Tracy McGrady

Tracy McGrady

Position	Shooting guard / Small Forward
Height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Weight	226 lb (102.5 kg)
League	NBA
Team	Houston Rockets
Jersey	#1
Born	May 24, 1979 (1979-05-24) (age 30) Bartow, Florida
Nationality	American
High school	Mount Zion Christian Academy
Draft	9th overall, 1997 Toronto Raptors
Pro career	1997–present
Former teams	Toronto Raptors 1997–2000 Orlando Magic 2000–2004
Awards	7-time All-Star 7-time All-NBA Selection 2000–01 NBA Most Improved Player 2-time NBA Scoring Champion
Official profile	Info Page

Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr (born May 24, 1979, in Bartow, Florida) is an American professional basketball player, currently positioned at starting shooting guard for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association (NBA), but he can also play small forward. He is commonly referred to as "T-Mac."

Entering the league after graduating from high school, McGrady eventually became a seven-time All-Star. He led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Toronto Raptors and Orlando Magic before being traded to the Houston Rockets in 2004. McGrady was ranked #75 on SLAM magazine's Top 75 NBA Players of All Time in 2003. McGrady has never advanced to the second round of the playoffs in his whole career despite his seven trips to the playoffs: one with the Toronto Raptors, three with the Orlando Magic and three with the Houston Rockets. McGrady's style of play has been compared to that of George Gervin.^[1]

Tracy McGrady played high school basketball at Auburndale High School in Auburndale, Florida for three years. He then transferred to Mount Zion Christian Academy, in Durham, North Carolina. He would have attended the University of Kentucky had he not entered the NBA right after high school. McGrady created a national buzz after his performance in the Adidas ABCD Camp, where the best high school players in the U.S. are invited annually. He was named High School Player of the Year by USA Today.

NBA career

Toronto Raptors (1997-2000)

McGrady was drafted ninth overall in the first round of the 1997 NBA Draft by the Toronto Raptors. Chicago Bulls General Manager Jerry Krause had arranged a draft-day trade to send Scottie Pippen to the Vancouver Grizzlies for the fourth overall selection, which he would have used to draft McGrady. Krause was forced to call off the deal when Michael Jordan threatened to retire if it was made.

In McGrady's first two seasons with the Raptors, he averaged less than 10 points per game, mainly coming off the bench. In his second season, he began playing alongside his third cousin, Vince Carter, who would go on to win the Rookie of the Year Award that season. The 1999-2000 season was McGrady's first breakout season in the NBA. He was a starter in 34 games out of 79, averaging 15.4 points per game, and a career-high 1.9 blocks per game. McGrady also competed in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, finishing third, behind Carter and Steve Francis.

In 2000, the duo of McGrady and Carter helped lead the Raptors to the playoffs, for the first time in franchise history. However, the team was swept 3–0 by the New York Knicks in the first round. McGrady was often overshadowed by Carter during his time in Toronto, and he became a free agent in the summer of 2000. In the off-season, he expressed interest in playing for family and friends in his home state of Florida.

Orlando Magic (2000-2004)

On August 3, 2000, McGrady was dealt to the Orlando Magic in a sign-and-trade deal. In Orlando, he played alongside Grant Hill, who had been acquired that summer in hope of bringing Orlando back among the Eastern Conference's elite teams. However, ankle injury limited Hill to only 4 games and McGrady became the leader and 1st scoring option of the team. For the first time in his career McGrady was selected as an All-Star when he was voted by the fans to start in the midseason classic for the Eastern Conference. At season's end he was presented with the 2001 NBA Most Improved Player Award. Even though McGrady had elevated his game from solid contributor to star, the Magic were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The following season, McGrady continued his great play. With Hill struggling with injuries, the Magic was a one-man show. He made his second All-Star team and First Team All-NBA while averaging 25 a game. The Magic posted a 44-38 record for the year but they were beat again in the first round of the playoffs, this time by the Charlotte Hornets.

In the 2002-03 season, McGrady averaged 32.1 points per game and captured the NBA scoring title, becoming the youngest player to do so since the ABA-NBA merger. Despite McGrady's personal accolades, the Magic failed to reach the second round of the playoffs. In a rather infamous moment, during the 2003 NBA Playoffs, the Magic (who were an #8 seed) surprisingly took a 3-1 series lead against the heavily favored #1 seed Detroit Pistons. Prior to the fifth game in Detroit, McGrady was quoted as saying that how wonderful it was to "finally be in the second round (of the playoffs)". Orlando, however, lost Games 5, 6, and 7 by an average of more than 20 points, and Detroit advanced to the second round.

In the 2003-04 season, he once again captured the NBA scoring title, averaging 28 points per game, and set a career high with 62 points against the Washington Wizards on March 10, 2004. With this performance, he became the fourth player in the past 12 years to score over 60 points in a game.

Houston Rockets (2004-present)

In 2004, McGrady joined the Houston Rockets.

