Day-to-Day: Lessons from T-Mac and Dirk in 2004

The Step Back Day-to-Day NBA Podcast

It's story time at The Step Back's Day-to-Day NBA Podcast, and Andrew Tobolowsky joins to discuss his recent article at The Step Back, “Tracy McGrady and the things that last,” looking at a classic overtime duel between McGrady (48 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists) and Dirk Nowitzki (53 points and 16 rebounds) on Dec. 2, 2004. He and host Jason Mann discuss what inspired this article, where McGrady (age 25) and Nowitzki (26) were in their respective careers, McGrady's first season with Yao Ming in Houston and the unfulfilled promise of that duo, Nowitzki's first season in Dallas without Steve Nash and transitioning to a new era, how wide open the West seemed in 2004-05 with the Lakers' dynasty split up, how McGrady stacked up with Kobe Bryant at the time, McGrady's amazing ability as a shot maker and versatility, and how Nowitzki's game aged remarkably even as he slowed down athletically. We also discuss the difference between watching T-Mac burn out and Dirk fade away, how difficult it was to see a diminished version of Bryant over the last three years of his career, how his 60-point final game erases some of the sadness, and how ideally we'd like to see Nowitzki go out in Dallas.