Basketball Hall-of-Famer Shaquille O’Neal spoke candidly about how Tracy McGrady’s excellence in the NBA didn’t match up with that of the late Kobe Bryant, honing in on one particular reason why.
Why Does Shaquille O’Neal Believe Tracy McGrady Could Have Won Three Championships?
O’Neal’s remarks about former NBA All-Star McGrady and Bryant led to a discussion of McGrady’s impact on the league and how, despite his talent, it didn’t translate to championship-level success.
O’Neal, the former No. 1 pick of the Orlando Magic, had this discussion with Marcus and Markieff Morris on the latest episode of “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” which aired on Thursday, July 24.
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“T-Mac made a statement the other day,” O’Neal said at the podcast’s 41-minute mark. ”I’ll answer if you guys answer…If you switch him and Kobe out, as far as playing with me, the outcome is the same. Do you agree or disagree?”
Markieff quickly said that he disagreed. “We’re not just saying switch and put you in, and you’ll be like Kobe…,” he said. “Taking nothing away from T-Mac, great player. You’re not Kobe.”
What Made Kobe Bryant Different From Every Other Superstar?
Marcus replied, “That mentality, too, that killer mentality. Everybody didn’t have that. Like he was a good, he was a great player, don’t get me wrong. But it was times when Mike [Jordan] gave Kobe something nobody else would be able to even imitate and have that mentality no other players have.”
“That’s why I like everybody’s opinion,” O’Neal said. “You don’t think I could have won three with T-Mac? I think I could have. T-Mac was a bad boy.” Marcus replied, “You could say that about a lot of players if they put themselves next to you.”
Shaq’s claim has some merit. McGrady had nabbed himself two NBA scoring titles in his first eight years, which was around the time that O’Neal and Bryant were dominant with the Phil Jackson-coached Los Angeles Lakers. In that time, the Lakers had the league’s fifth three-peat of NBA champions in 2000, 2001, and 2002.
McGrady is hailed as one of the NBA’s greatest scorers in league history, having had a lengthy career after being drafted ninth by the Toronto Raptors out of high school in the 1997 NBA Draft. In his 15-season career, the 6’8″ small forward/guard was an All-Star seven times from 2001 through 2007.
Interestingly, McGrady saw his star rise after joining the Magic in 2000 as a free agent to play alongside Grant Hill. McGrady shouldered the scoring load as the team’s superstar, while Hill struggled with injuries throughout his tenure with Orlando.
McGrady was traded to the Houston Rockets in 2004 as part of a multi-player trade. McGrady’s injury issues arose in Houston, diminishing his game as he would go on to play for the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and the Detroit Pistons before closing his career as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in 2013.
