"The offense is as fierce as a tiger, leading a team with a bug." They are the six worst stars in NBA history, right?

On the NBA stage, measuring whether a superstar can be called a "superstar" is not just about looking at the gorgeousness of personal offensive data. A true leader must not only use scores to tear open the opponent's defense line on the field, but also be able to use leadership to connect the team and lead the team to victory. But there is such a group of stars whose offensive ability is "historical". They score like taking pictures, but they are still unable to shoulder the responsibility of leading the team to win, and have become a typical representative of the fans' "attack as fierce as a dragon, leading the team with a worm". Today, let’s take a look at the six most poor team-leading stars in NBA history, and see why these offensive geniuses have repeatedly failed in their positions as "leaders".

McGray's name is absolutely unavoidable when it comes to "offensive kaleidoscope". McGrady was at the peak of her career and won the scoring trophy twice in four seasons (32.1 points per game in 2002-03 and 28.0 points per game in 2003-04). Whether it is the elegance of pull-up jump shots, the agility of breaking layups, or the accuracy of the emergency stop jump shot, he has become the most enjoyable scorer in the league. At that time, McGrady's offensive firepower was even considered by many fans to surpass Kobe who was the same period. Every score of his team could ignite the atmosphere on the court and become the youthful memory of countless fans.

What can form a sharp contrast with the top offense is McGrady's terrible leadership ability. Looking at his entire NBA career, he has never led the team to the second round of the playoffs, which has become the biggest "hard flaw" in his superstar career. Especially during the Magic's single-core leadership, he even created an astonishing "19 consecutive losses" in NBA history (2003-04 season), directly making the Magic a bottom-sized team at the bottom of the league. Even if he can score 40+ or ​​50+ personally, the team still finds a victory - for example, in December 2003, McGrady scored 44 points in a single game, but the Magic lost to the Jazz by 1 point; in January 2004, he scored another 46 points, but the team still lost to the Nuggets.

In fact, the Rockets' configuration was not the worst. Yao Ming, McGrady, Landry, Scola, Alstom, Bathir, Artest and others all had combat effectiveness, but they did not show up in the playoffs. Frequent "empty chops" have gradually made McGrady labeled as a "data brush". No matter how gorgeous the style of the game is, it is difficult to change the fans' doubts about his "poor team leadership ability". Many people even believe that he has never truly reached the height of a "superstar" and is more suitable to be a second-in-command who focuses on scoring.

Downs

Carl-Anthony Towns, since entering the NBA as the No. 1 pick in 2015, has been highly expected by the Timberwolves and regarded it as the core of the team's reconstruction. Even if he transfers to the Knicks now, he can still hand in a "double-double" data with an average of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Just looking at this data list, anyone will mistakenly think that he is the top inside beast in the league - after all, there are only a handful of inside players who can contribute "20+10" stably in the league.

But reality slapped the "data party" in the face: Towns is a typical example of "the data is good-looking, but the actual combat is bad." His weak style of play has long been the secret of the league. He relies too much on the outside shooting on the offensive end and rarely takes the initiative to hit the inside to create damage. Even if he catches the ball at the basket, he often misses the opportunity to score due to insufficient confrontation. The defensive end is his "fatal shortcomings". He is not active in positioning and has poor awareness of defense. As long as his opponent attacks the Timberwolves' inside, he can always easily score in front of him. And his ability to lead the team is even more "unbearable to look at it". During the seven seasons he played for the Timberwolves, Towns led the team to only one playoffs (2017-18 season), and the core hero was still the team's defensive core Jimmy Butler - When Butler was absent, the Timberwolves' record plummeted. In the rest of the season, the Timberwolves hovered at the bottom of the West for many years, and were even ridiculed by fans as "Husky", becoming a laughing stock in the league.

In the end, the Timberwolves could no longer bear it and decisively traded him, completely giving up the reconstruction plan with him as the core. When we arrived at the Knicks, Towns' performance rebounded slightly, but it still couldn't help the team make breakthrough progress in the playoffs. As it turns out, Towns is just a "pseudo-core" suitable for scaling data in the bottom team. If he wants to compete for the championship, he can only play the role of the second in command at most.

Irving

Kyrie Irving's offense is an "work of art" in the NBA. His dribble is like a butterfly through flowers, changing direction breakthroughs make defensive players unable to defend, and the rhythm of emergency stop jump shots is even more unique in the league. Watching him play is like enjoying an elegant "offensive waltz". Whether in the Cavaliers, Celtics or Mavericks, Irving's scoring ability has never disappointed. Average of 20 points per game is "common" for him, and occasionally he can contribute 50+ per game - for example, in 2015 against the Trail Blazers, he scored 55 points in a single game; in 2022, he scored another 50 points.

But such an "offensive genius" has never been able to become a qualified team leader. Irving can contribute high scores in the game, and it is difficult for the team to win - he has scored 30+ in a single game many times, but the Cavaliers still cannot escape the fate of losing. It was not until LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers and Irving became a "big leader" to a "second leader" that he truly displayed his value and helped the team win the championship. After joining the Celtics, Nets, and Mavericks, they cannot lead the team to go further. This is enough to prove that Irving has never been a qualified "leader".

