Stephen Curry was once again denigrated by a retired NBA player. This is a date that ends in “-y,” after all.
The latest culprit is Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady, 45, who left the Warriors superstar guard off his top 10 NBA players of all time list, but for an interesting reason.
Here's what McGrady said in a video posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday:
“He's not in my top 10 yet. He's just not there,” McGrady said Sunday. “I think Steph's had a phenomenal career, obviously, four championships, two league MVPs. [and] He won the Finals MVP.
“But when you look back at his career, Draymond [Green] Removed from this season's roster [and] When Klay Thompson misses a season, or even half a season, to me, if you're that “great” a player, if you're a top-five player, [player]”And if one of your teammates is out and you can't make the playoffs, you can't have a team in the top five or top 10. You really can't.”
Steph is arguably the best shooter of all time, but he's not in my top five… pic.twitter.com/yfvHrbvGSM
— T Mac (@Tmac_213) June 2, 2024
McGrady did not reveal his all-time top 10 list in the video.
But he cited some impressive things Curry did, and the seven-time NBA All-Star seemed unimpressed.
McGrady believes Curry's inability to lead an injury-plagued, 15-50 Golden State Warriors to the playoffs during the coronavirus-affected 2019-2020 NBA season is the reason he's missed out on a place in the NBA's top 10 all-time, which is a pretty bold claim.
But McGrady wasn't done there. He continued to push for what he considered “greatness.”
“To me, greatness is when one of your guys is out, you can at least get your team into the playoffs,” McGrady added. “With Klay or Draymond out, they're not even in the playoffs. And they haven't won a championship yet. [NBA] Play-In [Tournament] No games at all.
“So, top five? Not likely.”
Given that the discussion is about individual players, not rosters or team season records, it doesn't make much sense for McGrady to compare Golden State's team performance to Curry's all-time rankings.
Still, Curry has the track record to prove he's always been a team-oriented player — averaging 24.8 points, 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds over his 15-year NBA career, while McGrady averaged just 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists — and Curry has accomplished a lot both as a player and as a teammate.
Curry will retire as one of the greatest players in NBA history, but fellow guard McGrady doesn't want Curry's No. 30 name to be higher on that list.
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