1. Hakeem 2. Ralph 3. Calvin 4. Hayes E. 5. Malone M. 6. Barkley All were more naturally gifted than TMac. DD
We know he went out like a ho at the end,but none of those guys were more talented than tracy and that includes my favorite player in any sport dream.
I think Mac was voted top 10 best athletes all time in the nba by NBA.com, but in my mind his athleticism was overrated especially when he was here as a Rocket. Clyde was more talented and a better athlete than Mac. And he was also in the top ten above Tracy. Surprised I didn't see Steve Francis mentioned. To me he was more talented than McGrady. Francis had quickness, speed, and hops greater than Mac. Mac had his size advantage but his speed and hops where way overrated later in his career. It was like every year he lost a little elevation and a bit of his step. <object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/DWoZ0J3DsmQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/DWoZ0J3DsmQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object> <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oU-vSeXskRY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oU-vSeXskRY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
I'd argue that Ralph Samson alone was more gifted than Tmac, let alone Dream. Don't you count health and longevity as part of a person's "talent"? Its something that's god given and ultimately can't be controlled after all.
Ain't nobody gonna disrespect the Dream by putting him in the same sentence as She-Mac. Hakeem was just in a class all by himself. No one with the combination of speed, quickness, size and skill will ever come in the league. Its like he was put together in a lab and created to be the perfect basketball player.
Thats confusing natural athleticism with basketball talent. David Noel is as good an NBA athlete as anyone (Who's David Noel?) Exactly. Not a lick of basketball talent. Joe Alexander could probably beat everyone in a combine. Athleticism is a skill, but its still on how you apply it to the sport. There's some strengths that Hakeem has that McGrady doesnt have, and vice-versa. McGrady has innate passing ability. Hakeem had great innate shot blocking instincts you can easily see in the highlights. McGrady has excellent ball handling. Hakeem's wasnt the best but his half court dribbling was one of the best for a CENTER ever. McGrady has body control and can get a shot off anytime he wants. Hakeem's array of moves on offense was unprecedented for a center. I understand fluidity, body control and ballhandling means you're in complete control of the action on the court. In Hakeem's case he added other dimensions to the center position that you have to credit him as an innovator of sorts. Do you see Andrew Bogut or Andrew Bynum doing what Hakeem is doing? Is Tim Duncan doing anything at the agility level Hakeem did it? But Danny Granger and Joe Johnson is doing close to what McGrady is doing. Hakeem never touched a basketball til his late teens. I'll say its close. I could give McGrady the nod. If McGrady actually worked at each aspect of his craft, he wouldnt have ANY weaknesses. He has ability to hit the outside the 3 pointer better. He can be a better free throw shooter. He could guard the 2 through 4 positions. He could block shots with this natural length. He had a quick first step to drive to the basket at will. He didnt turn the ball over that much. He could rebound. McGrady could have been this generation's Dr J, with better handling and outside shooting.
Too much T-Mac hate on this board. He gave us some good years. It's funnny that people respect SF3 more on the board, yet he could never elevate our beloved team into a playoff team. T-Mac's rockets, while never getting past the first round, was still a playoff team. Anyway, back on topic, I feel for the OP. I see what he's saying. T-Mac had freakish talent, he was just too lazy to apply it. I think he'sm ore talented than SF3, and maybe on par with Drexler. Hakeem is still more naturally gifted however. Reasons have been said already. regarding his late start in basketball, and the abilities he possessed that no other person his size had. You could make a case for Yao too. There have been a few NBa players with Yao's size, eg. Manut Bol, shawn Bradley and George Muresan (sp?). None of these giants were ever all-star calibre players, and that is because of their size. If these players were between 6'10" - 7'2", they would have been better players. Yao, however, is so naturally gifted that he can play at a superstar level (when healthy) regardless of his body mass. The length of his limbs shold also make it difficult to handle the ball. Put Yao in a 6'11" body with his natural talent, and he could a top 5 all time center. Overall, Dream is still the most naturally gifted rocket ever. I'd say most naturally gifted NBA player of all time is Lebron. He is also the most cowardly. Magic Johnson deserves a special mention for being the tallest PG in history.
it's hard to compare centers with guards even when it's just about talent. that's why i'd say hakeem and t-mac were about on the same level talent wise. i think hakeems reputation and his career achievements are well known around here. but with the tracy hate that's going on here people tend to deny the facts. let's not forget that there was a time in mcgrady's career when he was the most lethal scorer in the league. nobody could stop him from getting to the rim. he could just rise up and drain a mid-range jumper over anyone. he got to the line like lebron james. he ran the break and could score in the half court. he hit those pull-up threes at a pretty high rate with ease. he was really an unstopable all-around talent on the offensive end as a scorer. but mcgrady wasn't only an elite scorer. we all know that we as rockets fans have only seen glimpses of mcgrady's really elite scoring in his time with the rockets. but we've seen mcgrady as an amazing playmaker in a rockets jersey. t-mac's elite passing and court vision for a player with his size is well documented by jvg. he once averaged 6.5 assists per game in under 36 minutes per game in a jvg offense. the nba hasn't seen many players at mcgrady's position with his court vision and passing. let's also not forget that mcgrady once averaged almost 8 rebounds per game for the raptors. he was a great rebounder in his first years in the league. plus, before he became the go-to-guy of the orlando magic he also averaged over 2 blocks per 36 minutes as a raptor. once again, the nba hasn't seen many players that could do that at his position. now people will probably say that mcgrady wasn't a really great defender overall despite all the steals and blocks he got. this is probably true for his career, but if we're talking about potential mcgrady has shown the ability to be a great defender when he really wanted to. he has played some really, really great defense for little stretches under jvg. just remember the playoff series versus dallas when t-mac shut down dirk. yeah, we all know it didn't happen very often but if you're talking about potential you've got to admit that he had it in him to be an elite defender, too. so most people know that mcgrady hasn't won anything. they know that he isn't the hardest worker in the nba. they know that there are players who play with more heart and passion. they know that he always says what he feels and that that doesn't help his case. they know that he's tragically injury-prone. what most people don't know is how much of a talent tracy mcgrady really was.
you keep talking about tmacs body control.. dude give it up. Hakeem is top 3 greatest players of all time.
WOW. I was going to give you that TMac was number 2, but I would say he is #3 behind Dream and Clyde.
Come on now. Dream is more talented and no question about it. Tmac is probably second. Which is not really a compliment to him. Sad and pathetic actually that Tmac was not able to utilize the god-given talent.
Honestly this thread is such garbage I wish people would stop putting the name of the greatest Rocket ever in it. He doesn't deserve to be associated with such filth.
i dont know how he could even be top 3. Bowen, Dream, Sampson, Clyde, Pippen, Barkley, Francis, Tabak, Chilcutt, Bullard, and then maybe McGrady.
Part of talent is working hard, and getting the most out of your individual skill. All of those guys were more talented than Tmac....they all got more out of themselves, than Tmac ever did. 5 of those 6 are hall of fame players....Tmac is not...at least not yet. DD
