I was looking at the all time scoring list and realized that Michael Jordan was the best player to ever play the game. Stats don't lie and if he played through his two departures from the game, he'd have the record for career points scored(not to mention all his rebounds, assists and steals(and 2.7 TOs per game)). Jordan is the best, but Tracy is no slouch. Currently Tracy has 12,423 points for his career and he is only 26. Jordan played until he was 40 so for the purposes of this thread I will assume that Tracy will play 14 more years/seasons. Tracy has averaged roughly 27.7 ppg over the last 5 seasons. Assuming he will continue to score like this for the next 10 years is probably safe barring injury. Let's say he plays 75 games a year for the next 10 years at this scoring pace, he'll score 20,775 points. That puts him at 33,198 points for his career. Kareem scored 38,387 points in his career. The 33,198 points by Tracy at age 36 leaves him 5,189 points short. If he averaged 17.3 ppg for the next 4 years at 75 games a year he would be at Kareem's record. Michael probably would have scored +40,000 points had he stayed in the game. McGrady seems to have the mental capacity to make it thru any personal battles. Since turning 21(age that Michael started), Tracy has put up very very similar numbers to Michael. Playoffs are the place where greatness is achieved, but I think we have a player on our team that could be called the greatest basketball player ever when his career is over. I would guess the measuring stick would be to win 7, continued hitting of game winners and putting up the numbers for 14 more years. Kind of cool to think about, eh? Kobe has one more year and 14,034 points
I don't have the link but I remember T-mac saying that there's no way he could play past age 35.. he said he feels old already lol.. but the love for the game will make you do things or try to do things that you never thought possible. Hopefully, that is the case with Tmac when that time comes and hopefully he'll be rocking Rocket red.
He does have a chance. But I have a theory that all of these guys that came straight out of high school will not play to the age that some of these older players did. For example by the age of 22 KG had already logged 10,000 minutes in the NBA. That is a lot of wear on a body at such a young age. I think a lot of these guys will retire in the 35-36 range instead of the 38-39 range.
If stats don't lie, then why do you say Jordan is the greatest? What would have done if... isn't any sort of statistical truth. Just like some players had careers cut short by injuries, Jordan's was cut short by a propensity to retire often. Insofar as total career points show who is the greatest (which isn't very far), it's Kareem, not Jordan. Kareem's got the points, Jordan doesn't.
If's and's and but's- If Magic Johnson hadn't contracted HIV, many people would have been saying that he is the best player ever. His career definately took a severe downturn after he got sick. But that's not your point- I can see where you are coming from. If Tracy stays healthy, I can definately see him getting in that top 5 and maybe #2. At the end of the road I suppose it's all about drive to get to the top.
Unlikely, but possible. I know this is off-topic, but I got to browsing in the history. You may not be surprised to see Karl Malone's FTA record. I don't see anyone ever coming close to that. Except maybe Flop Nowitzki.
Found the article that goes with my previous post about tmac saying how it's unlikely he would be playing after age 35. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2864492 I hope he plays a few more years after 35.
True but not all minutes are created equal. An 82 game NBA season is much more taxing than a year in college.
Don, I mean no offense to you, but I could really care less about how T-Mac compares to Jordan. Jordan was better than T-Mac is now, and how much better Jordan was really doesn't matter because he doesn't play anymore. -P1st, S2nd
That's a very healthy way to look at it. Comparisons are just that, comparisons... and no offense taken. I thought some people would be interested, some not. Of course some like to argue just for the sake of arguing, right JuanValdez? I was talking about his averages, overall totals, championships, game winning shots and his ability to perform when it mattered most Juan.
I respect Jordan for his skills and dedication but his treatment of teammates and opponents and the way he acted after a loss are just rude and wrong. He treated his owner bad, and he even punched his own teammate after he lost a game. I respect his game though. I always thought of magic as an all around better person and even could have been better than Jordan.
