Michael Jordan And Tracy McGrady's Playing Styles example essay topic

Michael Jordan is arguably the greatest basketball player in history. However, Tracy McGrady may just be a rising superstar. Michael Jordan, to the utmost delight of many and extreme disappointment of others, has returned to the NBA this season after leaving in 1998. Both have very different appearances and playing styles; however, many of their statistics this season have similarities. Regardless, neither of their teams, Washington Wizards or the Orlando Magic, respectively, is expected to win the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship in this current 2001-2002 season. Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady have very different appearances.

When seen on the court, people have mixed opinions about who actually appears to be taller. Some claim that Jordan is much shorter than McGrady, because Jordan has a wider frame than the lanky McGrady. Others argue that Jordan, often referred to as "Air Jordan" because of how high he is capable of jumping, seems taller because of that ability. But in reality, Michael Jordan, at a height of six-feet six-inches, is two inches shorter than Tracy McGrady. In addition to the height difference, Jordan has a goatee, while McGrady has a beard.

Many people think Jordan's goatee is a "cooler" look, compared to McGrady's "common" beard. People with this opinion may simply be a Jordan fan instead of a McGrady fan. A third difference in appearance between Jordan and McGrady is their hairstyle. Actually, in Jordan's case, he more accurately has "no-hair" style, because for many years he has shaved his head completely. However, McGrady has a short layer of black hair. As one can see, Jordan and McGrady do not have much in common when it comes to appearance.

Continuing with differences, Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady's playing styles have few differences. Michael Jordan has been known to perform a special move before going up for a shot, and what is incredible is that he almost always got the ball in the basket. On the other hand, Tracy McGrady is more of a set shooter, and he takes open shots a lot. Another difference, possibly due to age, is how much each player "drives" down the lane (which is drawn on the court) to the hoop. Jordan, at the age of thirty-nine, has lost some of his athletic ability, and nowadays he does not take the ball to the hoop much. In contrast, McGrady, at twenty-two years old, is very lithe and quite often spins, drives down the lane, moves under the defender, does a lay-up, or dunks the ball.

Another major difference between the two players is how accurate they shoot their three-point shots. Jordan has only made fifty-two three-point attempts all season and has hit a measly ten of them, which is just over nineteen percent. McGrady, however, has taken 190 attempts and has hit sixty-seven of them, which is over thirty-five percent. Overall, their magnificent (adj.) games (noun) may have similarities, but the important factors are different. After highlighting these differences, when one looks at this season's statistics, there are many similarities. Both Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady have an average of five assists per game.

Even though both have had their good and bad days in passing, they have managed to have the same average so far this season. Another similarity is in the number of steals both Jordan and McGrady average each game. The season average is 1.4 steals per game, and even though Jordan's career average is over 2.0 and McGrady's is only 1.2, this season they are playing at the same level. One final common statistic is their points-per-game average. This may be the most honorable of all the statistics in the sport of basketball. In the current season, Jordan and McGrady both average about twenty-four points per game, which is better than most people in the entire NBA.

However, Jordan's legendary statistics have made him the "god of Basketball", for in career averages, Jordan leads McGrady by a huge margin. Jordan's career average is the greatest ever in history at 31.1 points per game, while McGrady's is only 17.1. Nonetheless, Jordan and McGrady have several similarities in this season. Michael Jordan and Tracy McGrady are both excellent basketball players.

Experience would be in Jordan's favor and athleticism in McGrady's. The appearances of the two all-stars are not similar in many ways, and neither are their playing styles. On the other hand, if one were putting their 2001-2002 NBA season statistics side by side, he / she would find that many of the numbers are very close. Tracy McGrady may be a fantastic basketball player today, but Michael Jordan just might be able to hold (inf.) on to his claim to fame as the greatest basketball player the world has ever seen.