Shots fired http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/108429/could-dangelo-russell-be-right-about-mcgrady Again I can understand why people were so disappointed or disgusted by him. He had otherwordly talents that he used only for 2, 3 seasons tops.
Jordan in 1986-1987 averaged almost 38 ppg on close to 50% shooting. A 23 year old Shaq was already a dominant destroyer as well. I don't think you can say McGrady was the best 23 year old ever in the NBA. Lebron James, nuff said. There were way too many great 23 year olds in the NBA over the years to say TMac was goat. Even 23 year old Penny Hardaway was 1st team all NBA and averaged 24.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 8 assists in the finals against the Rockets, while shooting 50% from the field.
the article is still correct that mcgrady had the only PER over 30 for someone 23 or under. even jordan's best season was just a bit lower than 30. same for lebron. although anthony davis just broke tmac's record for highest PER under 23 and davis is only 21!
This kind of dumb argument is just the same as saying Lin is the best NBA player ever in a 7 games span.
Magic Johnson and not really even close He won a HS title, NCAA title and NBA title in a span of four years. All before he turned 21 Magic would probably include Larry Bird in the discussion
I don't see what this proves,but: Wilt Chamberlain: 1959-60 Jerry West:1960-61 *Oscar Robertson: 1960-61 (52 pts for respective team) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 1970-71 *Tiny Archibald: 1971-72 (46 pts. for respective team) Dr.J: 1973-74 Hakeem Olajuwon: 1985-86 Charles Barkley:1986-87 *Michael Jordan: 1986-87 Shaq: 1995-96 Tim Duncan: 1999-00 LeBron James: 2007-08 Adrian Dantley: 1979-80
sigh. On that list, only Tim Duncan won the NBA title at age 23 or under. (Kareem was actually 24). You go through all that effort and leave off Magic and Russell. See my comment about Magic, above. And Russell actually won three titles in a row...two NCAA, followed by NBA Title his rookie year, albeit there was only 4 team in the playoffs back them.
A peak of 3 seasons is pretty reliable nowadays. Enough data to evaluate While mostly Asians and Christians thought Lin would be a special player the whole world thought Orlando Mac would be the next best thing I can recall from 2001-2003.
Sadly for him, none but the discussion was never about that. The discussion was how much potential he had as a young player, not just Top 5 material but the very best or Top 3 in history, he just never held on to that.
Do any of you think he gave up on the Rockets? He scored 3 ppg his last season with us, then went to the Knicks and scored 9 ppg. It seemed really fishy to me.
