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Scoring points is undoubtedly the most glamorous part of basketball and in the early to mid-2000s, with the exception of Kobe Bryant, perhaps no players in the NBA were more accomplished scorers than Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. In fact, over a five-year stretch between 2000-2001 and 2004-2005, the league scoring title was won by either Iverson or McGrady on no fewer than 28 points per game. As two of the most explosive and talented pure scorers of their generation, each of whom had to overcome their own obstacles on their way to the Hall of Fame (Iverson’s short stature in a game of giants vs. McGrady’s persistent injury issues), let us compare these uniquely talented players and ask the question:
Who was better – Allen Iverson or Tracy McGrady?
The Beginning
Both highly-touted prospects and early entrants into the NBA Draft, Iverson and McGrady took different paths to stardom – the former was an immediate star as Rookie of the Year, while the latter came directly out of high school and would take a few years to mature.
Growing up in Virginia, Iverson was a dual-sport star in basketball and football, winning state championships and Associated Press High School Player of the Year honors in both sports as a high school junior. However, after being involved in a violent altercation at a bowling alley, he was sentenced to jail (the conviction was later overturned) and forced to attend a different high school, though still earned a basketball scholarship to Georgetown in nearby Washington D.C. After earning Big East Rookie of the Year and Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors as a freshman, Iverson was again Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore and also a First Team All-American with the highest career scoring average in school history. Declaring early after two years with the Hoyas, Iverson was drafted first overall in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and went on to win Rookie of the Year honors on 23.5 points (on 41.6% shooting), 4.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game.
As for McGrady, he grew up in Florida and played both basketball and baseball in high school, eventually transferring to powerhouse basketball school Mt. Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina as a senior. There, he was named a McDonald’s All-American, USA Today National Player of the Year, and North Carolina Mr. Basketball while leading the team to a #2 national ranking. With high school players still eligible at the time, McGrady bypassed college and was selected ninth overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. As a rookie, he played sparingly, averaging 7.0 points (45.0% shooting), 4.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game off the bench.
Career Comparison
In their overlapping primes in the 2000s, Iverson and McGrady were unstoppable offensive forces, synonymous with scoring buckets and consistently ranked among the highest scorers in the NBA en route to multiple scoring titles apiece.
Even with his diminutive size at 6’1″ (effectively a shooting guard in a point guard’s body), Iverson was always among the league leaders in minutes played, averaging over 40 minutes per game for his career and leading the NBA in the category an incredible 7x. After averaging 22.0 points per game in his second season, he broke out during the lockout-shortened 1998-1999 season to win the first of four scoring titles on 26.8 points (though shooting just 41.2%), 4.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.3 steals per game; though there was no All-Star Game that year, he was named First Team All-NBA. This was followed by his first All-Star season in 1999-2000 (28.4 points per game on 42.1% shooting with 3.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game) as well as a Second Team All-NBA selection. In fact, Iverson would be an All-Star every year for the rest of his career (11x) and would win two straight scoring titles and three consecutive steals crowns at the turn of the century:
- 2000-2001: scoring champion at 31.1 points per game (42.0% shooting) with 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and a league-leading 2.5 steals per game; named First Team All-NBA and won league MVP
- 2001-2002: repeated as scoring champion with 31.4 points per game (though on only 39.8% shooting) with 4.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and a league-leading 2.8 steals per game; Second Team All-NBA
- 2002-2003: 27.6 points (on 41.4% shooting), 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and a league-leading 2.7 steals per game; Second Team All-NBA
After being limited by injuries to only 48 games played in 2003-2004, Iverson bounced back the next year with his final scoring crown at 30.7 points per game (on 42.4% shooting) with 4.0 rebounds and a career-best 7.9 assists per game. Though he actually posted a career-high 33.0 points per game in 2005-2006 (Kobe averaged 35.4 points per game to win the scoring title) and earned Third Team All-NBA honors, it would be Iverson’s last full season in Philadelphia – during the 2006-2007 season, he was traded with Ivan McFarlin to the Denver Nuggets for Andre Miller, Joe Smith, and two first-round picks.
