Former NBA big man Kwame Brown did not hold back in a new rant against Tracy McGrady. In a recent video, he made some wild accusations against the retired NBA legend and claimed that Kobe Bryant used to make him quit during workouts.
“Even he said you were lazy,” said Kwame. “You were getting hurt in workouts. Nobody [was] even touching your soft self, but you getting hurt and cramping up and passing out in workouts, but you want to compare yourself to Kobe now that he’s dead. Why you ain’t compare yourself to Kobe when he was alive, so he can talk about some of those workouts that y’all had where he would make you quit?”
McGrady and Kobe were coming up in the league at roughly the same time, and they frequently worked out together during the offseason. According to Brown, these workouts pushed McGrady to the absolute limit and disqualified him from even being in Bryant’s tier as a player.
“Why don’t you talk about when you and Bean work out together that you want to call him your brother, that Bean would make you quit, would make you think ‘Uncle’? Now you want to compare yourself to him, now that he can’t defend himself. You want to rewrite history,” Brown said.
In an appearance on First Take back in June, McGrady claimed that he would have won championships if he had been playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal, just like Bryant did on the Los Angeles Lakers for years.
He was trying to make the case that he never had a real opportunity to win the title, thanks to being on mediocre rosters that were never able to get over the hump. In his mind, if he were as blessed as Kobe was to play with Hall of Fame teammates, he would have at least one championship on his resume. Of course, not everyone agrees.
While Kwame wasn’t a star player, he did play with Kobe, and it seems he knows a lot about those secret workouts with Bryant and T-Mac. He knows that part of what made Bryant so special was his relentless drive and unmatched work ethic, which he demonstrated in games and workouts both in and out of season.
If it’s true that McGrady couldn’t keep up, it says a lot about his habits and limits as a player. What was a typical day in the gym for Bryant was enough to get McGrady to quit, and Kwame never forgot. So when he saw Tracy trying to compare himself with Bryant, he couldn’t just sit back and let it go unanswered.
Ultimately, we may never know the full truth behind McGrady’s workouts, but it’s probably best if he leaves the comparisons alone for now. Very few players in NBA history can compare to Kobe Bryant, who is a 5x champion, MVP, and Lakers legend who set a whole new standard for greatness in the NBA.
If it’s any consolation for McGrady, very few players could keep up with Kobe, as he made it a point to outwork everyone. Still, if you can’t even last a practice session with Bryant, it’s bold to even insert yourself in the same conversation.
