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More Athletic - Amen Thompson or Tracy McGrady

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Rokman, Jul 30, 2025 at 2:23 PM.

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Who is/was More Athletic

  1. Amen Thompson

    70 vote(s)
    71.4%
  2. Tracy McGrady

    28 vote(s)
    28.6%
  1. Reeko

    Reeko Member

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    even Houston T-Mac still had it for a little while

     
    Astrodome and Rokman like this.
  2. YaoMac09

    YaoMac09 Member

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    Amen is more “athletic” but TMac had much better handles, coordination and shooting ability. This allowed TMac make a lot more athletic plays that wouldn’t even be an option for Amen at this point in time - especially with ball in hand.
     
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  3. Rokman

    Rokman Member

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    T-Mac was that guy playing 2-3 steps ahead of everyone in his day.
     
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  4. Rokman

    Rokman Member

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    I remember how excited and impressed I was about Francis' athleticism, which was extraordinary . . . . until I saw McGrady's and was absolutely floored. When we traded Francis, Mobley and Cato for McGrady it felt like we just hit the Mega Millions. I was so pumped!
     
  5. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    If you guys really wanna talk about someone being more athletic and talented it's gonna be JC Chase. The way he carried his team and never got the recognition to this day pisses me off.
     
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  6. xtruroyaltyx

    xtruroyaltyx Member
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    Amen and I don't think it's close.

    I'll put it this way...if there was a contest with multiple athletic events...Like shuttle runs, vertical, 100 m dash, 40 yard dash, weight lifting events, long jumps, hurdles...ect....I'm taking Amen all day everyday over Tmac.

    Love Tmac.

    But when considering the total package, it's Amen. Tracy MAY have him beat in vertical, but even if he topped out with a higher vert it's not by much and Amen has him beat in pretty much every other category. Speed, change of direction, acceleration, lateral agility, strength, quickness...

    There's a reason NBA players and coaches talk about how athletic the league is and how Amen (and Asaur) are like the 99th percentile of the 99th percentile.

    Honestly, other than young Lebron I've never personally witnessed an athlete with the size, speed, quickness, agility, strength combo that Amen has. Young Lebron is maybe the only player that I've personally witnessed that I would even put in the same category as Amen from a total athleticism perspective.
     
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  7. Rokman

    Rokman Member

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    I think it's spelled JC Chasez, and I agree, N*Sync would have been nothing without him. Timberlake got all the cred. B.S man, B.S.!!


    I kid, I kid!!
     
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  8. Rokman

    Rokman Member

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  9. OremLK

    OremLK Member

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    T-Mac was clearly very athletic even by NBA standards, but even in this clip, his head doesn't come close to clearing the rim. I swear to god I've seen Amen do that on multiple occasions. With a listed height an inch shorter than McGrady's.

    If we're purely talking about physical athleticism, I maintain Amen is clearly stronger on the raw "explosiveness" traits. Quickness, verticality. T-Mac was great, but his athleticism was more focused on body control and coordination. Which are legitimately super important, arguably more important.
     
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  10. mac_got_this

    mac_got_this Member

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    TMac has everything over him outside. Of athleticism and that’s not a big gap because TMac s athleticism was way more functional and beneficial to his actual game.

    TMac taught me a valuable lesson. Never ever make a handle with a players name incorporated. I don’t hate TMac but I’m definitely. Not a fan of of him after how he left
     
  11. Rokman

    Rokman Member

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    Enjoy



    Watch that first step and dunk around the 2:00 mark.

    If you aren't convinced after that video that McGrady is an absolute athletic freak of nature and a basketball savant, nothing will convince you.
     
    #51 Rokman, Jul 30, 2025 at 10:12 PM
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2025 at 10:23 PM
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  12. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    Dear God, as much as I love TMac, I forgot how insane he was pre-Orlando when he was in Vince's shadow. LOL.
     
  13. Arnel

    Arnel Member

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    Yea agreed. Obviously T-Mac was way more skilled, but just athletically? This is definitely Amen.
     
  14. Arnel

    Arnel Member

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    This… I’m sure someone smart can pull up some of their videos and figure out some of the speed and what not. Amen is much faster and laterally quicker. And much twitchier.

    Mcgrady was a savant with the ball so he could do things that Amen still can’t but just athletically if that’s the only question it’s obviously Amen.
     
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  15. yixiixiy

    yixiixiy Member

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    That’s simply not Amen’s play style. They are very different. TMac is not about speed, he’s always about that elegance, about that finesse and about that show.

    Amen’s crazy highlights were very different. Seldom on the offensive side, it’s not about airtime, not about windmill 360s. It’s about chase downs that no humans should be expected to finish, it’s about that double jumps that you would never see any players perform in this generation. His athleticism is the perfect blend of pure and functional athleticism.

    To me it’s a notch above the flashiness showmanship that TMac displayed at the peak of his career.

    Also, I would not equate crazy highlights to athleticism.

    I don’t think there is any evidence for each side. It’s an eyes of the beholder judgement. You can disagree and it’s perfectly fine.

     
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  16. Arnel

    Arnel Member

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    So you just said that Amen is faster, Amen is a lot more agile, Amen is more explosive and quicker laterally and quicker off his feet. But that … TMac was more athletic? lol what am I missing here.
     
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  17. Holybats

    Holybats Member

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    Amen by mile
     
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  18. roslolian

    roslolian Member

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    Nah bro I was a big Tmac fan but Amen is on another level.

    Maybe TMac can also do those instantaneous twitch movements Amen does but he didnt show it on the court. I dont recall Tmac being quick enough to guard hyper athletics pgs like DRose.
     
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  19. daywalker02

    daywalker02 Member

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    Toronto Mac was a beast defensively and close to Amen.

    I reckon that Amen is engineered out of a lab athletically therefore a hard question.

     
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  20. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    i've heard that prime mergady could beat kirby and lerbon. ausar's offensive game is probably much much better than mergady tho.
     
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