Little Melon Anthony

Cameron Anthony's offense is called the "textbook" of the NBA. Whether it is the stability of mid-range jump shots, the skills of back-to-door singles, or the strength to break through layups, he has reached the top level in the league. In the international arena, Anthony is even more a "big killer" and helps the US team win Olympic gold medals many times. The title of "Dream Team Scoring King" is enough to prove his offensive strength. Even in the late stages of his NBA career, Anthony can still play the role of "key scoring points" in teams such as the Lakers and the Trail Blazers, and occasionally deliver a single game of 30+.

But back to "leading ability", Anthony's performance is disappointing. Looking at his NBA career, except for the Nuggets reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2008-09, the rest of his time was either missing the playoffs for many years or the playoffs "one round". The biggest contributor to the Western Conference Final that time was not Anthony, but the then-team point guard Changcey Billups. The arrival of Billups brought stable organizational and key ball skills to the Nuggets, which allowed the team to break through the bottleneck. After leaving the Nuggets, Anthony joined the Knicks and wanted to lead the team to rise, but the result was that the Knicks were hovering in the middle and lower reaches of the Eastern Conference for many years, and even missed the playoffs for many consecutive seasons. Even if Anthony can score 30+ or ​​40+ in the game, it will not change the team's decline. He is like a "lonely scorer", who can only kill all sides on the offensive end, but cannot connect the entire team, and eventually becomes a typical representative of "strong offense and weak team lead".

David Davis was undoubtedly the "peak of his personal strength" during his time in the Pelicans. At that time, he had unlimited firepower, and was in the inside line. He often played "30+20" dominant data, and even scored 50+10 in a single game. In February 2016, Davis scored 59 points and 13 rebounds against the Pistons; in April 2017, he scored 53 points and 18 rebounds against the Suns. Looking at these data alone, Davis is definitely the top inside core in the league, but his ability to lead the team has broken Pelicans fans' hearts.

Although Davis led the team to the playoffs three times during the 7 seasons with the Pelicans, except for the second round in 2017-18, the other two were "one round games". What's even more embarrassing is that he often falls into the dilemma of "empty-cutting" - even if his personal data explodes, the team still cannot win the ball, so he is also nicknamed "empty-cutting group leader" by fans. For example, in the 2016-17 season, Davis scored 52 points and 10 rebounds in a single game, but the Pelicans lost to the Nuggets with 9 points; in the 2017-18 season, he scored another 48 points and 17 rebounds, but the team still lost to the Rockets. Under his leadership, the Pelicans have never been able to become a strong team in the West, but have often become a "slaughtered" team. It was not until he joined the Lakers in 2019 that Davis went from being a "big boss" to being a "second boss". Under the leadership of LeBron James, he finally won his first championship trophy in his career. If it weren't for leaving the Pelicans, Davis might have been unable to touch the championship trophy in his life, and his ability to lead the team has become an "shortcoming" that he cannot erase in his superstar career.

Durant

Kevin Durant is undoubtedly one of the top "scoring machines" in NBA history. He has a height of 2.11 meters, but he has a guard-like dribbling and shooting feel. Whether it is a mid-range jump shot, a three-point shooting, or a breakthrough layup, he has reached the level of "no dead corners". During his career, Durant won the scoring trophy four times and won the Finals MVP twice. His performance of 50+ in a single game is not uncommon - in 2014, he scored 54 points in a single game; in 2021, he scored another 51 points. Even at the age of 34, Durant can still score 30+ in the game, and his offensive ability shows no sign of decline.

But such a "scoring genius" has always been questioned in his ability to lead the team. During the Thunder period, although Durant led the team to the finals (2011-12 season), the core framework of the Thunder was the "three-young combination" of "Durant + Westbrook + Harden", not led by him alone; in the 2016 Western Conference Finals, the Thunder was reversed by the Warriors while leading 3-1, and Durant then chose to join the Warriors, which directly led to the Thunder's long-term reconstruction. Although he won the championship with the Warriors, the real leader of this team is not Durant. After joining the Nets, Durant was regarded as the "absolute core" of the team, but his ability to lead the team is questionable. In the end, the Nets collapsed. After Durant was traded to the Suns, Durant still could not prove his ability to lead the team. Durant's problem is that he can never use leadership to connect the team and stabilize the morale of the army like LeBron James and Stephen Curry. All the six stars above

are "offensive geniuses" in NBA history. Their scoring ability is enough to be recorded in history, but it is difficult to prove themselves in the matter of "leading the team ability". On the NBA stage, the definition of "superstar" is not just about personal data, but also about the ability to lead the team. If you only have offensive capabilities but cannot connect the team and lead the team to victory, no matter how gorgeous the score is, you can only become a "data brush" or "second leader" and will never become a true "team leader". What do you think about this?