The World According To Tracy McGrady: The NBA Is "Watered Down" Because Curry Was Voted Unanimous MVP

Tracy McGrady says Steph Curry’s unanimous MVP selection shows that the NBA is "watered-down" pic.twitter.com/EUnoNEZSha

— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) May 10, 2016

Thoughts Steph?
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Say what you want about Tracy McGrady, but don't say he's not learning what it takes to make a name for yourself in the mainstream media. Sure, he almost cried real tears when Robert Horry told him to take his bitch ass down to the pawn shop if he was trying to put someone else's ring on his finger, but he caught on quickly. This is how you save your seat on a television panel. Big news breaks? Give it an hour or two to resonate, let everyone give Steph Curry his due praise, and then be the first person to go negative and imply that his historic accomplishment is really just a sign of the times.

As for his opinion? In a word, it's stupid. It's easy to look at how bad the NBA playoffs have been, realize there's only three teams that stand any chance of winning a championship, and say it's "watered down" by a lack of parity. That is, until you look through the annals of NBA history and realize that's how it's always been. Maybe not to the extent it is this year, but professional basketball has always been pretty top heavy. How is Curry's run any different than Jordan's with the Bulls or Shaq's with the Lakers? Success in the NBA has always been predicated on elongated periods of dominance. There was only 4 different NBA champions during the 80's. There was only 4 different NBA champions during the 90's. There's only been 7 different NBA champions since 2000. If the NBA is watered down then - to varying degrees - it's always been watered down.

If we are talking about the actual talent level then Tracy McGrady is even more wrong. With absolute freak athletes like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and Kawhi Leanard in the league it's as hard as it's ever been to get recognized as far and away the most impressive player. Now, is Steph Curry's season the only season that's ever been worthy of a unanimous MVP vote? Absolutely not. However, it's pretty easy to see why it is the first to get that distinction. Not only is it statistically one of the best seasons of all time, but it's a season that was MARKEDLY better than his previous season - in which he also won MVP. There were plenty of worthy candidates this year - as there is every year - but Steph Curry was the first reigning MVP to receive legitimate consideration as 'The Most Improved Player' as well. No one went contrarian on the vote because it would have been too ridiculous to vote for anyone other than the guy that put an MVP caliber season to shame. Steph Curry was the best player on a team that broke the unbreakable record. The way he consistently dominates while playing such a perimeter oriented game is like nothing we have ever seen before. That's why he was voted the unanimous MVP of the NBA, not because the construct of professional basketball is significantly different than it used to be. I appreciate Tracy's initial attempt at a hot take, but I would watch out for Steph's security if I were him...