THOUGHTS | WIN MVP OR WIN A TITLE
There was something on the internet recently about Tracy McGrady.
Needless to say, I am a huge T-Mac fan, especially when he was with the Orlando Magic. I could have wished he wore a different number, since one of my all-time favorites is Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, but that Orlando Magic jersey mattered because of what he did the moment he moved there from the Toronto Raptors.
That said, people are dissing him because he would rather have an MVP award than a championship.
Hmmm...
I mean, I guess to each his own, right?
No one can have the same career as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and the other all-time greats. However, I think for me, the basic barometer of a successful NBA career is an MVP, more than five All-NBA selections, and more than five All-Star Game appearances.
Unlike in the PBA, in which there have been instances where undeserving players get to see action because the format is either RSJ versus Veterans or involves Gilas cadets, the NBA has it with the 12 best players from each conference battling it out against each other. Sure, the format has changed in the most recent additions, but the way players are chosen remains the same. The ten most popular players and the 14 players chosen by the coaches get the nod to play in the main game.
T-Mac has two of my three requirements, and aside from being a 7-time All-NBA selection and a 7-time All-Star, he is also a two-time scoring champion.
But yeah, one problem McGrady had, which was why he got snubbed from the NBA 75 Greatest Players list, is that he never won an MVP award and failed to lead his team to a title.
In fact, the only time T-Mac got to play in the NBA Finals was when he became a last-minute addition to the San Antonio Spurs' playoff squad after spending most of his time that season with the CBA's Qingdao Eagles. Not only did he play sporadic minutes, but the Spurs also lost to the Miami Heat in seven games during the 2013 NBA Finals.
But then, you can also say this about at least 25 percent of the Top 75.
We all remember the name of Pistol Pete Maravich, but we forget that he only played in 26 playoff games in a ten-year career. Aside from that, he had four All-NBA selections, five All-Star appearances, and zero MVPs. Dave Bing is another. He was a three-time All-NBA selection and a 7-time All-Star with no MVPs, and in 12 seasons, he only got to play in 31 playoff games. And in recent memory, we get a guy like Vince Carter, a guy who is synonymous with highlight dunks but, in the course of 22 seasons, only had 88 playoff games.
Two of these players are in the Top 75, and that's not Vince Carter.
That said, if he had won an MVP when he was still soaring in either Toronto or New Jersey, then we might see him in a different light.
And for me, it's easy to remember the superstars, but while the same can be said of role players, the only way role players can be seen as top-tier is if they were part of dynasties. When we say role players, we're talking about guys like Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher, Steve Kerr, Michael Cooper, Bruce Bowen, Mario Elie, John Paxson, and Don Nelson. We hardly ever talk about the players who only did it once or twice.
This is why I thought the argument Iman Shumpert made during one episode of Gil's Arena was a tough sell. Karl Malone may have done questionable things off the court, but most of his scoring and rebounding records are still up there.
Russell Westbrook and James Harden, who are already in the Top 75 list, will always find their names on “best of” lists.
That said, Shumpert was right about one thing when it came to T-Mac: if he had been able to send his team past the first round, then he could have had a regular-season MVP.
And yeah, I know the regular season is different from the playoffs, but the votes cast for the regular-season MVP happen after the regular season. Of course, if they are casting their votes for a player whose team is struggling in the playoffs, that will surely affect their votes.
And this is why I like Gilbert Arenas in this situation. Between him, Nick Young, Shumpert, and Brendan Haywood, he's the only player there who knows the mindset of a team superstar. That's why he was laying it on a superstar's selfish mantra.
Sure, LBJ may be unselfish, but if he had been averaging an awful 25 percent in the first six games of a best-of-seven series, while Shumpert, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Timofey Mozgov, and someone like... James Jones were all having 20-plus-point games leading into the fourth quarter, would it be okay for him to sit down and watch his teammates do their thing and get labeled as irrelevant?
I think this is where T-Mac is getting at. If he can't win a title, then he would have wanted the MVP.
Because honestly, getting the MVP is like getting a free pass on a lot of things. Sure, Derrick Rose didn't make the Top 75 despite winning one, but when they have the league's Top 100, he should be included there, especially if they are not going to take out Bill Walton, who basically had the same injury-plagued career, if not better.
The moment T-Mac finished his career without a title, he's in the same conversation as Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Chris Webber, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, Ben Wallace, Amar'e Stoudemire, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Chris Bosh in terms of scrambling for the next 25.
And yes, while they have better numbers than the other players already in the Top 75, the difference between them is that they are already in.
We regard Kevin McHale as one of the best power forwards even if he only had one All-NBA selection. Aside from Maravich and Bing, Nate Thurmond never had an All-NBA selection, and he's up there.
And then, we also need to factor in that guys like Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo, Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond, Shawn Kemp, and Tim Hardaway aren't on that team, just like guys like Sidney Moncrief, Jack Sikma, Tom Chambers, and David Thompson, as well as possible future inclusions like Luka Doncic, Cooper Flagg, Cade Cunningham, Joel Embiid, or Anthony Edwards, or the next big thing that will come out of college between now and the NBA's 100th year.
Basically, here's the thing. The only way for a superstar to escape being called irrelevant is either if he wins a title or wins the MVP. You can always go Mitch Richmond or Steve Smith en route to a title, but you can also get in by winning the top individual honor of the season.
And then, Shumpert and Haywood said something I really agree with. The weight of the Finals MVP should be more than what it is right now. Because I don't care if it's Michael Jordan or Andre Iguodala, the most-watched games of the season happen when the best of the best are playing. And you can't call yourself the best if you're already on some remote island watching the championship games, acting all unaffected while the players, regardless of their roles, go out there and stack up championship achievements.
Come to think of it, I may have an idea for my next project.
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