“We All Got Kids”: Tracy McGrady’s Comments on NBA Has 2016 Champion in Utter Disbelief

When it comes to the NBA, there's so much that a player can accomplish. With a plethora of awards up for grabs, one's career could be considered decorated the moment they win at least a couple of them. However, the most sought-after award in the league is arguably the NBA championship.

The majority of NBA players' desire is to win a title. We've seen that ring-chasing attitude from the likes of Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Michael Jordan. However, NBA legend Tracy McGrady thinks otherwise. To McGrady, winning the regular-season MVP has more value than winning the championship.

"The MVP of the regular season has more weight than a championship," McGrady said on his podcast with Vince Carter. "That is the whole team. This is not just the team; it's ownership, it's management, it's all of this that plays into winning a championship… MVP? That's you putting in some work."

Former 2016 NBA champion Iman Shumpert was in disbelief and voiced his thoughts on T-Mac's comments. Shumpert was disappointed to learn about McGrady's opinion. This was because the former champion argued that McGrady was a better player than Bryant back in the day.

To add to his frustrations, Shump thinks that T-Mac's remarks could easily negatively influence a younger generation of basketball players, promoting the pursuit of the MVP over winning titles.

"I really loved you," Shumpert said about McGrady on Gil's Arena. "I had these arguments about you and Kobe, then you gonna do this to me…. I feel some type of way cause this is why he ain't get out of the first round."

"Kobe would've never said something like that; we all got kids," Shumpert added. "T-Mac, you can't say s**t like that. You don't get to teach my kids that winning doesn't matter; it always matters. You don't get to say, 'We lost this year, but I won MVP.'"

Ironically, McGrady has neither won the regular-season MVP award nor an NBA championship in his 15-year career. Despite missing out on notable accolades, T-Mac was still inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Former NBA Star Gives Take on Tracy McGrady's Comments on NBA Championships

Former NBA champion Iman Shumpert was vocal about Tracy McGrady's remarks on prioritizing MVP awards over NBA titles. Shumpert believes that NBA players should always prioritize winning rings over individual accolades. However, it appears that others share T-Mac's mentality.

Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas immediately responded to Shumpert on his podcast. While he does agree with Shump that winning a title matters, Arenas also believes there's nothing wrong with McGrady's take. Gil then revealed that he had similar sentiments to T-Mac.

"I would rather be a top-10 player in the entire league than be a rotational player winning a championship," Arenas said in response to Shumpert. "I don’t want a project A; I want to be the A student getting the A. I don’t want to be a C student and get a project A."

At the end of the day, it comes down to how one perceives success in the NBA. To many, winning championships is the ultimate goal. However, there will always be those who are content to prove they've made a huge impact on the league despite never winning a ring.