Tracy McGrady: A tribute to T-Mac

Tracy McGrady reached the NBA Finals with the San Antonio Spurs last season (Getty Images)

Tracy McGrady has done his rounds around the NBA, playing for Toronto, Orlando, Houston, New York, Detroit, Atlanta and lastly, San Antonio. He even played for the Qingdao Eagles of China, during the 2012-13 season. McGrady was ranked #75 on SLAM Magazine’s “Top 75 Players of All-Time” in 2003.

He was the 9th pick in the first round of the 1997 draft, being picked up by Toronto. McGrady came to the NBA straight from High School.

“I thank all of you who have supported me over 16 NBA seasons, seven All-Stars, and countless exciting moments. Retiring from NBA. Stay tuned.”, McGrady wrote on Twitter.

McGrady won 2 back-to-back scoring titles in ’02-’03 and ’03-’04 with the Orlando Magic. He finished his career with 19.6 points per game, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists. When he retired, he was 10th among active players in points, with 18,381. Although these are no game changing stats, they hardly depict the impact McGrady had on the game.

He was an effortless scorer, making it to seven all-NBA teams, from 2001-2008. His best years would probably be those he spent with the Magic. He averaged 28.1 points, 7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals with them. He also led the Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in the ’02-’03 season. PER is widely believed to be the most accurate measure of a player’s skill.

His style of play was very distinctive. He was never the conspicuous player on the court. Everything seemed natural to him. At 6’8″, he was definitely tall. However, his ball-handling abilities were exceptional, even for a player more than a foot shorter than him. Everything seemed so easy, that it seemed very odd that the wins and titles didn’t follow. He was one of the classic, “talent doesn’t always win” cases.

There have been many takes on why he did not garner the number of accolades a player of his potential should have received. His injuries and mediocre team-mates are the most often repeated ones. T-Mac has never played an entire 82 game NBA season in his 16 year long career.

In the ’05-’06 season, McGrady complained about back spasms and missed eight games because of injury. The spasms worsened and he was carried off the court against the Denver Nuggets. He missed 5 more games due to the re-occurring injury. During the ’06-’07 season, the back spasms returned and prevented him from playing 7 games at the start of the season. He was never able to play to his full potential even after returning from the injury. Yao Ming’s injury just made matters worse for the Rockets. During the ’07-’08 season, T-Mac injured his elbow, ankle, left knee and left shoulder. Surgery was followed by 3 months of recovery. In the 2008-09 season, he went down with an even more serious knee injury. More injuries followed and McGrady played just 6 games 30 games during the ’09-’10 season.

McGrady played for many teams including the Atlanta Hawks (Getty Images)

McGrady spent the next three seasons bouncing around from New York to Detroit to Atlanta in reserve roles. Injuries and age had taken their toll by this point. McGrady averaged just 5.3 points in 52 games with the Hawks in 2011-12. He decided to play in China for the 2012-13 season.

Somewhat remarkably, McGrady, known for his weak post-season record, came within 5.2 seconds of winning a championship ring in June, as he latched on with the Spurs just before the playoffs. Although he played only 31 minutes total in the post-season, he still generated media interest, particularly at the Finals. Although a future hall of famer, McGrady was had never even won a playoff series until he joined San Antonio in April 2012.

Along with injuries and constant trades, McGrady also had to suffer criticism from the pundits of the game and at the times, the media. He was constantly reminded that he had not achieved his full potential, somewhat rudely. He was constantly compared with Kobe Bryant. They talk about the duo’s stats all the time. What they don’t talk about is who they had to help achieve those stats. Kobe had Shaq and Phil, and later Gasol and Odom, with players like Horrey and Fisher always ready to help.

T-Mac’s best team-mates were Yao Ming and Grant Hill (who played 46 games with him in 4 years), Mike Miller, and for a while, Patrick Ewing (who was a mere shadow of his former glorious self). Here’s a list of some players who started with McGrady during the best years of his career 2001-08 – Darrell Armstrong, Bo Outlaw, Mike Miller, Pat Garrity, Horace Grant, Monty Williams, Jacque Vaughn, Gordan Giricek, Drew Gooden, Yao Ming , David Wesley, Bob Sura, Ryan Bowen, Scott Padgett, Shane Battier , Rafer Alston, Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola and Bobby Jackson.

The only decent team-mate he got was Vince Carter at Toronto. We might have started talking about them the way we talk about Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had the duo’s partnership longer. It didn’t last because McGrady wanted out. He wanted his own team, wanted out of Vince’s shadow, wanted to play closer to home, and that was it. He never had the luck of getting another decent team-mate again. While T-Mac is often criticized for his inability to lead a team past the first round, he is still an all-time great.

And as with all great players, the Hall of Fame question must come up at the end of such a fantastic run. So, what do you guys think? Is T-Mac worthy of the Hall of Fame or will his injury-riddled career and inability to lead a team out of the first round impede any chance he has? Do his mediocre team-mates completely explain his early playoff exits?

Here’s a video of his top 10 plays: