"With a résumé that includes seven All-Star appearances and two scoring titles, it would have been reasonable to expect chirping from Tracy McGrady about playing time.

But since signing a one-year deal with the Pistons in August, at least publicly McGrady has said all the right things and, by all accounts, has done all that has been expected of him.

There were reports in the summer that the Bulls backed away from McGrady after a workout because they had concerns he wouldn't be willing to accept a supporting role. For the Pistons, McGrady, 31, has started only when Rodney Stuckey was unable to go.

McGrady started for the Pistons Tuesday night and scored 14 points in Detroit's 108-83 loss to the Lakers.

Before flirting with a triple-double in Monday night's 102-97 loss at Utah, McGrady said sometimes the media doesn't get the whole story.

"That's just the power of the media, that's what that is," McGrady said before his 11-point, 11-assist, nine-rebound night. "And once it gets out there, the public feeds into what the media is putting out there. It's unfortunate in our case because they don't always know the true story that's behind the story."