The debate sparked by Kevin Durant over the value of an MVP compared to an NBA championship continues to generate discussion, and another heavyweight has now sided with him: Tracy McGrady.
During an episode of Cousinsthe podcast he hosts with Vince Carter, T-Mac addressed Durant’s recent comments, arguing that winning the MVP is more valuable than winning an NBA championship. McGrady didn’t hesitate when asked for his opinion:
Of course it is, why wouldn’t it be? The Regular Season MVP is worth more than a championship. The championship is about the whole team: the players, ownership, management, all of that goes into winning a championship. The MVP? That’s you doing the work
Tracy McGrady
“The MVP is individual, the championship is a team achievement”
To explain his position, McGrady asked Vince Carter a simple but effective question: Who remembers the 10th or 11th player on the great NBA dynasties? Carter couldn’t immediately name one – and that became the foundation of T-Mac’s argument.
A championship ring goes to every player on the team, regardless of their role or playing time, while there is only one MVP.
You play the same schedule, the same 82 games, you face the same teams three or four times, some maybe twice. So yeah, I’m taking the MVP. Winning a championship is a collective achievement, the MVP is individual
Tracy McGrady
The opinion carries even more weight when looking at McGrady’s own career: no championship, no MVP, yet a Hall of Fame career built largely on individual excellence – seven All-Star selections, seven All-NBA selections, two scoring titles and the 2001 Most Improved Player award before being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017.
Where the debate started
It all began with Kevin Durant appearing on Fred VanVleet’s podcast. The discussion had started with a comparison between James Harden and Dwyane Wade among the greatest guards ever, before KD used the opportunity to explain why, in his view, an MVP can carry more weight than a championship when evaluating an individual player’s career:
There’s one MVP every year. I don’t give a damn what people say: the championship is incredible, it’s an amazing moment and it’s a great team accomplishment. But come on, everybody wants to be MVP
Kevin Durant
Durant then expanded on his reasoning:
If there were an MVP for every team, then I could say, “Okay, give me the championship.” But there’s only one MVP. When you’re talking about winning a championship, there are so many things you can’t control. With the MVP, you have a little more control in your hands
Kevin Durant
Neither Durant nor McGrady is trying to diminish the value of an NBA championship. The real question is how much a team accomplishment should matter when comparing two players individually? A championship can depend on teammates, injuries roster construction, front-office decisions and even the era in which a player competes. Winning MVP, on the other hand, means being voted the best player in the entire Regular Season.
It’s a debate that probably won’t ever have a definitive answer: would you rather have been the best player in the NBA for at least one season, or have an NBA championship ring? For Durant and McGrady, at least on this point, there doesn’t seem to be much doubt.