Tracy McGrady is finally in the NBA Finals, albeit as a benchwarmer for the San Antonio Spurs. It’s been a long time coming for him, as he’s been in the NBA since 1997 but had never made it past the first round of the playoffs before this season.
T-Mac was recently asked by the New York Times about comparisons between LeBron James and Michael Jordan, since he has played against both. Here’s what he said:
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While he acknowledged the differences in their eras, McGrady called Dennis Rodman’s recent statement that James would have been an “average” player in the 1990s “a little overboard,” calling LeBron “one of the most gifted athletes that we’ve ever seen in our game, any era.”
It was only natural that McGrady would be asked about the LeBron-Jordan debate, because his career spanned both eras and he himself was once considered one of the best players in the world, before injuries robbed him of his athleticism.
But the debate is growing tiresome—LeBron is enough of a physical freak that he would have been a superstar in any era. It’s not his fault the rules are now more restrictive of physical play. If he had grown up in a previous era, he would have been conditioned to expect that and been able to adapt his game to it. He would have been fine.
James is already one of the greatest players ever. He should be appreciated as that, on his own terms, rather than being constantly held to standards that are irrelevant to him.
