The Tracy McGrady Myth

Tracy McGrady can’t seem to get a break. After rehabbing his way back from a serious knee injury, he returned to find his team no longer requires his services. Initially Coach Rick Adelman attempted to bring him along slowly in limited minutes, but when T-Mac felt he was healthy enough for more, the coach wouldn’t budge. The Rockets had moved on and were winning games with his younger replacement Trevor Ariza now leading the way and wearing McGrady’s old #1. McGrady and the team agreed that he could stay home until the Rockets can find a trading partner and now it is a waiting game with the Rockets not getting a lot of offers from potential suitors. This rasises the question, why does nobody want McGrady? He is a multiple time all-star and seems to be fully healthy, however, he carries with him the stigma of losing. McGrady has never been past the first round of the NBA play-offs and due to his superstar status and his contract (highest paid player in the league), the weight of the blame has always fell on him. However, looking back, does he really deserve it?

McGrady was the most dynamic scorer in the league but team success never followed; however, I truly don’t believe he should shoulder the blame for all those teams. In his third season out of high school, McGrady was on a Raptor’s squad which was supposedly led by Vince Carter. Carter was the leading scorer and franchise player but it was McGrady who stepped up in the play-offs and picked up the slack left by Mr. Carter himself. Even back then he was stepping his game up in the post season. As a matter of fact, go check the al-time leaders for post-season scoring average and you will find him near the top. Much higher than Vince Carter, who McGrady took a back seat to while in Toronto.

Because of Carter’s shadow, McGrady bolted for Orlando, a team which he carried while fellow superstar, Grant Hill, annually suffered through leg and ankle injuries and was unable to play most of the time. With the Magic having invested a max contract in Hill, T-Mac’s main source of on-court support was never actually on the court and his contract was making it impossible for them to afford the players necessary to help win. McGrady kept on carrying them though, winning the scoring title in ’03 and leading them to a 3-1 series lead against the Detroit Pistons. This is when McGrady should have kept his mouth shut. McGrady claimed that he felt good to finally be out of the first round, despite the series being over. McGrady would later claim that the remark was not made in confidence that they would win, but insisted that he had forgot that the league extended the first round from best-of-five to best-of-seven. Nevertheless, McGrady’s words seemed to kick-start karma into motion and nearly a decade later, we have yet to see McGrady passed the first round.

Help was not exactly provided for him in Orlando, so T-Mac made another questionable move on his journey for team success and forced his way to Houston to pair up with Yao Ming creating what appears to be the second coming of Shaq and Kobe. However, T-Mac and Yao would be seen so frequently at the same time due to injuries that you would swear they were imitating “Polkaroo”. They played together in the play-offs against the Dallas Mavericks pushing it to seven games, however, in the seventh and deciding game, they combined to score well over half their teams points and still lost. No other player reached double figures for the Rockets that game. Still think it was McGrady’s fault? In following years, McGrady would lead the team to 20+ consecutive wins without Yao, but still couldn’t get a win in Game Seven against the Jazz without his Chinese sidekick.

Many acknowledge his level of play in the post-season but blame the lack of team success as McGrady killing the chemistry, but for a guy so willing to pass who possesses his court vision, I just refuse to buy that. I think McGrady has just been unlucky. I still cannot fathom why a team would not want him, if not for some veteran help for a desperate team, then at least to have his 23 million in salary come of the books at the end of the season. The odd thing is, no trade partners might actually be a blessing for McGrady because this could force the Rockets to negotiate a buy-out with him if they wish to resolve this solution quickly. In that case, teams would not have to worry about matching salaries in a trade and could sign him for the veteran’s minimum, or even use their LLE or MLE to sign him. Should this happen, I truly believe McGrady’s best option would be Boston, were his dedication and age would blend in perfectly with the other vets willing to sacrifice numbers for team success. McGrady would be an unbelievable 6th man and Boston would finally find a replacement for Posey. McGrady’s length would add a wonderful dynamic to their wing defense because as it stands, none of their SF’s exceeds 6’7” (unless you count Scal…. And you shouldn’t). His presence would also allow more rest for Pierce and Allen, who need more rest than they’re getting at this age, and provide insurance should one of them go down. Also, the Celtics are a lock to get passed the first round, which would put McGrady on the right track to squashing the ugly “McGrady Myth”.