There are not many players in the NBA that were on the same level as that of Tracy McGrady during the prime of his career. The NBA Hall of Famer had a certain swag in his game and he gave his 100% every time he stepped on the court.
While McGrady might be 7x All-Star, 7x All-NBA, 2x Scoring Champ, and even a Hall of Famer, T-Mac couldn’t achieve one thing in his career. He failed to win an NBA Championship despite being one of the most prolific scorers of his era.
Although we know that during the later stages of his career, he dealt with injury troubles that forced him to become a role player. But what about during his younger days? There is a pretty good explanation for it. On his own, McGrady was an unbelievable talent, but to win championships in the NBA, you need good players around you.
There have been many cases like this throughout NBA history. For example, even the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kobe Bryant needed a lot of help to win their first titles.
In a recent interview with Golden State Warriors superstar Draymond Green, T-Mac gave a very detailed answer about the reason he never won an NBA Championship. Moreover, he used the example of how Kobe struggled for two seasons right after Shaq left the team.
“I could go to any country in the world, and I’m recognized. Anywhere, I’m well respected. Out in the streets, in the corporate world, I’m well respected. But here’s what I say about that, There’s a lot of moving parts that has to come into play to win championships. With my game and how I played, you don’t think if I had the right pieces around me I could have won a championship? I was one of the top players in the league, I just didn’t have the pieces around me. It’s crazy because people really forget certain areas and certain guys’ careers.”
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As McGrady said, to win a ring in the league, having good pieces around a star player is very essential. Without the necessary help, it is very difficult to compete for a championship in the hardest league in the world.
Due to never having players that amplified Tracy’s game when they played with him, he had to retire without even going past the first round in the postseason. But that doesn’t diminish his legacy by any means.
