Rockets' McGrady admits he 'slacked off'

1/8/2005

Just two days after New Jersey Nets guard Vince Carter admitted to not working hard enough in Toronto, cousin and former Raptors teammate Tracy McGrady has also confessed to doing the same.




In a feature story from this week's Sports Illustrated, the Rockets' guard admitted that he was so defeated mentally from losing with his former team the Orlando Magic, that "some nights I did slack off" and added that, "I'm not going to sit here and say I played my hardest every night."




McGrady also said he did not trust his teammates from last season's 21-61 team and that part of his motivation in leading the NBA in scoring was to protect his image as one of the league's top players.
"Some nights I did slack off - and I knew that was a terrible thing to do - and I still was slacking off," McGrady told the magazine.



"That feels so bad. And I'm the leader, these guys are following my lead, so the whole team suffers even worse. That was wrong. Now, I would do it differently. I learned. I have to bust my butt no matter what. Last year was the worst experience of my life. And I learned. And believe me, I'm grateful for this opportunity here (Houston)."



McGrady was traded to the Rockets along with Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines in June for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato.



Though the Magic started last season 1-19 and never recovered, the former Raptor managed to lead the NBA in scoring for a second straight season, averaging 28 points a game.



In a televised interview with TNT NBA analyst John Thompson on Thursday, Carter admitted that he did not push himself as hard as he should have in Toronto. Despite admitting he didn't always try very hard, Carter added that it often bothered him that people questioned his competitiveness.

TSN.ca

Being a slacker must be genetic. :smoker2:

I thought mcgrady already admitted this at the time. I think a lot of athletes slack at one time or another.

RobFunk said:

I thought mcgrady already admitted this at the time. I think a lot of athletes slack at one time or another.

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I'm sure there isn't an athlete alive that hasn't every "taken a few plays off", etc. Wouldnt be human if they hadn't.....

yeah lots of MLB players dont leg it out for 1st lots of hoop players pop tons of j's then get burned on D . .heck even today you saw koren robinson not even look to see where the ball was on the first few series of downs on passing plays

RobFunk said:

yeah lots of MLB players dont leg it out for 1st lots of hoop players pop tons of j's then get burned on D . .heck even today you say koren robinson not even look to see where the ball was on the first few series of downs on passing plays

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Yeah, I think that was Darrell Jackson FunkyRob, but know what you're saying.

Both these two ..all you have to do is look at the look on their faces...They look like they could care less, half the time...I never saw MJ EVER look like this....may be why he has 6 rings and they will never win anything...

Journeyman said:

Both these two ..all you have to do is look at the look on their faces...They look like they could care less, half the time...I never saw MJ EVER look like this....may be why he has 6 rings and they will never win anything...

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Bingo!

very true. the NBA is completely unwatchable. at least these guys admit they dont care.

if Jordan was on a team that would win 35 games if he dogged it or 42 games if he busted his damn butt every night, he would bust his damn butt every night and yell and scream at his teammates for sucking so much.

I used to really like the NBA, I have not cared less about it in about 5 years. I never bet it.

I completely ignore it. couldnt care less about it, much like the players.

Its not like the NBA all stars could beat Italy, Turkey or Lithuania anyway, they cant. they dont care.

they do make millions and have great lifestyles though. makes them soft. never made people like Barkley, Magic, Jordan, Bird, Isiah, et all soft. they wanted to win. BAD.

Who you callin unwatchable?

these stories are meaningless. to think that every player plays 100 percent on every play is nuts. barring a few freaks, most players have games where they don't give 100 percent. Or if a team is down by 25 in the 4th quarter they may not play as hard as they play if it is a tie game in the playoffs. That is life.

personally, i wouldnt want mcgrady or carter on my team because they dont appear to have much heart. but these stories can told about thousands of players, but most of them are smart enough not to admit it.

TMAC is still a loser

Nothing but a below 500 player