Sheesh. That’s Iverson and McGrady retiring within a week of each other. Adolescence feels light years away.
In the coming days, weeks and/or months, there’ll be discussion as to whether or not T-Mac deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame because, well, that’s just the natural order of things. Some will pick apart his playing days. Some will revere them. The true scope of buddy’s career probably lies somewhere right in the middle.
He was as dynamic a scorer the NBA had for several seasons. His showing in the 2000 Dunk Contest is always overshadowed by his cousin Vince’s. Thirteen points in 33 seconds is amazing no matter how the pie is sliced. He was mentioned in that “straight from high school” mold of Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant the two drafts before him during his prime. He was a franchise player.
For a variety of reasons though, we never saw Tracy at his absolute peak. We’ll always remember the “second round” comment he made in 2003 before getting out of the first round against Detroit. The lost opportunities of his Orlando years is downright excruciating when realizing it happened not even a full decade after the Shaq and Penny “dynasty-that-never-happened” ended. Meanwhile, he and Yao never grasped the greatness they should have as a Houston duo due to injuries. And, of course, he was literally an all-time great shot from Ray Allen away from retiring as a champion.
So, yes, Mac’s career never truly played fair with him both from a durability and karma standpoint. Whatever ends up happening with Mac from here on out, it’ll likely happen halfway across the world. Tracy admitted there is a chance he could continue playing overseas and admitted not seeing much time in San Antonio did bother him.
Tracy McGrady called it quits. And he did so on First Take. There’s a Skip Bayless joke in that somewhere.
Three Best Non-McGrady Things About This Clip
1. Hearing Marv Albert call any basketball game is simply beautiful.
2. Steve Kerr’s “OHHHHH!” at 1:55.
3. Devin Brown’s “Rod from Catfish: Season 1” face after the game was over.
Previously: Tracy McGrady’s Top 10 Poster Dunks Just Because It’s Nice Outside | Full Court Press: The Potential Trio Of Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill & Tim Duncan
Photo: Getty