One of my earliest basketball watching memories came 14 years ago, on an afternoon at my grandma’s house in rural Illinois, as 10-year-old me sat in the kitchen watching Tracy McGrady lead his Orlando Magic against the Detroit Pistons in the 2003 Playoffs. I have absolutely no idea why I remember that game so clearly, but I do know that McGrady gave me plenty more moments to remember throughout his career.
Saturday, the seven-time All Star, two-time member of the All-NBA First Team, and two-time scoring champion was rewarded for his impressive career with the news of his selection as a member of the 2017 Basketball Hall of Fame class. McGrady will be inducted later this fall, but for now, let’s take a trip down memory lane as we remember some of the finest moments of T-Mac’s career.
13 Points In 35 Seconds
How could I not start with this sequence, arguably the most iconic of McGrady’s career. Along with Reggie Miller’s 8 points in 9 seconds, this stretch by McGrady is one of the most incredible spurts in NBA history.
We have to break this one down further.
So first, before McGrady begins his run, we see Gregg Popovich upset with Manu Ginobili. Look at that shaggy mane of hair on Manu!
So then McGrady hits the first of his triples to make it a five-point game, but the Spurs quickly make two free throws to push it back to seven. Then, McGrady comes back down and gets Tim Duncan of all people up in the air, takes the contact, and converts the four-point play. I’m pretty sure that was this only mistake Duncan ever made in his marvelous career.
Don’t worry, though, they later became friends.
Okay, back to 13 in 35.
So then the Spurs hit two more free throws, and it was back to a five-point game. This is where the comeback almost gets derailed. Andre Barrett, a rookie, is having so much trouble inbounding the ball, that he almost falls over.
He’s able to regain his balance, but then he lobs up a pass that McGrady has to leap up to grab over the defense while managing not to step over the halfcourt line. That catch by McGrady was one of the most impressive parts of the comeback.
Then McGrady hurtles towards the 3-point line, and before he’s even square to the basket, rises to fire over Bruce Bowen, and despite having the ball like this at one point, he still manages to hit the shot.
After a timeout, the Spurs uncharacteristically turn the ball over, as Devin Brown loses control along the baseline. T-Mac, of course, is the one to pick it up, and he goes the length of the floor in five dribbles, before draining the game-winning triple over two Spurs defenders.
*Extremely British soccer announcer voice* Absolute scenes!
If memes were a thing in 2004, Devin Brown absolutely would have gotten memed.
The Shawn Bradley Poster
Remember Shawn Bradley? Well, this is probably one of the main reasons why. Back in the 2005 Playoffs, McGrady went past Dirk Nowitzki on the baseline, and then jammed all over the 7-foot-6 Bradley. The way you know this dunk was really crazy is because Twitter wasn’t even a thing yet, and YouTube had just been invented a few months before, but somehow everyone knew about this dunk like almost immediately.
Off-The-Backboard Self Alley-Oop In A Real Game
Everyone remembers when he threw an alley-oop to himself off the backboard in the All-Star Game, but he did it in a real game too! Legend.
Dirk Nowitzki (53 points) vs. Tracy McGrady (48 points) Duel From 2004
Shaggy hair Dirk! The Mavericks’ green uniforms! A Bobby Sura sighting! This Dirk-T-Mac duel is incredible to rewatch for so many reasons. Also, it was exactly a week before the 13 points in 35 seconds game, which is just incredible. 2004 T-Mac was something else.
McGrady Fakes Out Kobe, Kobe Responds With A Dunk
I’ve never seen this one before today as I was going down a McGrady rabbit hole, but this was pretty sweet. I think McGrady maybe steps on Kobe’s foot as he spins? But either way it was a sick move, and then to see Kobe respond immediately with a massive jam was awesome.
McGrady Avoids The Block
How?
Rookie McGrady vs. Michael Jordan In 1998
Okay, first of all, Doug Christie and Chauncey Billups were on the Raptors? Is that really true? I’m not sure I believe this video. Anyways, regardless of whether or not this came from some alternate dimension, it’s still pretty awesome to see the overlap of two Hall of Famers.
Career-High 62 Points
The 2003-04 Orlando Magic were, uh, not good. But Tracy McGrady in 2004 was extremely good, as he showed in this game, dropping his career-high 62 points on the Wizards. McGrady went an incredible 20-37 in the game, and maybe even more incredibly, the rest of the Magic went 17-54. Also, for the Wizards, Christian Laettner had 13 and 15 on 4-16 shooting, and Gilbert Arenas dropped 40, in case you were wondering.
Top 10 Plays
As a send off, check out McGrady’s top 10 career plays. You will not be disappointed.
