Michael Jordan is still widely regarded as the greatest player ever but doesn’t get a spot on Tracy McGrady’s all-time starting lineup. McGrady was asked to share his starting five during an interview with Ice Sports and here’s who he went with.
“I got (LeBron James) at the point guard,” McGrady said. “I got Kobe (Bryant) at the two guard. Of course, I’m gonna be at the three. I got Tim Duncan at the four and I got (Shaquille O’Neal) at the five. And that’s not to go against anyone. That’s just my five.”
That’s an interesting lineup. LeBron James slots in at point guard while Kobe Bryant got the nod over Jordan at shooting guard. McGrady also chose to put himself in there at small forward. While he doesn’t really belong on an all-time starting five, you can’t be too hard on someone for putting themselves on their list. That said, let’s take a look at McGrady’s selections one by one.
James has been listed as a small forward for the majority of his time in the NBA but has been the de facto point guard on his teams for a while now. He has impressive career averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game and is the league’s all-time leading scorer. James has also won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title.
As for Bryant, he finished his career with averages of 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. Kobe won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles along the way.
Next, we get to McGrady, who walked away from the NBA with averages of 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. He never won a title but did win back-to-back scoring titles in 2003 and 2004.
McGrady’s first three selections were somewhat controversial but the next one sure wasn’t. Tim Duncan is regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and he finished his career with averages of 19.0 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game. Duncan won five titles, three Finals MVPs, and two MVPs in his 19 seasons.
Shaquille O’Neal got the nod at center and he averaged 23.7 points, 10.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game in his career. O’Neal won four titles, three Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles during his time in the NBA.
So, James, Bryant, Duncan, and O’Neal certainly have good cases to be on any all-time starting five. They have very impressive resumes but Jordan’s is greater than all of theirs. He won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, a DPOY, and 10 scoring titles in his storied career.
Jordan has to get the nod over Bryant, and it’s quite surprising that he didn’t when you consider some past comments made by McGrady himself. Last year, McGrady selected his top five players of all time by position and went with Jordan at shooting guard. He also put Jason Kidd at point guard, with James at small forward. Duncan and O’Neal are the only two players who made both of his teams in the same position.
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