Reminiscing about how good McGrady used to be. http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2009/12/29/have-respect-he-was-legend/
The NBA does not operate on a what has he done, but rather what has he done for me lately. Considering the NBA is ultimately an entertainment business, why shouldn't it? No one denies that he use to be one of the greatest playesr ever to grace the floor. Unfortunately, no one needs use to's only now's. Bottom line is that the Rockets have no use for a broken player who is all about himself and history will remember T-Mac ultimately for what he did not do, which is win when it counted.
I do remember about half my middle school classing owning a pair of his shoes before he came to houston.
Very good post.. T-Mac is a living legend. We should respect him... He is better than half of the players in the NBA now.
Yall remember the time Tmac took Rockets to the Second Round??? neither do i... HOwever, I still very much enjoyed watching the guy, it was great entertainment..HOF one day, I hope
The article is right, T-Mac was a great player. But he played solely on his talents and physical attributes. He was injury prone, and never was accused of working hard. He quit on teams more than once, sometimes for a game, sometimes for a season. You never knew which McGrady you would get game to game season to season. Hell, his first NBA coach told him he wouldn't be in the league more than 3 years cause of his attitude. Sorry to say, but everyone has finally grown tired of the BS. Its time for us to move on and T-Mac to grow the hell up.
to me the "getting to second round" comment means nothing. Rockets didnt win the championship last year - the Lakers did. Karl Malone and Barkley never got a ring. I don't think of them as guys who "at least made it passed the first round" ... I see them as people who NEVER got rings. Aaron Brooks, Battier, Scola - all them guys made it to round 2 last year. They are all still NOT champions like McGrady. And McGrady is - well was - a superstar. They are not. I just wanted to see what he had left - thats all. Then again - I was fooling myself in thinking Steve Francis could still wreck when he came back to us.
In the article, the word "legend" seems to be misused -- or in the very least, misunderstood in concept by the writer. There are very few players in any sport who can be designated as legends. To state of McGrady, "He was a legend for the first half of this decade" seems a bizarre twist on the concept of "legend" to me. Perhaps "phenom" instead. But, if anyone looks back on McGrady's career (not over, admittedly) 20 or 30 or 40 years from now and refers to him as a legend or legendary player, I'd be surprised.
In the NBA where nearely everyone is talented and athletic, raw talent and athleticism over other players can only get you so far. The real greats and legends understand this and evolve their games, fortify their mentality, and develop additional skills to continue staying above the rest. Hakeem learned how to shoot when he was younger and his footwork when he was older, Jordan and Kobe worked on their range and post work, Stockton played with pure efficiency and intelligence, ect. Great players and legends continue to look for ways to take themselves to the next level while players with great talent but are mentally fragile and have questionable work habits wither away.
Tmac ended up like his favorite player Penny Hardaway... Amazing potential, a base skillset that was better than Kobe and MJ, yet, wasted it..
He still can be a great player/legend. Just not with the Rockets. You have to have chemistry with the team you play for. You can't just plop a "legend" onto any team and hope it works. It didn't work out for him with the Rockets, but I'm sure he'll work out somewhere else. We need to cultivate our own legends at this point.
He has to contribute significantly for it to hold any meaning, you realize this right? Otherwise it would be the same as playing a minute in the finals and "earning" a ring. These things have no merit unless you earn it with your own power.
TOF, don't throw the rest of the team under the bus like your idol. we like Brooks, Battier, and Scola. And McGrady was never a champion, he wasn't even on the freaking olympic team. TOFs last stand is funny stuff. sad too.
