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Tracy McGrady on winning a title: 'I never had the opportunity'

Originally posted on Ball Exclusives | By Titan Frey | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 9:54 AM ET

Tracy McGrady is an all-time great NBA player. He led the NBA in scoring twice, was a seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA Team member, and won the 2000-01 Most Improved Player Award.

Still, despite all of this greatness, McGrady isn’t mentioned among the top players of all time. The main reason for this is that he never won an NBA championship.

McGrady recently appeared on ESPN’s First Take and explained how he never had an opportunity to win an NBA championship.

“We have too many talented players that come through this league that are championship worthy,” McGrady said. “What I mean by that is, if you take them off a team that is a championship-quality team—replace me with Kobe with Shaq. You don’t think I could carry the Lakers to a championship?

“I never had the opportunity, and I felt like that if I was put in that position to win a championship, I damn sure would show up and do what I do in the playoffs to elevate my team to that level. I just never had the chance.

“So, do I get diminished because I never won a championship? I was never put in that position.”

Tracy McGrady says he never has an opportunity to win a championship on First Take pic.twitter.com/g0J8pIimlZ

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McGrady has a point. Many great players were never on a great team. Basketball is ultimately a team sport, and it takes a team to win an NBA title.

Still, McGrady did technically have a chance at winning a championship. He was even on a really good team.

McGrady was a member of the 2012-13 San Antonio Spurs that made the 2013 Finals. He played alongside legends Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginóbili, and Kawhi Leonard.

The Spurs had an excellent chance to win the title but blew it in Game 7 against the LeBron James-led Miami Heat. So, McGrady certainly had a chance to win a championship.

Of course, McGrady was past his prime at this point and only appeared in two games of the Finals. McGrady is referring to the fact that he never had the opportunity to play for a title during his prime.

Still, if you replace Kobe Bryant with McGrady on those early 2000s Lakers teams, would they be better? That is highly debatable, but my money is on no.

This article first appeared on Ball Exclusives and was syndicated with permission.

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