I know Amen has not reached his prime yet so there is still some potential to grow athletically, maybe, kinda hard to imagine considering his abilities, but who do you think is the more athletic player Amen Thompson now or Tracy McGrady in his prime. Personally, after recently watching several young McGrady videos, I gotta lean McGrady. Thoughts?
Amen is more athletic, but then again, he's in the 1% of the 1% in that regard. He just moves at x1.25 compared to everyone else on the floor. Insane functional athlete. What TMac has over him is the smoothness. TMac at his peak was poetry in motion, truly amazing to watch. Amen is more robotic with some of his movements on offense, and may still look clunky at times.
There aren't many people more athletic than Amen Thompson, he is up there with Hakeem. Compared to T-Mac he is faster, quicker, more explosive, and a better jumper. Tmac's best highlights don't even compare to any of Amen's from either season. He does have some nice self alley oops off the backboard though.
In terms of their athleticism relative to the rest of the league in their respective time period, I think Amen is higher than Toronto T-Mac, but not by much. T-Mac was just overshadowed by Vince Carter and then got injured in Orlando.
Everyone saying Amen, I get it, it's fresh in your mind and there is a lot of talk about it but go watch some best of McGrady especially Orlando period and I think you're going to be surprised.
I remember the excitement of McGrady in his prime and he did some wild stuff. But on a purely athletic level, he didn't do anything Amen can't do, plus Amen is much stronger and physically tougher. Where McGrady has Amen beat by a mile is skillset. Even to this day, some of his moves remain unique to him because nobody else was able to master them. As most of us may remember, his weaknesses were a lack of physical (and sometimes mental) toughness and absolutely horrific shot selection. He could have easily been a 50% shooter + 10 FTAs/game guy if he wanted to. Instead, he took more "heat check" shots than anyone in the NBA. If McGrady's mind had matched his crazy athleticism and skills, he would have been a top 10-15 player of all time IMO.
Pre injury Orlando TMac was better than Kobe.Then, he gradually became a shell of himself due to the back and knee issues. Athleticismwise, they're very close. It manifests differently in each. (Amen has better lateral movement and body control among other differences) Amen is headed to superstardom too....on par with those guys. Just a different game... He'll be one of the top 2 or 3 best players in the NBA eventually.
I have to disagree with everyone saying Amen is more powerful than McGrady. I think the opposite is true. As fans we are too far removed from McGrady playing to recall the ferocity with which he played when he was going off for 32 a game in Orlando. We remember the older, slower McGrady who broke down and broke our hearts. Go back, watch some best of McGrady and then tell me he's not at least equal if not greater strength than Amen.
McGrady had a much more well rounded offensive skillset. Looking at things simply from an athletic point of view, it's easily Thompson. McGrady had a lot of assets, he was a great athlete, he was long, he could pass, he could shoot, played defense in his younger days, etc... While McGrady was no-doubt a great athlete, he's wasn't ever a top end all-time athletic freak like Amen.
I will say, supposedly Amen had a 44" vert while playing at OTE but he chose not to get it tested at the combine so take that with a grain of salt I guess. McGrady was measured at a 40 - 42" vert. Here is what the Internet says about verticals. Average: For men, the average standing vertical jump is around 20-25 inches. Good: A jump in the 25-30 inch range is considered excellent. Elite: Jumps of 36 inches or more are reserved for the most explosive athletes. Some players, like Michael Jordan, have even achieved jumps of 48 inches, according to BetUS, though this is exceptionally rare. Elite of the Elite: Jumps exceeding 40 inches are exceptionally rare and are often seen as the "elite of the elite" level. That said, McGrady had Elite of the Elite athleticism contrary to what some here think.
Amen's more athletic, but Tmac's way more skilled. The difference between Tmac's skill and Amen's is significantly wider than the difference between their athleticism tbh, young Tmac was in the upper echelon of athletes in his day, Amen is not remotely in the upper echelons of skill set, especially offensively.
I remember young T-Mac (Raptors/Orlando), who was an elite athlete. What made T-Mac's athleticism special was how fluid and coordinated he was. He was able to pair explosiveness with fluidity, skill, and touch. Amen is more twitchy, powerful, and I'd even say more explosive. If you're looking for more aesthetic dunker, it's Tmac all of the way. If you're looking for a player that's harder to stay in front of going downhill, I'd say Amen. If you remove basketball skill entirely and just looked at vertical, sprint, speed, quickness, lateral movement, etc, I think I've seen more TMac type of athletes than I've seen Amen and I'd overall give the edge to Amen but this is a fun topic
Love Amen but McGrady was more athletic. Young Toronto McGrady was an absolute freak. Also, Amen is 22. He’s not getting any more athletic nor is anybody else that age. These guys absolute prime in terms of athletic ability is around 18-22. Guys will maintain for 4-5 years beyond 22 but that age I stated is their peak imo.
