I may actually like McGrady now: -------------------------------------------------- Orlando Sentinel Michael Jordan has accepted the idea of waving goodbye as a benchwarmer from his final NBA All-Star Game, even if a certain admirer in Orlando has not. "It gives my kids a chance to go and see some of the young and up-and-coming stars," Jordan said. Tracy McGrady, a young star and now a dad himself, wants Michael's kids to see their father in his last all-star game as a starter. To make that happen, McGrady will offer to step aside for Jordan. T-Mac told me Wednesday that he'll volunteer to allow Jordan -- who is retiring after the season -- to take his place in the starting lineup for the Eastern Conference. "I have thought about this for a while. I'll do it, absolutely," said McGrady, leaning against his luxury car after practice. "For what Michael Jordan has done for this league and this game, I'll do anything. "It's his last all-star game. I don't have any problem with that. I'll get in the game. I'd love to see it." It's a great, classy gesture from a great, classy player. It would be an honor for T-Mac to honor Jordan, the heir apparent giving His Airness his due. All-Star Weekend (Feb. 7-9) in Atlanta belongs to T-Mac and Kobe and now Yao. McGrady would command the marquee as the league's leading scorer and the East's leading vote-getter. And yet he realizes that after all the players M.J. has inspired, Jordan, 40, should not take his last all-star bow sitting down. "T-Mac wanting to do that doesn't surprise me," Magic Coach Doc Rivers said. "As aloof as he looks, he has a real sense for the history of the game. And he doesn't look at it like he's kissing Michael's butt. He wants to beat Michael's butt any other time." Who says that this younger NBA generation -- outside of Ron Artest -- doesn't get it? McGrady gets it. A star with a larger ego could have said it wasn't up to him to accommodate Jordan after fans voted for the starters and coaches picked the reserves and blah-blah-blah. Not T-Mac. He gets it. He raises his hand first to volunteer. What fans would be upset if he sat down, and Jordan stood up for one final all-star tip-off? "I have to call the league office to see if I can do it," McGrady said. There is precedent for a ceremonial substitution. Doug Collins stepped aside to allow John Havlicek to start the 1978 all-star game. Tim Hardaway took a seat so Magic Johnson -- who had retired -- could come back to start the 1992 game in Orlando. Magic was chosen the game's MVP. "That's a terrific gesture from Tracy," said a league official who requested anonymity. "We'll have to see. We've made exceptions before." (Truth is, the first thing out of Vince Carter's mouth should have been, "Take my spot, Michael." The oft-surly Carter, who has missed most of Toronto's season with an injury, could use the positive p.r.) McGrady's a balm for the NBA, which lately has had to separate players from players, coaches from officials and Artest from everyone. Daring to muss up Pat Riley's hair was the last antic from Artest, the hotheaded Indiana Pacer who might be proof that Dennis Rodman has been cloned. Artest has smashed a $100,000 TV camera, fouled flagrantly and waded into Riley, and his teammates think he got jobbed out of making the all-star team. He doesn't get it. McGrady isn't offering Jordan his spot for p.r. value. Just as he didn't spend time befriending and shooting baskets with Washington sniper victim Iran Brown for the photo ops. He feels giving way to Jordan is even worth angering his own apparel company. T-Mac is an adidas man; Jordan is a Nike icon. Deferring to Jordan and Nike might cause boardroom grumbling, considering adidas is outfitting McGrady with a gym shoe specially made for this all-star game. But then T-Mac is just the sort of young man who is reckless with his respect for the game's forefathers. Tracy McGrady will learn possibly today whether he can step all over the all-star voters' toes (and online fingers) in his quest to honor Michael's tongue-waggin' feats one last time. know ya role
I think he's a punk to give up the starter spot. If we wanted Jordan to start, we would have voted for Jordan. We didn't though; we wanted McGrady to start.
Who said I cared? McGrady's a punk the same way Artest is a punk, or Lebron James, or Kobe Bryant, or any of a large number of players who annoy me -- in a minor way that doesn't affect me at all. I like McGrady alright, but I think his offer is contrary to the whole nature of the All-Star game and an affront to the fans. I personally don't care very much because I didn't ever vote for McGrady or Jordan. I just think it should be noted that this selfless gesture isn't selfless when you consider he's giving away something that isn't his to give away. He's a regifter.
maybe it is al for media attention. i think there isn't much difference between strting an all-star game and starting on the bench. But still it is a nice gesture. if a rocket would do this we all would probably say how great he was (wait 1 minute, no we woudn't because we never say anything good about a rocket )
I have one thing to say 100% without a doubt pure class! Others need to follow Mcgrady when it comes to doing what would be best for the fans. Way to go T-mac!
Like when he gave the kid who was shot by the sniper an autographed jersey, played some basketball with him, and gave him front row seats to a game? How come it wasn't a publicity stunt when A-Rod did a similar thing for Ripken? JuanValdez, I'm curious why you think Tracy, Artest, LeBron, and Kobe are punks? None of these guys have anything incommon except that they play basketball. Artest is a punk, obviously, but his punk attributes aren't shared by the others. I'm just curious what your definition of a punk is.
The child who was shot happen to be a T-mac fan and a real big fan from what I know, Kobe is not a punk I wish we had some of his mentality on the Rockets. Kobe is about winning and giving it 100%, T-mac is just a stud period he carries the Magic night in and night out, Lebron well you have to feel sorry for this kid because now he has to live up to the hype, which means playing almost too hard. Artest really do not follow the guy but from what I seen of him he needs to just cool down.
There's no hard-and-fast rule on being a punk; Artest really is a punk (due to his dirty style); for the rest of the list, it is more of a simple pejorative because I don't like them. I suppose in McGrady's case, if I were going to be tight with my vocabulary, I'd call him an ingrate instead of a punk. The NBA's fan base is entrusted to decide who should start in the All-Star game; it is the only thing fans get to decide (other than to attend or not attend games). The fan base decided fairly overwhelmingly that they wanted to honor McGrady and not Jordan. Instead of showing gratitude for this honor, he foists it upon someone we've already rejected. Not sure why it would be that I would like hockey better; I missed the implication. I did try to make myself a hockey fan actually, but it just wouldn't stick.
That was an ignorant assumption/implication, especially when JV had already explained why he grouped them together (because he found little bits of them annoying, so he just attached a JV-personal & specific "punk" label to them). You should try to think more before posting such useless nonsense.
anybody can make a very good arguement for both options that T-mac had. Maybe he should respect the fans or he can give respect to the games most popular player. It was a nice gesture by T-Mac although it should have been Vince to take the backseat.
Oh yea, and BTW, from your previous posts, I can understand why you have a problem with me calling someone I don't know a racist, but no problem with JV calling a bunch of people, including a High School kid, he doesn't know punks.
