T-Mac heads into the Hall of Fame as a star wing ahead of his time.
Tracy McGrady loved to sleep. As an 18-year-old rookie on the Toronto Raptors, McGrady would reportedly sleep for up to 20 hours a day. That doesn’t sound like an inherently intimidating quality, but McGrady had a way of making it one. At his peak, T-Mac was the type of player who looked like he could roll out of bed and average 30 points per game.
McGrady almost made it look too easy. He never had a reputation as the hardest worker. Maybe it was the droopy, low-hanging eyes or the effortless way he glided around the court. All of it concealed the fact that there was a long stretch when McGrady was one of the very best basketball players alive.
Jumping from damn near the free throw line for transition dunks. Blocking shots on his way down, because he could hang in the air just that long. Reducing Shawn Bradley to a 7’6 pile of sawdust. Ripping jumpers off the dribble with deep range and throwing no-look passes. It’s all on display. There was nothing on the court he couldn’t do.
McGrady’s legacy is complicated. He infamously never led a team out of the first round of the playoffs. Knee and back injuries completely sapped his effectiveness before he turned 30. It feels like he doesn’t really belong to any one fan base, at least not the same way contemporaries like Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett do.
All of that can be true, but so is this: In his heyday, Tracy McGrady could go.
T-Mac always felt like a player sent directly from the future. Even 10 years removed from his last great season with the Rockets, that still feels like the case. At 6’8, he could handle and pass like a point guard. He could score on anyone, from anywhere. And when McGrady found even a sliver of room, his world-class athleticism could freeze you in time and space.
Of course, there’s also 13 points in 33 seconds, the homage to his greatness that has persevered the longest. In a way, that’s totally fitting: McGrady was unstoppable, but only for a brief period of time.
In many ways, T-Mac is a tragic figure. What if he never left Toronto as a 21-year-old and matured as a superstar alongside Vince Carter? What if Grant Hill didn’t suffer debilitating injuries as soon as both players signed with the Magic? What if Orlando and Houston could have surrounded him with just a little more talent? What if he could have stayed healthy into his 30s?
There’s a great video from the 2003 playoffs buried on YouTube. McGrady’s Magic are taking on the Pistons and high school phenom LeBron James is courtside to watch. As McGrady dunks on Mehmet Okur, young ‘Bron shakes his head in disbelief. McGrady would never come close to the heights James achieved, but he still feels like the template for him as a player just as much as Magic Johnson or Michael Jordan.
Before LeBron, there were only so many players who stood 6’8 and combined boundless athleticism with such refined skill level. T-Mac was one of them.
McGrady enters the Hall of Fame as many things: a relic of the prep-to-pro era, a ruthless and unforgiving scorer, a hard luck superstar who could never catch a break. T-Mac didn’t have longevity, but he also never needed it. Those who were there for his greatness will not forget it.