On June 29, 2004, McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue, and Reece Gaines were traded to the Houston Rockets in a seven-player deal that sent Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Cato to the Magic. In his first year with the Houston Rockets, McGrady teamed with 7'6" center Yao Ming, to end the season ranked 5th in the Western Conference. On December 9, 2004, he scored 13 points in the last 33 seconds of a game against the San Antonio Spurs, with four consecutive 3 pointers (one of which was part of a four-point play), including a steal and the game-winning 3 pointer with 1.7 seconds left in the game that helped the Rockets win 81–80.^[2][3]

Despite McGrady's play in the first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs, Houston was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in game seven by 40 points.

In the early 2005–06 season, McGrady missed eight games because of multiple back spasms. His back problems resurfaced on January 8, 2006 when he had to be taken out at halftime in a game against the Denver Nuggets on a stretcher to the hospital because of severe back spasms. He had been out for five games. Since his return, the spasms have still been a problem for McGrady. In the 2005–06 season the Rockets were 2-15 in games he did not play in and 2-16 in games McGrady did not finish. While McGrady was injured for five games with his back injury, the Rockets did not win a single game. Other injuries include him falling on his tailbone in a game against the Indiana Pacers.

Tracy McGrady, being guarded by Roger Mason, Jr. of the Washington Wizards.

In the 2006-07 season, McGrady started out slowly, and after missing 7 games with back spasms he visited a doctor. In an interview with TNT, McGrady said that he thought that his body was slowing down. He believed that he could no longer be as explosive as he was in the past due to his back injury. Shortly after another bout with back spasms, McGrady went to Waco, Texas where Dr. John Patterson performed "Synergy Release Therapy" to cure his chronic back problems, particularly the back spasms.^[4] Since Yao Ming was having another breakout season, he was deferring to Yao as the number one option.^[5] However, since Yao went down with a leg injury, McGrady stepped up his overall play, re-establishing himself as one of the game's premier players and by doing so has led Houston to the 5th best record in the league. On December 29, 2006, he became the third youngest player in NBA history to reach 14,000 points and 4,000 rebounds.^[6] However, in the playoffs, the Rockets lost their first round series to the Utah Jazz 4-3, again preventing McGrady from advancing to the second round of the playoffs. A tear fell down his cheek during the press-conference after losing game seven 103–99 to the Utah Jazz in the 2007 Playoffs.^[7] Prior to the series with the Jazz, McGrady had stated in an interview with Stephen A. Smith that if he and the Rockets failed to make it out of the first round again, it was "on me".^[8] McGrady is currently under a contract which will end following the 2009–10 NBA season, and the contract is worth an estimated $21.1 million per year.^[9]

In the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets were able to push the Jazz to six games without Yao Ming, due to an injury, but still weren't able to get out of the first round.

Personal life

McGrady has three children - daughters Layla Clarice, Laycee Aloe and son Laymen Lamar- with his wife CleRenda Harris whom he had dated for 10 years. Their son was born on December 27, 2005 during a 82-74 loss against the Utah Jazz in which McGrady left during halftime to see his girlfriend going into labor. The couple were married on September 12, 2006 in Canada. McGrady and Vince Carter are third cousins; McGrady learned that his grandmother and Carter's grandmother were cousins at a family reunion while he was still in high school and Carter played at the University of North Carolina.^[10] The two played together with the Toronto Raptors for two years before McGrady was traded. After McGrady left, he and Carter had a short feud, but this was resolved in a short period of time.^[11]

Tracy has a younger brother Chance McGrady who was a part of the National Finalist Memphis Tigers basketball team but saw limited playing time.

In 2002, McGrady signed a lifetime partnership with Adidas, agreeing to an endorsement deal that will last through his playing career and beyond.^[12]

He was on the cover of NBA Live 07.

McGrady has traveled to the Darfurian refugee camps in Chad with John Prendergast and Omer Ismail of the ENOUGH Project. McGrady is actively recruiting NBA players to support a sister schools initiative linking schools in Darfurian refugee camps to American middle schools, high schools and universities.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

NBA career achievements

• 2-time NBA scoring leader: 2003 (32.1), 2004 (28.0)
• 7-time NBA All-Star: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
• 7-time All-NBA:

• First Team: 2002, 2003
• Second Team: 2001, 2004, 2007
• Third Team: 2005, 2008

• NBA Most Improved Player Award: 2001

Orlando Magic franchise records

• All-Time Free Throws Made (1,819)
• Most points in one game with 62 (March 10, 2004 vs. Washington Wizards)
• Most points in one half with 37 in the first half (March 9, 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets)
• Most points in one quarter with 25 in the second quarter (March 9, 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets)
• Most free throws made in one game with 18 (December 25, 2002 vs. Detroit Pistons)
• Most points in a playoff game with 45 (in Game 2 of the 2003 Eastern Conference playoffs, First Round vs. Detroit Pistons)
• Most three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (January 26, 2004 vs. Cleveland Cavaliers)

Career achievements

• Career 40+ point games (regular season): 45
• Career 50+ point games (regular season): 4
• Career 60+ point games (regular season): 1
• Career triple-doubles (regular season): 3
• Shares NBA record for most three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (January 26, 2004 Orlando vs. Cleveland)

See also

• List of individual National Basketball Association scoring leaders by season
• List of National Basketball Association players with 60 or more points in a game

References

External links

• Tracy McGrady's Official Website
• NBA.com profile