Tracy McGrady:How Media and Nba Conspire to Sabotage His Career

I recently wrote an article about how the media and David Stern tear Allen Iverson apart. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/286323-the-tragic-story-of-allen-iversonhow-media-and-nba-sabotaged-his-career

Today, we are witnessing the exact same scenario with another superstar, Tracy McGrady. I quote myself from my previous article "It is obvious that David Stern and the media are deliberately undermining and marginalizing the '90s superstars, namely Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Steve Nash, Ray Allen, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Shaquille O'Neal, and Tracy McGrady (and to a lesser extent Andre Miller, Larry Hughes, Michael Redd, Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, Darius Miles, Stephon Marbury, Jerry Stackhouse, Wally Szczerbiak, Ricky Davis, Steve Francis, etc). The media loves to play along. David Stern wants to make the league revolves around LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant. He also wants to give primetime TV games to Chris Paul,Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Rajon Rondo, Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin, OJ Mayo, Joe Johnson, Rodney Stuckey, Rudy Gay, Stephen Curry, and Deron Williams. If he doesn't sabotage the older superstars' careers, he couldn't achieve his goal."

The way they are portrayed by the media make fans hate them, while ballhogs like Joe Johnson, Brandon Jennings, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, and Rodney Stuckey are described as team-first guys, saints, whatever. The media is all on kissing their asses. Are James and Bryant winners any more than Iverson and T-Mac? I doubt it. Bryant could only muster 34 wins without Phil Jackson and Shaq and managed to become a coach killer (Rudy T) in the process. David Stern chimed in and sent Pau Gasol as a Christmas present. LeBron James had a cheap owner in Gordon Gund. Stern enforces a sale to Dan Gilbert. Cleveland, a mid-market team, has the top 3 payroll in the league in the last 3-4 years. Does he dominates the ball any less than Iverson? Didn't he force Larry Hughes into a spot up shooter? Why does his 7 assists per game means more than Iverson's 7 assists per game? Why does he only thrive with jumpshooting point guards with limited ballhandling ability like Mo Williams? Why does this diva acts like the GM and rewards his "homies" Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson fat contract extensions while getting rid of other high scoring volume shooters like Ricky Davis, Larry Hughes, and Flip Murray? Why does he only wants "yes man" as his coach? Yes, Mike Brown, we're talking about you. At least Iverson had Larry Brown.

I'll be the first to admit that no superstar is the complete package. They all have flaws in their game, even Michael Jordan. But how is T-Mac not a franchise player? Sure, the injuries hurt, but a player of his stature shouldn't be treated as a cancer to the team. Many people like to point to the fact that T-Mac never made it out of the first round in his career. Well, that doesn't mean anything because he was never favored to win in the first place. The fact that he didn't pull any massive upset shouldn't tarnish his legacy. During the Magic-Pistons series, the Magic were the 8th seed and the Pistons was #1 in the East. T-Mac showed a lot of heart leading his team to a 3-1 series lead. If not for Chauncey Billups' heroics in game 6 and 7, the Magic would have pull out one of the biggest upsets in league history. The loss to the Mavericks in the first round was simple, the Mavs were clearly a more talented team from top to bottom. Teams with T-Mac at the helm frequently overachieves. I mean, those Magic teams consist of guys like Darrell Armstrong, Andrew DeClercq, Mike Miller playing sidekicks to T-Mac. When LeBron can't win, it's because of his supporting cast (which is vastly superior to T-Mac's). When Chris Paul can't win, it's because of his supporting cast. When Kobe can't win, it's because of his supporting cast. When A.I. and T-Mac overachieve with horrible teammates, it's their fault. The double standard is beyond hilarious.

When the Rockets went on that 22 game winning streak in 2008, they did most of it with only T-Mac, but not Yao Ming. Yet because of the Chinese market, Yao got all the credit.  (Starting him in the all-star game ahead of Shaq, then the most dominant player in the league, in his rookie year was the biggest disgrace in the history of basketball, but that's an issue for another time.) Why didn't the so-called "experts" question whether Yao Ming's lack of mobility is dragging the Rockets down? Is he really a good fit to Adelman's motion offense? If T-Mac would kill their chemistry, wouldn't Yao do the same? He's under contract yet they don't want to play him. It's like the Darius Miles situation from last season all over again. T-Mac spent the prime of his career for this franchise and that's the "thank you" he gets? T-Mac can still be an elite player in this league if he's healthy. Doesn't he at least earn the right to try to prove his health?

The NBA is a joke. It's all about clearing cap space, blackballing star players, and developing young guys who will never pan out while fans go to the arena to watch their incompetent play. I mean, seriously, what is Mike Conley and Rodney Stuckey doing starting for NBA teams? Ramon Sessions and Will Bynum are on the bench just because they were late 2nd round pick/undrafted, but they got way more promise and upside than the aforementioned. Why are we forced to watch Trevor Ariza shooting 20 times (including 7 3's) a game? The guy is a good role player, but they're forcing him to be Danny Granger.

In the past, these kinda stuff would never happen. Now it seems like an annual occurrence. Every year, they would try to marginalize a superstar. If they resist, their career get sabotaged. It seems like David Stern and the media are at it again. Many fans already are developing a negative perception on T-Mac (injuries aside). My money says that T-Mac ends up as Allen Iverson next season. I'm a longtime fan of both A.I. and T-Mac (probably my two favorite players of all-time) and I just can't stand to see it happen like this. I fell in love with his game in the 1999-2000 season when he was a 20 year old rising star with hall of famer written all over him. Pairing up with his cousin, Vince Carter, they captivated the imagination of all the basketball fans of what could've been.

I just can't wait to see the day Brandon Jennings, Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James face the same fate. Congrats David Stern, you just ran this league into the ground.