Allen Iverson vs. Tracy McGrady As a request from the fans of NBA Gold, this post is a full comparison of Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. This is very long and involved, but it is also very informative and interesting. I hope you read the entire post and I hope you enjoy it. Also, remember that this is meant as a debate, it is not meant to give a definitive answer, but rather to raise a discussion. I will give valid evidence to support each player and I will give my final opinion at the end. To begin, here are Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady’s career numbers. T-Mac: 1998-2012 938 GP, 32.7 MP, 19.6 ppg, 4.4 apg, 5.6 rpg, 1.2 spg, 0.9 bpg, .435 fg%, .470 efg%, .519 ts%, 26.3 ast%, 10.3 tov%, 29.3 usg%, 108 Ortg, 104 DRtg, 6.5 ws/yr, 2.4 dws/yr, 22.1 per, .152 ws/48 A.I.: 1997-2010 914 GP, 41.1 MP, 26.7 ppg, 6.2 apg, 3.7 rpg, 2.2 spg, 0.2 bpg, .425 fg%, .452 efg%, .518 ts%, 28.8 ast%, 12.2 tov%, 31.8 usg%, 105 Ortg, 106 DRtg, 7.1 ws/yr, 2.7 dws, 20.9 per, .126 ws/48 As we can see, A.I. is ahead in 8 of the 19 stats, while T-Mac is ahead in the other 11 stats. Thus, based on accumulative individual statistical performance, TRACY MCGRADY WINS. How about when the two played each other head on. Well, Tracy McGrady’s teams have faced Allen Iverson’s teams in 32 games. During these games, here are their stats. T-Mac: 36.5 MP, 22.6 ppg, 5.8 apg, 6.6 rpg, 1.5 spg, 0.9 bpg, 3.1 tov, .421 fg%, .295 3p%, .732 ft% A.I.: 42.9 MP, 28.9 ppg, 5.9 apg, 4.4 rpg, 2.6 spg, 0.3 bpg, 341 tov, .433 fg%, .295 3p%, .746 ft% In head to head games, Iverson clearly outplays Tracy McGrady. However, we must also take into consideration that they were not always matched up against each other. Allen Iverson faced guards like little guy Mugsy Bogues, defensive specialist Keith Bogans, and defensive specialist Rafer Alston. However, AI also was facing the Raptors who were in the bottom half of the league in DRtg, the Magic who were in the bottom 5 in DRtg, and the Rockets who were top 10 in DRtg. McGrady was facing players like Jerry Stackhouse, one of the greatest individual defenders of all-time in Bruce Bowen, and defensive specialist (NOT) Carmelo Anthony. Furthermore, McGrady was facing better defensive teams, each team he faced was in the top 10 in DRtg for that year. For head-to-head matchups, ALLEN IVERSON WINS. Who was the better playoff performer? T-Mac: 34.5 MP, 22.2 ppg, 5 apg, 5.7 rpg, 1.1 spg, 0.9 bpg, .426 fg%, .456 efg%, .512 ts%, 32.9 ast%, 11 tov%, 106 Ortg, 107 DRtg, 23.4 PER, .125 ws/48 A.I.: 45.1 MP, 29.7 ppg, 6 apg, 3.8 rpg, 2.1 spg, 0.2 bpg, .401 fg%, .434 efg%, .489 ts%, 28.6 ast%, 9.3 tov%, 105 Ortg, 109 DRtg, 21.2 PER, .109 ws/48 However, you need to need to look at these stats in context. For instance, while on the Nuggets, AI had about 6 players over the league average in ws/48. Thus, he had 6 above average players on his team. With the 76ers, he had 11 players over the league average in ws/48. Thus, over his career, his team has been made up of above average players who all made contributions to the team. On the other hand, McGrady with the Magic had 6 players over, with the Raptors, he only had one other player beside him over the league average, and McGrady with the Rockets had 8 other players over the league average. While this does not support that McGrady was a better playoff performer, it does dispute people who criticize him for not making it far in the playoffs. Since, T-Mac put in all he had to win, however, his supporting cast was not great enough to support him. In fact, Bill Simmons said that “no modern superstar had worse teammate luck than Tracy McGrady”. However, as a playoff performer, ALLEN IVERSON WINS. What about accolades? Well, Iverson has been an All-Star 11 times while McGrady has only been and all-star 7 times. Iverson has been named to the NBA first team 3 times and NBA 2nd team 3 times. McGrady has been names to the NBA first team 2 times and NBA 2nd team 3 times. Furthermore, Iverson won rookie of the year as well as an MVP award. In terms of accolades, ALLEN IVERSON WINS. What about overall team impact? Over Iverson’s career, his teams have averaged approximately 38 tw/yr (total wins per year) and he has contributed approximately 7 ws/yr. Thus, his PWin% or the percentage of wins he has contributed to his overall team wins is about 18.6%. Over McGrady’s career, his teams have averaged approximately 44 tw/yr (total wins per year) and he has contributed approximately 6.5 ws/yr. Thus, his PWin% is about 14.8%. Thus, Iverson has had a greater impact on his teams over the years. ALLEN IVERSON WINS. What about longevity? Here is the key argument, longevity. Many people use this as their key point in debating