Get in line, T-Mac.
Tracy McGrady understands Kevin Durant moving on from OKC as a free agent this summer, but KD’s decision to join the rival Golden State Warriors was a bummer for McGrady.
Tracy McGrady is “highly disappointed” Kevin Durant chose Golden State: https://t.co/eIYiSoSBwz pic.twitter.com/nMienuA3pf
— Complex Sports (@Complex_Sports) August 2, 2016
McGrady says he’s happy that Michael Jordan supposedly blocked a trade that would have sent him to Chicago (as a rookie) in exchange for Scottie Pippen.
Per Complex:
Now speaking of young players, when you first came into the league it was revealed this June that in 1997, Michael Jordan nixed a trade that would have sent you to the Bulls and Scottie Pippen to the Raptors. How do you think that trade would have changed the course of NBA history?
TM: “I don’t know, man. I know I wasn’t qualified to fill the shoes of Scottie Pippen at the moment, I’ll tell you that. I’m actually glad that Michael vetoed that trade because my career would have probably turned out a little bit differently. I needed to go through the things that I went through in my career, and I’m sure Michael is pretty tough on young players. See what happened to Kwame Brown, and he wasn’t even playing then. So I’m glad I got the opportunity to play up in Toronto for those three years and experience my time up there. But just looking back in hindsight, it would have been pretty damn cool to play with MJ.”
I know you said on ESPN that the only reason you felt Stephen Curry won MVP unanimously this year is because the league is watered down, and Charles Barkley has made similar comments in the past. How do you think the league today is different from when you played? And was it watered down when you played?
TM: “No, I just think the physicality, the style of play was a lot different. Nowadays, I think there’s so many rule changes that have an advantage for a guy like Steph Curry to be able to be the type of player he is. Now he’s still great, but the physicality of the game is a lot softer today the way they play the game. Back when I was playing, I think we had a lot more depth and elite players. There’s a handful of superstars in the league today, but I just think there was more of a variety of players whether it was big men, shooting guards, I think we just had more of that. Some of the elite players in the game today I think is a major dropoff from the guys at the bottom, it’s a major dropoff.”
And speaking of the Warriors, obviously the biggest news of the offseason is is that Kevin Durant left to join them. What were your thoughts on that and more generally, what are your thoughts on players leaving their old teams to form superteams?
TM: “I was disappointed in the move to Golden State. I wasn’t disappointed that he left, I mean he’s a free agent, he’s able to go wherever he wants. But I just think having a team now coming off a championship run and you have the champs down 3-1, and they come back and defeat you. I just think as a competitor, you would come back and try to dethrone them with the same team. […] You’re playing with a top-five point guard in Russell Westbrook. I mean to me, I think OKC is a championship-caliber team. They displayed that; they just had a major collapse in the Western Conference Finals against Golden State. But I was highly disappointed that he chose Golden State to go and play for the other team. I wanted him to stay in OKC.”
