People look at end results and think “Kobe 3 rings, T-Mac 0 rings,” but so much of what is thrown at T-Mac (not getting out of the first round, lack of success) is SO much the fact that his teammates were garbage and had nothing to do with him.

Replace Kobe with T-Mac on those Lakers teams, how many rings do they win? Out of the 3 rings, I think they take at least 1, maybe 2.

But more importantly, if you replace Kobe with T-Mac, I think Shaq stays in LA with T-Mac, who never really had an alpha dog personality, thus that new duo would have the chance for even more championships.

Who’s next?

You also forget to mention that all of the teams he was part of were never favored in any playoff matchup due to lack of depth, and he got the short end of the stick on the series vs the Mavs.

In FreeDarko’s book they made mention of how often and how long he slept (he even used to nap during half-time at some games). Following the birth of his daughter, his FG% took a massive hit. I thought it was an interesting take on his decline, doubtful it’s the cause.. but interesting nonetheless.

Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and T-Mac are 3 guys (bad luck for Orlando fans) with insanely promising futures derailed by injuries.. Anytime players like these never reach their potential due to injuries, it’s unfortunate for us all.

T-Mac didn’t go to Orlando to be “The Man”! He went to play 2nd banana to the best SF in the League at the time (Grant Hill). He ended up _becoming_ The Man because there wasn’t another scoring threat on that team his entire time there.

Although I agree T-Mac doesn’t pass the legend test, based on his first 6-7 years in the L, he was on track to become a legend (injuries, bad teammates and bad attitude pushed him way off that track). If T-Mac had been able to play with a healthy All-Star teammate when he went to Orlando, especially a team-first, heady guy like Grant Hill, his whole career might have been different.

Nobody points this out when talking about the great early 2000s swingmen, but Kobe elevated himself above other excellent guards like T-Mac, A.I., Vince and others partly because he was learning the league in an environment with some stellar team-first teammates (Horry, Derek Fisher, Bryon Scott) and pretty good coaches (Del Harris and, of course, Jackson). Plus he had to battle his way into the starting lineup (Eddie Jones was a 2 time allstar and 3 time 2nd team defender when Kobe arrived).

T-Mac needed someone around in Orlando to get him to the next level (primarily mentally). Never happened, and I think that’s why it all fell apart.