To any hoops fan under the age of 30, asking a question of whether recently retired Tracy McGrady belongs in the Naismith Hall of Fame may be a ridiculous proposition.
I mean, the guy has played for 5 teams over the past 5 seasons and has been nothing more than a glorified role player since the ’07-’08 season with the Houston Rockets. Most youngsters’ last memory will be of T-Mac playing mop up minutes for the San Antonio Spurs during the 2013 postseason.
But that hardly tells the true story of McGrady, who was an athletic freak of a player and one of the premier scorers in the modern era, that made 7 straight All Star appearances, was named to the All NBA Teams 7 times, and won 2 consecutive scoring titles in the early 2000’s.
Many will point to Tracy’s lack of success in the postseason, considering he never made it past the 1st Round in 8 of his first 9 tries, and some devastating back and knee injuries that ultimately robbed him of his explosiveness during the latter part of his career, as reasons why he never truly reached his full potential.
With that being said, his numbers speak for themselves, 19,000 points scored, a 19.6 career scoring average, 2 scoring titles(’03 and ’04), and one of only 3 players in the last 20 years to average 32+ppg in a season(Jordan and Iverson).
McGrady, Bird and James are the only players in NBA history with at least 15,000 points, 4,500 rebounds, 3,500 assists and 500 3-pointers in their first 11 seasons.
He’s also one of only 3 players in league history to average at least 32 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists in a season, joining only Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor.
T-Mac is one of seven players in NBA history to have eight straight seasons of 20 points per game, five rebounds per game and four assists per game joining Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson, Kevin Garnett, and Larry Bird. All of these players are either already in the Hall of Fame or will be upon retirement.
His best individual season may have been the ’02-’03 season with the Magic, when he averaged 32.1 ppg, captured the scoring title, and became the youngest player ever to win the scoring title since the NBA-ABA merger.
He scored 40 or more points 10 times that season, including a season high 52-point performance against the Bulls. When it comes to efficiency, his PER of 30.3 that year is the 16th best season in history for a player that averaged 30 minutes per game. The following season, McGrady won his 2nd straight scoring title(28.1 ppg) and scored a career high 62 points in a game against the Wizards.
Still not convinced? Let’s take a look at some of his top moments………
Tracy McGrady – 13 Points In 35 Minutes:
T-Mac Dunks Posterizes Shawn Bradley:
Tracy McGrady Off The Backboard Dunk – ’02 All Star Game:
McGrady 62 Points In a Game(2004):
T-Mac Career Tribute:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen has also provided content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, Cleveland.com, CSN Philly.com, Buckets Magazine, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
