Kobe Bryant is one of just three active NBA players who’ve averaged 28 points, six rebounds and five assists per game in multiple seasons. A second is imitating the third.
Reuters:Heading into the 2013 Finals, McGrady took on the role of simulating LeBron James in practice to help his team prepare for the best-of-seven series against the Miami Heat.
“That was before this series even started, just simulating a little bit of what LeBron does on the basketball court,” said McGrady, whose Spurs lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
“I’m just doing the best I can and contributing in whatever fashion I can for this team to prepare themselves to win a championship.”
Tracy McGrady’s last 28-6-5 season came nine years ago, and with the Spurs, he’s limited to garbage-time minutes. I’m not sure how much he can really resemble LeBron anymore – and if he can, he should be playing more – but in typical Spurs fashion, everyone has a role to help the team.
As Kawhi Leonard and crew stifle LeBron, McGrady can feel like he’s contributing. McGrady probably envisioned being the best player in an NBA Finals rather than pretending to be him, but if San Antonio wins the title, I bet McGrady will be perfectly satisfied with how he helped.
