7x All-Star Tracy McGrady was known for his high-flying dunks and explosive playstyle. As a 7x NBA All-Star, he knows more than most about the game of basketball and how it should be played.
Sadly, while T-Mac will always be a legend in the league, it seems he’s not a fan of the direction the sport is trending. In a recent chat with the media, the NBA legend admitted that he doesn’t even watch the game anymore and his reasoning might shock you.
“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t watch a lot of it,” said McGrady to GQ. “I will watch playoff time when everybody is pretty much locked in. Throughout the season? No. I don’t watch too much NBA. I watch more college basketball. It’s more exciting to me. I like college basketball because they play hard. And it’s competitive basketball. I’m not saying the NBA is not competitive, but it’s too much of everybody shooting threes. You’re jacking up and taking terrible basketball shots. I don’t see that on the college level.”
No matter your opinion on the current state of the league, it’s a fact that shooting threes has become the bread and butter of most offenses across the league. Thanks to shooters like Steph, Klay, Durant, and Damian Lillard (among others), teams are more inclined to look for a long-distance three than they are to take their time and look for the best shot possible.
Compare today’s game back to previous decades, and you’ll see that the differences are pretty glaring.
Is Today’s Playstyle Good For The NBA?
As exciting as it is for some fans, the three-point explosion has certainly had some negative side effects on the league as a whole. For one, it has de-emphasized defense which means points are beings scored more often with less and less resistance.
“The defense has disappeared. I don’t just like that the essence of basketball is lost… which is playing as a team,” Gasol said. “Before you shot in the first 8 seconds of possession and they sat you on the bench.”
There’s no changing things now. Now that the three-pointer has been maximized, teams are going to do everything to ensure they shoot as many as they can.
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