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Tracy McGrady, who won two scoring championships in the NBA and was named an All-Star and all-NBA player seven times, announced on Monday that he is retiring from the league. McGrady made the announcement on ESPN's First Take, saying he’s enjoyed 16 great years in the NBA, but he feels it time it came to an end.
The 34-year-old played for several teams during his career. These teams were the San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors.
McGrady broke into the league in 1997. He didn’t play in the regular season last year as he spent it in China. He did appear in half a dozen postseason contests with San Antonio, though, after he signed with the Spurs in the middle of April.
He said the retirement doesn’t mean he’ll hang up his shoes for good, but he’s definitely packing it in from the NBA. He claims that he could still be swayed to continue his career in China or somewhere else overseas.
McGrady was selected by Toronto with the ninth overall pick of the NBA Draft in 1997. He was named the league’s Most Improved Player in 2001, and ends his career with a total of 18,381 points scored, which placed him at No. 10 among active players.
T-Mac was drafted straight out of high school and proved he could play the game against the best in the world when he won the NBA scoring title in both the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. He also led the league in 2002-03 in Player Efficiency Rating. He averaged 19.6 points per game during his career along with 4.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds a game.
Even though he played on some strong teams during his career, McGrady never won a postseason series until earlier this year when he signed with San Antonio. One of his greatest and most memorable achievements in the league was scoring 13 points in just 35 seconds against San Antonio in 2004 while he was playing for Houston.
While in China last season, McGrady played with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Qingdao Eagles. He averaged 25 points per game along with 5.1 assists and 7.2 rebounds. However, his team finished the league in last place. He said he likes playing in China and it might be a better option for him at this point of his career instead of sitting on the bench in the NBA.
There’s a good chance McGrady will someday be elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, especially if you just go by his statistics. Critics may point out that he never won anything team-related during his career and he suffered several injuries, but that’s a weak argument.
He was one of the most talented players to ever set foot on an NBA court and should be properly rewarded for that fact by becoming a Hall-of-Famer in the future. The 6-foot-9 shooting guard could sink baskets from just about anywhere on the floor and displayed incredible athleticism and passing skills.
McGrady retires with a lot of questions of what could have been if it weren't for injuries. Nonetheless, he leaves with a storied and legendary career with memories for years to come.
