NBA - Main

I don't think the discourse was ever meant as disrespect to either, but that their potential was so insanely high that even with above average effort even by NBA standards, they couldn't reach it. That's more of a testament to how insanely talented they were.

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T-Mac was arguably the best player in the world at 23 years old. 23. He was averaging 32, 6, 5, 2 and 1 in a god awful Orlando team that opposing teams could guard by just.... doubling T-Mac. The same T-Mac who still scored 32 a game.

His true peak, barring injuries, would've probably been 2/3 years after that. He was absolutely unreal. Especially for a league that scored much less than nowadays.

VC apparently (i believe i've heard him himself say it before) was a bit of a victim of getting too much hype, too early, and kinda coasted on his natural talent the first few years of his career. Which makes it absolutely insane that he put up the numbers that he did.

I honestly think the two are the single most naturally talented players (Behind LBJ) to ever enter the League, both had really fantastic careers and were amongst the top five players in the league for a bit (T-Mac was definitely THE best for a minute) but their careers could've been that much better if injuries weren't a thing and if they had the work ethic someone like Kobe had (Again, not meant as a knock to them, but funnily enough when you're that talented you have to put in even more effort to reach your full potential).