Tracy McGrady was undoubtedly one of the greatest scorers the game has ever seen. Standing at 6’9, the 45-year-old had god-given athleticism to add to an extremely deep repertoire of offensive weapons. And so, when he was asked about it recently, the two-time scoring champion even liked his odds in a 1v1 against the league’s greatest player ever, Michael Jordan.
Speaking on this hypothetical match-up on Instagram, McGrady initially mentioned his height advantage over Jordan, posing that the Bulls legend wouldn’t be able to affect his shot due to it. However, he then gave his opponent his due credit, noting his incredible speed, before saying that it could go either way.
“I’m about three inches taller than MJ, so he won’t affect my shot at all…He’s cat-quick, so I have to give him some space. But he can shoot the mid-range. He elevates well on his shot. MJ was strong. Again, 7-game series. I think it could go either way.”
Many may be quick to dismiss the former Houston Rocket’s opinion on this one. However, before his slew of injuries took a toll on him, McGrady was an absolute menace on both ends of the floor. He could shoot with the absolute best of them, take it to the rack strong, and even lock down the best players in the NBA.
Of course, Michael Jordan would still enter this hypothetical match as the favorite. However, it would be a fool’s errand to count T-Mac out of this one.
Tracy McGrady also chose Bryant over Jordan in a hypothetical 1v1
In the end, McGrady never really revealed who would win in a hypothetical 1v1 between Jordan and him. But one player that T-Mac confidently took over the Chicago icon in a 1v1 was MJ’s protegé, Kobe Bryant.
According to Tracy, Bryant perfected the playstyle that Mike originally played with. This made Bryant the obvious choice in T-Mac’s eyes.
” I’m going with Kob because I think Kobe was the most skilled basketball player I’ve ever seen. I think he took what MJ was and enhanced that skill set.” [per OBL Hoops]
Once again, many may be quick to disagree with T-Mac’s opinion. But the surprising fact is that even Jordan admitted during a SportsCenter interview that Kobe might be the only person who could take Jordan 1v1, courtesy of Bryant stealing all of Jordan’s moves. And so, again, McGrady’s opinion has more than a little credibility to it.