Consider that McGrady played in a much lower scoring era and was still more productive than Murray on raw numbers. Imagine what he would have looked like in his prime playing alongside a prime Jokic and with that deep Denver squad.
If I was operating expansion team and had to select between the two to start my squad its TMac 24/7/365
TMac was on another level. The problem was his decline started the very second he arrived in Houston. Made of glass and relied too much on his athleticism. The two times he and Yao were healthy they had Sura and Battier as the third best player … Should have traded him for Vince Carter
There was a time that he was better than Kobe. I remember watching Orlando Tracy locking down Mamba defensvely, and dominatng on the offensive end at LA. I had been rootng for Kobe, and was awed by TMac. Of course Kobe was younger, but McGrady wa stronger, quicker, and had the dependable J then. Back and knee injuries ruined the continuity in hs game, and jumpshot. Then followed that period of denial Sad to see. Tough ending for such a talented player.
It's so funny how the narrative has already been rewritten and fans are already picking it up and spreading it. The idea that Denver is a super stacked team literally did not exist before they won. It's just another way of discrediting jokic. They're a good team, but stacked teams don't play rookies significant minutes in the playoffs because they never need to experiment. Yet another story to make the media seem less moronic about screwing Jokic out of his third MVP.
So now clutchfans loves T-Mac, only took 13 years. So maybe around 2040 is when Harden will be forgiven.
I like Murray a lot more but Tmac was obviously the more talented of the two. However if i'm building a team and have to pick one i'm picking Murray.