Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979), nicknamed T-Mac, is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, two-time NBA scoring champion, and winner of the NBA Most Improved Player Award in 2001. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2017. McGrady is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA history.
McGrady entered the NBA straight out of high school and was selected as the ninth overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1997 NBA draft. Beginning his career as a low-minute player, he gradually improved his role with the team, eventually forming a duo with his cousin Vince Carter. In 2000, he left the Raptors for the Orlando Magic, where he became one of the league's most prolific scorers and a candidate for the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. In 2004, he was traded to the Houston Rockets, where he paired with center Yao Ming to help the Rockets become a perennial playoff team. His final seasons in the NBA were plagued by injuries, and he retired in 2013 following brief stints with the Qingdao DoubleStar Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and the San Antonio Spurs.
Since his retirement, McGrady has worked as a basketball analyst for ESPN. From April to July 2014, he realized his dream of playing professional baseball, pitching for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
McGrady was born on May 24, 1979, in Bartow, Florida, to Melanise Williford. Because his father was not a part of their everyday lives, Melanise raised McGrady with the help of her mother, Roberta, in Auburndale. As a youth, McGrady played high school basketball and baseball at Auburndale High School for three years before transferring to Mount Zion Christian Academy in Durham, North Carolina for his senior season. During his final year at Auburndale, McGrady posted averages of 23.1 points, 12.2 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4.9 blocks per game.
A relatively unknown player coming out of Florida, McGrady made a name for himself after a strong performance at the Adidas ABCD Camp, an experience that helped him recognize his true talent. His defining play was a windmill dunk on highly-touted prospect James Felton. He later reflected, "Nobody had a clue who Tracy McGrady was. Sonny Vaccaro gave me that platform, and I played against the best players in the world at that time. I left that camp the No. 1 player in the nation, 175 to No. 1." Behind his leadership, Mt. Zion emerged as the number two-ranked team in the country, and McGrady was named a McDonald's All-American, USA Today High School Basketball Player of the Year, and North Carolina's Mr. Basketball by the Associated Press. He also played at the 1997 Roundball Classic, scoring 13 points. His senior year averages were 27.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.8 steals, and 2 blocks per game. Initially, McGrady considered playing college basketball at the University of Kentucky, but he ultimately decided to enter the NBA draft as he was a projected lottery pick.
McGrady was selected as the ninth overall pick by the Toronto Raptors in the 1997 NBA draft. For most of the 1997–98 season, he received little playing time, averaging only 13 minutes per game under head coach Darrell Walker. McGrady described his rookie year as "hell", feeling lonely in Toronto and sleeping for up to 20 hours a day. Late in the season, Walker resigned, and McGrady began playing more under new coach Butch Carter, who agreed to increase McGrady's minutes on the condition that McGrady would improve his work ethic.
Before the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, the Raptors drafted McGrady's second cousin once removed, Vince Carter. The two became inseparable; teammate Dee Brown once said, "They say they're cousins ... But Siamese twins is more like it."
By the 1999–2000 season, the duo had developed a reputation for their athleticism, giving memorable performances at the All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest. McGrady, now playing significant minutes, was a contender for the Sixth Man of the Year Award before being elevated to Toronto's starting backcourt in late March. On April 4, in what would be one of his last regular season games in Toronto, McGrady scored a tenure-high 28 points in a loss against the Pistons. Behind McGrady and Carter's play, the Raptors finished the season with a 45–37 record, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. McGrady's final averages were 15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a career-high 1.9 blocks per game. In the first round of the postseason, the Raptors were swept by the New York Knicks.
2000–01 season: First All-Star and Most Improved Player
Following Toronto's first-round exit, McGrady became a free agent and signed with the Orlando Magic on August 3, 2000, through a sign-and-trade deal that sent a future 2005 1st round draft pick (Fran Vázquez was later selected) to the Raptors. He signed a seven-year, $92.8 million contract with the Magic. He elected to join the Magic in part because he disliked his secondary role playing behind Vince Carter, in part so that he could return home to Florida, and in part to play with their other newly acquired free agent, Grant Hill. Hill would go on to play in only 47 games total throughout his tenure with the team, forcing McGrady into a more significant leadership and scoring role than anticipated.
During the 2000–01 season, McGrady defied the expectations of many, emerging as one of the best players in the NBA, with Milwaukee Bucks General Manager Ernie Grunfeld going so far as to call him "one of the top five talents in the league". McGrady's play earned him his first All-Star Game appearance and, behind averages of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game, he was selected to his first All-NBA Team, being named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was also voted the league's Most Improved Player. With a 43–39 record, the Magic entered the playoffs as the East's seventh seed, drawing a matchup with the Bucks. In Game 3 of the series, McGrady notched 42 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in a performance that Bill Simmons later called McGrady's "superstar audition tape". Orlando was eventually eliminated by Milwaukee in four games.
2001–02 season: First All-NBA First Team selection
For the 2001–02 season, McGrady averaged 25.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game, earning his second All-NBA Team selection, this time to the All-NBA First Team. During that year's All-Star Game, he completed one of the most memorable highlights of his career, throwing the ball off the backboard to himself and completing an alley-oop in traffic. Reflecting on the play, McGrady later recounted, "There was only one guy back there ... and he bit on the lob ... I guess he thought I was throwing it to one of my teammates, and I just threw it down." At season's end, the Magic were again ousted in the first round of the playoffs, losing in four games to the Charlotte Hornets. On March 8, 2002, in one of the best games of his career, McGrady scored a season high 50 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a 99–96 win over the Washington Wizards.
2002–03 season: First scoring title and playoff disappointment
In 2002–03, McGrady won his first scoring title and, behind averages of 32.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game, finished a career-best fourth in NBA Most Valuable Player Award voting. ESPN later ranked his season one of the best ever for a perimeter player. In Game 1 of the playoffs, he scored a team playoff record 43 points to help Orlando take an early series lead against the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. The Magic would go on to take a commanding 3–1 lead, and McGrady made headlines when he prematurely assumed that Orlando were guaranteed to advance, replying in an interview, "It feels good to get in the second round." In that year, the first round of the NBA playoffs was changed to a best-of-seven series from a best-of-five. Despite holding the series lead, the Magic were eliminated in seven games.