McGrady fires back at J.R. Smith: 'He sounds dumb as hell'

Tracy McGrady thinks J.R. Smith has it all wrong.

The retired NBA superstar caught some flack earlier this summer for saying: "Anybody can win a championship. Everybody can't get in the Hall of Fame." That comment prompted Smith to go on a Twitter rant in which he called McGrady's statement "dumb as hell."

T-Mac, who's set to be inducted Friday into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, fired back:

"He sounds dumb as hell," the 38-year-old told reporters while sporting his orange HOF jacket, before clarifying the controversial comment.

"It's not to take anything away from champions," said McGrady, who failed to win a title over his illustrious 15-year NBA career. "It's not.

"But it's a true statement when you have guys that go through an 82-game season and the playoffs, never play a game, and at the end of the season, they're also going to be part of the championship team - and win. And it's probably going to be some guys that will be out of the league next season, and won't get back into the league. Those guys ain't going to be wearing this orange jacket."

So where did Smith go wrong? McGrady blames semantics:

"He's mistaking 'anybody' for being 'everybody.' ... If I were to say 'everybody can win a championship, everybody can't get in the Hall of Fame,' he would have an argument, but I said 'anybody.'"

The two-time scoring champ admitted he took offense to Smith's insinuation he didn't "fight" on the court, and pointed out the irony:

"Isn't J.R. Smith the same guy that's in games untying people's shoes at the free-throw line? That's the same Earl, right? Earl Smith Jr."

But going back to the matter at hand, McGrady reiterated he "absolutely" feels unfulfilled because he never won a championship. His career wasn't half bad, though, with the dynamic swingman racking up plenty of accolades, including seven All-Star and All-NBA honors en route to being enshrined in Springfield.