In Denver, Iverson teamed up with another ball-dominant scorer in Carmelo Anthony and in his one full season with the Nuggets, averaged 26.4 points (on a career-best 45.8% shooting; it would be his last 20+ points per game season) with 3.0 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. However, Iverson never quite meshed with Anthony (there was only one basketball, after all) and in the midst of a career-low 18.7 points per game in 2008-2009, he was traded once again, this time to the Detroit Pistons for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess, and Cheikh Samb. At age 33, his best days were clearly behind him – following less than a season in Detroit, Iverson signed with the Memphis Grizzlies, but only played three games with them before briefly returning to the 76ers; though he played his last NBA game in 2009-2010 at age 34, Iverson did not officially retire from the NBA until 2013.
Meanwhile, though he remained a bench player in his second season with the Raptors, McGrady was joined on the team that season by cousin Vince Carter and the two were poised to form a formidable duo on the wings – by 1999-2000, the 20-year-old McGrady had improved greatly to 15.4 points (45.1% shooting), 6.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. However, as a free agent, he was instead lured to the Orlando Magic by a massive contract, the opportunity to play in his home state of Florida, and the chance to play with dynamic all-around talent Grant Hill. While Hill was besieged by injuries in Orlando, McGrady flourished with the Magic – in 2000-2001, he broke out as a superstar with 26.8 points per game (45.7% shooting), 7.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game to earn the first of seven straight All-Star selections, Second Team All-NBA honors, and the Most Improved Player award. As an encore, he soared to First Team All-NBA the next year with 25.6 points (45.1% shooting), a career-high 7.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game. McGrady would then go on to win back-to-back scoring titles:
- 2002-2003: a career-high 32.1 points per game (on a career-high 45.7% shooting) with 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game; First Team All-NBA
- 2003-2004: 28.0 points (41.7% shooting), 6.0 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game; Second Team All-NBA
Due to ongoing conflicts with the team, however, McGrady was dealt in 2004 alongside Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, and Reece Gaines to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Cato. Playing alongside Yao Ming, McGrady’s first year in Houston was his best: 25.7 points (43.1% shooting), 6.2 rebounds, and a career-high 5.7 assists per game for a Third Team All-NBA selection; perhaps most notably, in a December 2004 game vs. the San Antonio Spurs, McGrady scored an astonishing 13 points in 33 seconds to pull off an improbable comeback win. An injury-plagued 2005-2006 season limited him to only 47 games played (24.4 points per game) before bouncing back with another Second Team All-NBA selection on 24.4 points (though only 40.6% shooting) with 6.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. At age 28 in 2007-2008 McGrady would average 20+ points per game (21.6) for the final time and was Third Team All-NBA despite missing out on the All-Star Game. Further injuries resulted in only 30 games played in his final “full” Rockets season and just 15.6 points per game in 2008-2009.
Midway through the 2009-2010 season, McGrady was sent to the New York Knicks as the headliner of a large three-team deal involving the Rockets, Knicks, and Sacramento Kings. He was just a shell of his former greatness, though, and averaged less than 10 points per game in half a season with the team. Thereafter, he bounced around for two years with the Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks before signing with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Following a season in China, McGrady would return stateside to play for the Spurs in the playoffs before announcing his retirement in 2013.
The careers of Iverson and McGrady essentially overlapped, with the latter coming into the league a year later and playing one additional season equating to roughly 25 games. Over that span, Iverson was the superior overall scorer (26.7 vs. 19.6 points per game) and averaged more assists as a primary ball handler (6.2 vs. 4.4 assists per game), but McGrady unsurprisingly posted more rebounds (5.6 vs. 3.7 rebounds per game) and was a slightly more efficient shooter. These numbers resulted in more All-Star selections (11 vs. 7) and an MVP for Iverson, though both players were 7x All-NBA selections. The advanced metrics tell a mixed story – on one hand, McGrady had the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER), yet on the other hand, Iverson accumulated nominally more Win-Shares in fewer total games. Head-to-head, Iverson and McGrady faced off 32 times in the regular season (never in the playoffs) – individually, Iverson had the upper hand, averaging 28.9 points (on 43.3% shooting), 4.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game to McGrady’s 22.6 points (on 42.1% shooting), 6.6 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game, but McGrady’s teams came out ahead with an 18-14 record. As two of the game’s elite scorers, Iverson and McGrady were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in successive years (Iverson – 2016, McGrady – 2017).
