Rumors

Daniel Donabedian: Brad Stevens on Tracy McGrady’s comments about Jaylen Brown reportedly being frustrated with the organization: “I talked to Jalen Monday a little bit after…real quickly and it was nothing but positive. He has not expressed those frustrations to me.”

Twitter

Tracy McGrady on Jaylen Brown: I think his frustration lies deeply within the organization and other things that… Vince Carter: Of course, of course, I knew that. McGrady: We don't really have details too. Is's just been a lot of stuff that I've been hearing just going on with the Boston organization with JB. So I think part of him is like ‘I showed you guys more of who I am as a basketball player, not only just what I did on the basketball court, but the leadership that I displayed within this team and you've seen that, not having our best player in JT.  You’ve seen the different side of me and what I'm able to bring to the game of basketball.' So, all that stuff I think just came into play with him and his frustration. However, the 3-1 loss, it was devastating because this never happened in Boston's history with any other greats.

YouTube

Tracy McGrady on Kevin Durant passing Michael Jordan in scoring: That had to be a great ass feeling, man, to hear your name being mentioned and passing the great Michael Jordan. It's the longevity for me because these guys are great. They're the greatest to do it and when you have that type of skill set and you have the ability to go out and be the number one option for your team, you're going to score points. But it's just the consistency and the health in which you display year after year, getting your body in that type of shape. To go out and do that is hard to do with the wake up every single day for that amount of years and still want to do it at that level. And surpassing Mike is a phenomenal thing to do. He did it differently, and a lot of these guys are going to do it differently because of how the game has changed. Mike didn't shoot threes. So when I see these guys be like he did it in X amount of shots… Of course! Because KD shot threes, Mike really didn't shoot threes. So don't try to make the comparison that, you know, Mike uh versus KD and scoring. They did it in different ways, but they got there.

YouTube

Asked by ClutchPoints about his conversation with Karl-Anthony Towns, McGrady expanded on the “like basketball players” comment. He made clear at the New York tryouts for his Ones Basketball league that he views shepherding the next generation of athletes as part of the role of former players. “It’s not just him, I mean, we a fraternity. So if I see that one of our players is going through something, it’s up to us to lean on him and help him get out of that rut that he’s in. Regardless of if it’s KAT, or if it’s Jalen Brunson going through something, if it's Mikal Bridges, it doesn’t matter. It’s just, KAT is the focal point right now,” McGrady told reporters in midtown Manhattan.

Clutch Points

Tracy McGrady: “Everybody is going to go with the hottest thing right now. Luka. He is on a nine game winning streak. He is averaging 40.” Vince Carter: “In those nine games. He is averaging 33 for the season.” Tracy McGrady: “Right. I think when you look at the Lakers, Luka started out the gates hot. He and AR and Bron come back. Things kind of get out of alignment a little bit… AR kind of lost his rhythm a little bit…” Tracy McGrady: “Although Luka was putting up crazy numbers in terms of leading the league and scoring, we didn't consider him one even at the halfway point of him being an MVP candidate. We talk about guys when they're hot. He's hot now, for sure. But I think when I look at the grand scheme of things, the big picture, the consistency over the whole entire season, I got to go with Jaylen Brown. JB and what he is up against. No Jayson Tatum. So that means no other All-Star alongside him… Derek White has been very good. Derek White is really good. He is one of my favorite players.”

YouTube

Vince Carter: “What KD has done, he is top five all time. Michael Jordan is the standard and anytime you pass Michael Jordan in anything, that is saying something. What he has done over the course of 14 years, six championships, 32,000. Mike is Mike.” Tracy McGrady: “Mike is winning, bro.” Vince Carter: “So anytime you get the opportunity to pass him, which I know Mike sits at home, Mike don't like any of that but he is going to show you some love, but we know how Mike is. By the way, shout out to Mike. Before we go to KD, let's shout out to Mike. He got his fourth win with his NASCAR team.” Tracy McGrady: “It is good to be Michael Jordan. With KD, that had to be a great feeling, man, to hear your name being mentioned and passing the great Michael Jordan. It is the longevity for me, these guys are great. They're the greatest to do it and when you have that type of skillset and you have the ability to go out and be it.”

