come back and bite us in the a$$). Oh well....he is still a top 5 player in the league. Just hope he stays healthy. It's gonna be an uphill battle from here against SA,Minn, and Sac. Good luck to us all!!!
Hey, there are plenty of teams whose star players have problems that can bite them in the ass. The Lakers have Kobe Bryant who has had knee and shoulder problems and now legal problems. Garnett had some injuries, I can't remember what they were. Of course Sacramento and Chris Webber. McGrady's back problem is a drop in the bucket compared to some of the injuries around the league. I like this Rockets' team's chances against those teams better then last year's team who couldn't score for the life of them.
One thing I don't understand, despite McGrady's frustation earlier last year, and people saying he's not that determined and he is lazy and such, the guy still had a monster year. He has his worst field goal shooting year last year (42%) after being a career 45% field goal shooter, and his 3pt shooting percentage dropped from 38% to 34%, but that is expected since he had to carry the load more last year then at any point in his career taking the second most shot attempts per game for his career. And he STILL won the scoring title, shooting about 80% from the line, scoring 28 ppg, grab 6 rpg, dished out 5.5 apg, had 1.4 spg. People question his heart and determination, yet this is a guy who carried Orlando to the playoffs 3 years in a row when the team was a one star team. And was an 8th seed and almost took down Detroit. And, most of all, people question the guy's determination, heart and drive, here are McGrady's career playoff averages: 29.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.4 apg, 1.4 spg. Yet, one down year last year for Orlando and everyone comes out of the woodworks questioning the guy's heart. The media can be fickle no doubt about it!
I have a bigger problem with him getting his coach fired, and decdiding to leave. I also have a problem with the way he always blames his teamates for his faults. "T-Mac, why did you have defensive problems" "Well, I was the only one with any game on the team and I had to carry these guys, so I relaxed on defense". The guy sounds like Leon from the Budwiser commericals when discussing last season. That's basically what he says. And I have a problem with him continually bashing the Magic organiztion when they tried to put something around him with Grant Hill, but unfortunately it just didn't work out. The Magic have been more than fair to him, including taking back what most people consider a lessor star to accomadate his wishes.
