2x NBA scoring champion Tracy McGrady prefers college basketball over NBA: "I watch more college basketball"
Tracy McGrady, or T-Mac, as he is fondly known among the basketball fraternity has never been afraid of speaking his mind, occasionally with controversial opinions.
McGrady recently confessed his unusual position in an interview with GQ. He explained that a lot of NBA players don't really love the game except for during their contract years and as a result, he can't quite stand watching a lot of it:
"I'll be honest with you, I don't watch a lot of it. I will watch playoff time, when everybody is pretty much locked in. Throughout the season? No. I don't watch too much NBA. I watch more college basketball."
He further explained the reasoning behind preferring college basketball over the NBA:
"It's more exciting to me. I like college basketball because they play hard. And it's competitive basketball. I'm not saying the NBA is not competitive, but it's too much of everybody shooting threes. You're jacking up and taking terrible basketball shots. I don't see that on the college level."
That's definitely a different take from what Sacramento King's star De'Aaron Fox said, whose comments about college basketball were widely criticized:
“I can’t watch a full college game, it’s hard. The shot-making is not at the pro level. The refs are bad. A lot of coaching is really bad. I can't stand it.”
Tracy McGrady
BEST 40 Plays ! pic.twitter.com/TK1CyIEKiP
Tracy McGrady didn't hold back either when he was talking about James Harden wanting out of Philadelphia and possibly reuniting with Russell Westbrook on the L.A Clippers:
"James has probably played with more Hall of Famers than anybody in the league, and he doesn’t have a ring to show for it. I don’t know what he’s looking for. It’s got to be something deeper than what you know. Get over it, man."
Another one of McGrady's controversial opinions is that he was in the conversation of the league's best player during his time and that it came down to him or Kobe Bryant:
“That was a conversation of who was the best players in the league. It was me and Kobe — of barbershop talk and around the league. Real hoopers, real basketball people know."
Tracy McGrady's formidable NBA legacy
McGrady had a distinguished NBA career, although most fans agree that his legacy would have been even better had he had an injury-free career.
McGrady went straight from high school into the NBA and was picked No. 9 by the Toronto Raptors. However, it was during his time as an Orlando Magic player that he showed off his offensive qualities to the fullest.
McGrady won the NBA scoring title twice in 2003 and 2004 and was a seven-time All-Star. ESPN ranked him No. 63 among the greatest-ever players to have played in the NBA.