YouTube

When comparing generations, one of the most striking differences is player salaries. Players today are signing multi-million dollar contracts backed by massive TV deals and global revenue streams. That wasn’t always the case, especially during the 90s, when, as McGrady recalled, even the best players in the league were making less than a quarter of what players today make annually. “It’s money. Did you realize like in the 90s, Reggie Miller and Michael, they were only making $2-3 million? And they were the top guys,” T-Mac said when asked why the previous generation criticizes the state of the NBA today. “I don’t think anybody making $2-3 million dollars in the league right now,” he continued. “These guys making so much money. It’s the money and how the league has really catered to the players.”

basketballnetwork.net

A Basketball Hall of Famer challenged Karl-Anthony Towns to live up to his talent. Tracy McGrady, speaking with The Post’s Adam Schein on “Schein Time,” was asked how the Knicks can win the East this postseason. When McGrady pointed to maximizing Towns’ ability, he put it on Towns’ mentality. “He’s just gotta have the want to,” McGrady said. “He’s gotta want that. I’m sure coaches and his teammates are talking to him about that. He’s gotta want that. He’s gotta want that for himself and for his team. And if he takes that approach, that mentality, nobody can guard KAT. No one. This guy is so talented.

New York Post

New York Post Sports: .@Tmac_213 tells @adamschein that the only thing stopping Karl-Anthony Towns from being unguardable is his "want to."

Twitter

Solomon Hill: he could have a point, back when tracy played, there was so much talent, that he couldn’t get out the first round.

x.com

Tracy McGrady: “We don't have the talent to be trying to start two more teams… Now, can we take two teams away and add two teams? To still stay at 30. I'm saying keep it at 30.” Vince Carter: “I'm all for it, honestly. I feel like if we do that, it can go back to the old NBA where you don't get to click up because now you can take a superstar and kind of spread them to their own squad and you hold it down like we had to do. I like that. Here is my question. [The superstars] want to team up. Here is an opportunity to fix that while this is happening. The league right now needs to be restructured. The introduction of two new teams can fix some of that. Sit downs need to happen, regardless, to change a lot of things. We talked about the 65 game rule, but I feel like back in the day when you had a team, you felt a responsibility to carry the magic on your back because you were the guy.”

YouTube

Vince Carter: I remember you saying ‘Oh, man. At 50 something… man, he just need to play three quarters and sit down.’ I'm over there like: ‘Nah, man, you need to see if you can get it.’ All of a sudden, it's just like the light came on with him… Give him the ball… We turned into real fans. Did you see maybe Devin Booker 71 or Luka’s 73…Now 80. I was a fan, man. It was just fun to watch and I know a lot of people had some things to say about it.” Tracy McGrady: “The thing is, teammates have just been giving [BAM] the ball and let the player go and have a historic night... That is what we do in this league.”

YouTube

“You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”

Andscape

“There are not that many guys that can be an 18-year-old on the biggest stage in college basketball like Duke basketball — [and] with what comes with that — and the entire team will follow him,” Carlos Boozer said. “You know why they do that with Cameron? Because he gives so much to the game. He gives so much to his team. Whatever it takes, he’s an unselfish superstar, and that translates to the NBA. “You look at what Tim Duncan did. I’m not comparing Cameron to Tim Duncan, but he was another guy that wasn’t [athletically] a Kevin Garnett or a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant or Shaquille O’Neal. But you know what he did? He won five championships in that era [against] those players — the Kobes and the Shaqs, because of his IQ, because of his skill set, and because his team would follow him. “That is who Cameron is. He’s a modern-day version of that. People are going to follow him because of what he gives to the team and what he gives to the game. That translates into winning. So. if you want to win, you pick Cameron. And I’m going to tell you this: The GMs that don’t pick Cam, they’re going to regret that 15 years from now.”

Andscape