players either for or against a player. However, in Iverson and McGrady’s case it is hard to argue length of career since T-Mac has played more games than Iverson over his career while Iverson has averaged nearly 10 minutes per game more. So, it becomes a matter of who had a greater impact and remained elite longer. To determine this, I use something called a “Prime Year”, I classify a “Prime Year” as a season in which a player was statistically better than their career average for the year in 7 of these 13 stats: ppg, apg, rpg, spg, bpg, fg%, efg%, tov%, ts%, ast%, dws, per, and ws/48,. Then I also use something called an “AP Year” or “Ant-Prime Year”. An “AP Year” is when a player has 4 or fewer of the 13 stats over their career average. To determine longevity or length of their prime, I count the consecutive number of prime years and that is the length of their prime. Allen Iverson has had 6 “Prime Years”. A.I. had consecutive prime years from 2001.2003, 2005-2006, and the 2008 season. Also, A.I. has had 3 “AP Years”. Based on the “Prime Year” system, A.I.’s best season was in 2004-2005 season in which he 10 of the 13 stats were higher that year than his career average. On the other hand, Tracy McGrady has had 7 “Prime Years” consecutively from 2001-2007 and 5 “AP Years”. Based on the “Prime Year” system, McGrady’s best 3 seasons were 2001-2003 in which he had 12 of the 13 stats over his career average. As we can see, Iverson has in his “Anti-Prime Years” for less of his career than T-Mac. T- Mac has spent more of his career than A.I. in his “Prime Years”. Based on longevity, while A.I. hasn’t been in his prime for as long, he remained a good player for long having spent only 3 of his 14 seasons as an “AP Year”. T-Mac, however, was elite for a greater time, though he spent 5 of his 15 years as an “AP Year”. Furthermore, McGrady’s has had 11 seasons in which he was a starter each game he was healthy. Factoring in the 1999 lockout 50 game season, that amounts to 870 possible games, however due to injuries, he only played 749 games over that time, 86% of possible games. Iverson has had 12 season in which he was a starter for each game he was healthy. Factoring in the 1999 lockout 50 game season, that amounts to 952 possible games, however due to injuries, he only played 829 games over that time, 87% of possible games. Thus, for longevity, for remaining a good, healthy player and having an impact on your team for longer, ALLEN IVERSON WINS. What about team chemistry? Well, Allen Iverson isn’t famous for his teamwork. Just listen to his famous interview, “How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?" Also, Allen Iverson is continuously named as one of the worst teammates of all-time and Bleacher Report names him as the starting shooting guard for the “NBA All-Terrible Teammate Team”. McGrady hasn’t been the best teammate, however, he was able to mesh enough with these players to consistent playoff appearances. As a teammate, nearly by default, TRACY MCGRADY WINS. What about economic value? The year before Tracy McGrady’s first year with the Raptors, the raptors team had an attendance of 748,927 (8th of 29). By his second year with the team, their attendance had rose to 756,496 (9th of 29). Also, the year before Allen Iverson’s first year with the 76ers, the 76ers had an attendance of 489,327 (28th of 29). By his second year with the team, their attendance had rose to 655,417 (21st of 29). In addition, since the opening of the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York, Allen Iverson jerseys have been the 3rd most popular jerseys while Tracy McGrady jerseys has been the 6th most popular jersey. While jersey sales and team attendance do not really have any impact on which player was better, they do show to an extent the popularity of a player and to an extent the economic value of a player. Also, this is just another piece of evidence to consider when comparing players, not the key piece of evidence. In economic value, ALLEN IVERSON WINS. After all of this information, I believe that Allen Iverson is a BETTER player than Tracy McGrady. Remember that this is just my opinion off of the following information. I ask that you take all of this information to add to what you believe one way or the other. Remember, the goal of this comparison is to not answer a question but provide further evidence to further fuel an excellent discussion. Thank You for reading this. I hope you enjoyed this post and I hope that this has encouraged you to go out and debate with other people on this subject and other basketball subjects in general. - Blake
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 23:49:42 +0000
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