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Tracy McGrady: Former Houston Rocket Belongs In Basketball Hall-Of-Fame

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By @KellanMiller

Tracy McGrady with the Atlanta Hawks versus The Boston Celtics

Paul Abell- USA Today Sports

Growing older is an unwelcome fact of life, but the process is exacerbated when a person in their mid-20s somehow finds themselves in an argument with a teenager about the NBA. Recently, I was mentally floored by a kid who said something to this effect: “Tracy McGrady? He was alright I guess.” Naturally, I remained prostrate for about an hour, unable to speak and physically feeling little gray hairs growing on my head, one by one.

There have been recent debates about whether or not Tracy McGrady deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. For the people who would be equally abhorred by the above mentioned misguided opinions of the teenager, the answer is absolutely. McGrady, or T-Mac, was the man in his day. This is a man who once scored 13 points in 33 seconds for the win against one of the greatest all-time defenders in the San Antonio Spurs’ Bruce Bowen (who once called himself the Kobe-stopper).

33 seconds…

Although T-Mac had an incredible run, his career was unfortunately derailed by injuries. When he joined the Orlando Magic back in 2000—after playing with his cousin Vince Carter with the Toronto Raptors—he not only inherited Penny Hardaway’s number, but his injury woes as well. Despite the reasons he gave, I speculate rookie Aaron Gordon wisely chose to wear “00” that year to avoid the curse. Some monsters hide under children’s beds, but the knee-reaper sneaks savagely claim the careers of some of the league’s best talent (think Derrick Rose). By the 2007-2008 season, a combination of knee, back and shoulder problems had a severe impact on one of the game’s premiere stars, eventually turning him into a league journeyman in his final NBA years.

While Kevin Durant vs. LeBron James is the common debate among hoop fans nowadays, in the early 2000s, fans constantly argued between Kobe Bryant and T-Mac. Before the injuries, McGrady was one of the most naturally gifted players in the league, leaning heavily on swift, finesse moves on the perimeter, but also powerful drives to the basket. He could shoot from anywhere on the floor and was never shy about getting his teammates involved. A lot of people have dunked on Shawn Bradley, and maybe you have to, but in a truly dominant first-round playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks during the 2005 NBA playoffs, McGrady also averaged 30.7 PPG, 7.4 RPG, and 6.7 APG for the Houston Rockets.

In his four seasons in Orlando, McGrady averaged 28.13 PPG, peaking in the 2002-2003 season with an eye-popping 32.1 PPG and 5.5 APG to boot. While it’s true that in his prime McGrady never came close to winning a championship, constantly the victim of first-round exits, the NBA places too high of a premium on championship success to dictate Hall-of-Fame honors. In the last 20 years, only seven teams have taken home the gold. Besides, in his Orlando days, McGrady did not have the best supporting cast, playing with the double-sized version of Shawn Kemp for instance. When he reached the Western Conference, despite developing an early chemistry with Yao Ming, mega teams like the Mavericks, Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers prevented access.

Nobody who remembers AOL instant messaging can say with straight-faced sobriety that McGrady was not one of the best players in his prime, healthy years. Stats aren’t everything, but McGrady’s are simply stunning. There’s no reason to think he wouldn’t have attained a championship had injuries not dramatically altered his skill set. Based on his past pedigree, a lot of teams signed him to deals in the latter stages of his NBA career, most notably when the Spurs inked him to a temporary deal during their playoff run, where he only got to play in garbage time minutes. A lot of people, including myself, thought he could have played a slightly more prominent role in the 2013 Championship series with the Miami Heat, when Manu Ginobli temporarily forgot how to play basketball.

Clearly, I am a big McGrady advocate, and I could wax poetic all day about why T-Mac unequivocally deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but the facts show it better than I can tell it. If you aren’t convinced, understand one thing; Kyrie Irving and Paul George do not have signature shoes, but the Adidas T-Macs were some of the most popular sneakers of the 2000s. In my opinion, that says it all.

Kellan Miller is a Writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KellanMiller, on Facebook, or Google Plus

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