What makes a superstar? Are Tracy and Yao superstars?

People reserve the term superstars for the top 3-5 players in the game, maybe more than that if its a really close year.

But in all honesty, Tmac lost his Superstar status this year, he played as awful as he ever has throughout the regular season, though he did improve in the playoffs there used to be a time when he would play magnificent in the regular season and even better come playoff time.

Yao is a superstar no doubt about it, I just hope Tmac has a bounce back season next year (Its possible) and regain his Superstar form.

 

A superstar should be able to take over the game and set the tone defensively. This is why Carmelo Anthony, Michael Redd, and Joe Johnson are just all-stars. They can get hot and score, but they are still sub-par defenders.

Don't listen to media hype, you know who the best players are.

 

i think a superstar is a guy who's able to carry a franchise by himself to the playoffs (with little help) and able to elevate his game to another level when the playoff rolls around. another thing that defines a superstar is having a great all-around game.

in that sense, tracy is a superstar. if yao never played a game, houston would still probably be a top 6 seed in the playoffs. and he always brings his game to another level in the playoffs. tracy has a top 5 all-around game in the L.

yao is a borderline superstar. he has never been a true #1 option and he has never been asked to do what tmac has done throughout his career. so it's hard to say that he is. however, his stats say he is. however, yao has never brought his game to another level in the playoffs where you can say he clearly played better in the playoffs than the reg. season. he's borderline though. yao doesn't have that great of an all-around game. he's great at scoring and decent in all other areas.

however, we have 2 of the top 10 players in the L and we should be fortunate.

the only players perimeter players i put over tmac are: kobe, paul, lebron
the only big men i put over yao are: tim duncan, howard, and possibly amare

 

By your definition of superstar they definitely fit the bill.

If you go by the top 5 def. though IDK. McGrady played like one the first fourth of the season, Yao played like one the second fourth... the last half of the season was meeeeh.

I'm going to have to see how they perform next season before I make a decision.

 

Neither of them are superstars. Superstars consistently raise their level of play in big games. Superstars consistently "impose their will" on the opponent.

Tmac used to be a superstar but he isn't anymore. Yao never was one.

 

well from my perspective i think tracy, when on the floor, gives this team a better chance of winning than just having yao out there simply because tracy passes the ball better than yao does. im not trying to say that yao isnt the franchise player its just that when he plays and tracy doesn't the rockets chances of winning are lower because the team seems too dependent on yao and his post game. both of them can play at a very high level and high pace, but it seems that yao, to me, needs tracy to have more options of scoring. we'lll see how this plays out next season when they're both on the court and understand adelman's system better.

 

well okay forget the part about yao playing at a very high pace, he plays at his OWN pace =D

 

I consider the following players to be "superstars", players who in recent years (last 2-3 seasons) have played at an MVP-caliber level.

Kobe Bryant
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Steve Nash
Tim Duncan
Kevin Garnett
Chris Paul
Dirk Nowitzki

Yao is close, but not quite there (though in terms of popularity, he is the very definition of a superstar). McGrady was a legit superstar while in Orlando and in his first year with the Rockets, but no more.

 

A superstar plays more than 60 games a year. Period.

Tmac was one and is not one.

Yao has all the tools and the potential to be one. But I don't see how he can truly become one when he only plays 30 games a season.

 

Both are star players, neither is a superstar.

DD

 

Superstars should be guys who carry their franchise. To me it would be a guy like lebron, TD, shaq in his prime.

 

To me, superstars are franchise corner-stone type players. In that sense, Tmac and Yao are definitely superstars.

But Tmac is not the same type of dominating superstar that he used to be, scoring-wise. However, in the past 2 years he has revolutionized himself into a very round player (not literally), more so than any other point in his career thus far. I believe that if it weren't for his injuries, he could've reached a similar level to the 05-06 season. Lets not forget that for 2 weeks after the season started, he was the LEADING MVP candidate, and had a couple of 40 point games already and was dunking like the old days....then the injuries came....and well, you know the rest.

Yao, same thing. He is the best center in terms of skills in the game. But I have too admit, he was way too inconsistent in terms of his scoring (similarly to Mcgrady).

Injuries aside, these two are in mind, without a doubt, superstars; but they are slightly below Kobe , Lebron, and CP3 in terms of IMPACT.

 

My definition may vary from others. To me, a franchise player can replace another teams best player and that team is a contender or top 5 seed in the league. Duncan used to be, but he's still close. Shaq used to be that player, but not anymore. KG has missed the playoffs and been lotto bound 2 yrs in a row. Right now Tracy can play superstar for 40 games and yao 30 which makes them just all star players. Its nothing wrong with that, the rox just needs to adjust the team accordingly.

 

A superstar is someone who puts butts in seats in the stadium

At least that's Stern's definition

 

IMO they are both stars, but only borderline superstars. Tracy used to be one but needs to regain his superstar form and Yao needs to stay healthy to truly achieve it, he could have been one last couple years otherwise.

Both have a bad playoff record, where superstars truly shine. Neither Yao nor Tracy have playoff succes, although I think both will be around and playing this time next year. They are definitely stars, borderline superstars that need to take it to the next level in the playoffs to rise to the pantheon of the truly greats.

 

Superstar:

Kobe
Lebron
CP3
TDuncan


(Was/or Borderline)
AI
Tmac
J. Kidd
Nash
Yao
KG
Dwade


(To Be?)
DHoward
Deron W.
Amare


(All-Star)
Carmelo
Pierce
Ray Allen
Vince Carter
Dirk
Redd
Gasol
Billup
B. Roy
Baron D.
Deng
Joe Johnson
Marion
Bosh
Agent 0
ect.


Basically now you need a combination of 1 Superstar and 2 All-Star or 3 All-Star to have a chance to win a championship

 

Superstars are those who can take over games at critical points and put a team on their shoulders, your list is wayyyy to long.

Dirk is not a superstar, Arenas is not a supestar, Bosh is not a superstar, Deron Williams is not a superstar, Dwight Howard is (yet) not a superstar, Tim Duncan was a superstar (not anymore), AI is not a superstar, Steve Nash NEVER was a superstar. These are all-stars. Yao could easily be a superstar, but is still too timid. McGrady is a superstar when he's not injured and playing ridiculous lengths of minutes. Even Kobe gets more rest than him.

The only superstars in this league atm are Lebron, Kobe, KG, and Chris Paul. Wade is arguable, but he seems to be on the decline and he'll probably show his true colors without Shaq.