Regular Season Statistics
| Allen Iverson | Player | Tracy McGrady |
| 14 (1996-2010) | Seasons | 15 (1997-2012) |
| 914 | Games Played | 938 |
| 26.7 | Points | 19.6 |
| 3.7 | Rebounds | 5.6 |
| 6.2 | Assists | 4.4 |
| 42.5% | Field Goal % | 43.5% |
| 78.0% | Free Throw % | 74.6% |
| 20.9 | PER | 22.1 |
| 99.0 | Win Shares | 97.3 |
| 11x | All-Star Games | 7x |
| 7x | All-NBA | 7x |
| 1x | MVP | – |
| – | NBA Titles | – |
| – | NBA Finals MVP | – |
| Rookie of the Year | Other Awards | 1x Most Improved Player |
| 2016 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2017 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Despite their individual brilliance, neither Iverson nor McGrady were able to carry their teams to NBA championships, though the former did come close in leading Philadelphia to a Finals appearance.
Across eight postseason trips (6x with the 76ers, 2x with the Nuggets), Iverson twice led the league in playoff scoring (28.5 points per game in 1998-1999 and 31.2 points per game in 2004-2005). However, his greatest success came in his 2000-2001 MVP season, when he and Dikembe Mutombo led Philadelphia to the NBA Finals vs. the Shaq and Kobe-led Los Angeles – though they won Game 1 behind Iverson’s 48 points, the 76ers ultimately lost in five games despite him averaging 35.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game.
McGrady never advanced past the first round of the playoffs in seven playoff trips in his prime with the Raptors, Magic, and Rockets despite individual heroics: he averaged 30+ points per game 4x, including back-to-back years leading the postseason in scoring in 2000-2001 (33.8 points per game) and 2001-2002 (30.8 points per game). It was not until McGrady came back from China to join the Tim- Duncan-led Spurs in 2012-2013 that he made made it past round one and all the way to the NBA Finals (a seven-game loss to the LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh-led Miami Heat), though he only played in six games and averaged roughly five minutes per game.
Internationally, Iverson and McGrady were both part of the gold medal-winning Team USA at the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship, with the former also winning a disappointing bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
Playoff Statistics
| Allen Iverson | Player | Tracy McGrady |
| 71 | Games Played | 50 |
| 29.7 | Points | 22.2 |
| 3.8 | Rebounds | 5.7 |
| 6.0 | Assists | 5.0 |
| 40.1% | Field Goal % | 42.6% |
| 76.4% | Free Throw % | 75.7% |
| 21.2 | PER | 23.4 |
| 7.3 | Win Shares | 4.5 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; as age and injuries took their toll and resulted in decreased effectiveness, Iverson and McGrady both spent their last couple of seasons bouncing around and each played briefly overseas before retiring. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Allen Iverson | Player | Tracy McGrady |
| 1998-2008 | Decade of Dominance | 1999-2009 |
| 673 | Games Played | 671 |
| 28.9 | Points | 24.4 |
| 3.8 | Rebounds | 6.3 |
| 6.2 | Assists | 5.2 |
| 42.3% | Field Goal % | 43.5% |
| 79.1% | Free Throw % | 75.0% |
| 21.9 | PER | 23.3 |
| 82.2 | Win Shares | 88.0 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Across their decades of dominance, the same general career trends apply in comparing Iverson and McGrady – however, when you take away McGrady’s early Toronto years and later career, his scoring average increases dramatically to nearly 25 points per game and overall, he outperforms Iverson in terms of both PER and Win-Shares.
My Thoughts
For fans that remember the NBA in the 2000s, Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady will certainly stand out as two of the most dynamic offensive weapons of the era. Pound-for-pound, Iverson may be the greatest scorer in league history, though perhaps his most enduring moment may be his infamous “practice” rant; as for McGrady, his star shone brightly at his zenith, but was extinguished far too early. Ultimately, while peak Iverson and peak McGrady may have been comparable players (in fact, it can be reasonably argued that at their absolute bests, McGrady was the more potent all-around force), Iverson was not only truly unique for what he could do at his size, but sustained his level of greatness for a longer period of time than his counterpart and also had more impact on his team (e.g. carrying the offensively-challenged 76ers to the NBA Finals during his MVP campaign).
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Allen Iverson
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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