I guess maybe lumping Tracy McGrady into the same disgruntled headline with Stephen Jackson isn’t totally fair. At the same time however, the guy did get paid about $50 million in recent years to be injured, and the least he could do is appear grateful about all that now that he is relatively healthy. He is on another team these days though, and maybe he doesn’t feel the Atlanta Hawks owe him anything. He’s also mad at them too. Captain Jack, as he’s often been throughout his NBA career, is mad as well. Or maybe he just likes Dwight Howard way more than he does Scott Skiles and his Milwaukee Bucks.
As far as the reasons for McGrady’s disgruntledness, there’s this from the Atlanta Journal Constitution yesterday:
Hawks forward Tracy McGrady’s private frustrations over his playing time finally boiled over after he played just 4:39 during the 97-77 loss to the Blazers late Saturday.
“I’m tired of this [bleep],” McGrady said. “You can put that in the paper, I don’t give a [bleep].”
McGrady didn’t play after halftime against the Blazers. He didn’t dress for Atlanta’s 101-99 victory at Phoenix Wednesday but said it was his decision to rest for the second game of a back-to-back. Against the Blazers, McGrady never returned after Marvin Williams replaced him with 7:21 left in the first half.
McGrady has played in 26 of 32 games this season for an average of 18 minutes before Saturday’s game. Last season with Detroit McGrady averaged 23 minutes in 72 games.
McGrady said Hawks coach Larry Drew hasn’t offered him an explanation when he doesn’t play him many minutes.
“If you don’t feel I can help, come tell me that,” McGrady said. “He ain’t told me nothing. I just want to help these guys win, man, which I know I can. But, damn, four minutes?”
I don’t know, I’m not trying to stick up for Larry Drew or anything, but didn’t he already tell you that by not playing you, Tracy? I mean, if he agreed with you, and did think you could help these guys win, he probably would’ve given you more than four minutes. Or maybe he just doesn’t like you personally, knows you would be really awesome if you played a lot, and is trying to sabotage your career even if it takes losing games on purpose to do so.
Stephen Jackson on the other hand, just doesn’t like being a Milwaukee Buck at all and wants to get out there asap. This according to him, by way of an interview with Alex Kennedy at Hoopsworld this weekend:
Jackson is frustrated with his diminished role and doesn’t understand why he’s not playing more. Over the last two seasons with the Charlotte Bobcats, the 12-year NBA veteran averaged 19.8 points and 37.3 minutes. This month, he’s averaging 21.3 minutes per game and has been benched altogether for five games.
“It’s very difficult,” Jackson said. “I’m going from playing 38 minutes each game and being one of the top guys in minutes played over the last five years to not playing at all. It’s tough. The only thing that I can do is worry about what I can control and that’s trying to be a professional and keep supporting the young guys. It’s tough though, with how much I love the game. I know I have a lot of basketball left in me. It’s tough not being out there and not being able to contribute.”
Jackson says that his relationship with Bucks head coach Scott Skiles is irreparable. He doesn’t appreciate the way that Skiles has handled this situation, describing his benching as disrespectful.
“I’ve worked hard for many years to be that player that guys want to play with,” Jackson said. “To not be playing, and not have any reasons behind it, it’s kind of disrespectful. At the end of the day, I’m 33 years old. I’m not a 22-year-old guy that you’re coaching. I’m a grown man who’s probably done more than a lot of people in this locker room in this league, including coaches. Like I said, I can’t put myself in the game and I can’t do anything except support my teammates and be ready for when I do play.”
In the 26 games Jackson has played in this season he is averaging 27 minutes per game and scoring 10.5 points per night. For his career he has averaged 33 minutes and 16 points per game. He is shooting 35 percent from the floor right now, and 27 percent from three point range. So maybe another thing he could do is try to play better because he is having the worst season of his career right now to be fair. What Jackson openly wants though is to be traded. He’d like to play with Dwight for as long as Dwight stays in Orlando I guess.
This also from Alex Kennedy at Hoopsworld, as Jackson continued:
On Friday, the Bucks faced off against the Orlando Magic. After the game, Jackson said he would love to join the Magic and play alongside his good friend Dwight Howard.
“I would love to [play in Orlando],” Jackson said. “Dwight has said a couple of times that he wants me to be with him. When you get a compliment like that from a big man like Dwight, it means a lot. Tim Duncan always steps up for me and says I’m the ultimate teammate too. When I have guys like that speaking up for me, I must have been doing something right throughout my whole career. I know my situation is going to get better eventually and I’m just going to keep being professional and keep my mouth closed.”
One would think that the Hawks may look to move McGrady at the March 1 deadline here too, although to McGrady’s credit, he at least stopped short of demanding a trade somewhere.
This from that AJC report as well:
Under CBA rules, McGrady would be eligible for a trade on March 1. He didn’t go so far as to say he wants out of Atlanta but said he wants to play a bigger role for the Hawks.
“Hopefully, I’m here,” he said. “I like it here. I like the guys. That’s what I love most about it. I like the guys in this locker room. But at the same time, I still can play. No doubt in my mind.”
Part of me thinks that this is and example of two aging players who are struggling to realize that their best days are long gone. But then again, maybe they’re just not in the right situation. We’ll find out whether or not they end up in a new one this season soon enough.
