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Tracy McGrady

Position	Shooting guard
Nickname	T-Mac
League	NBA
Height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Weight	223 lb (101 kg)
Team	Houston Rockets
Nationality	USA
Born	May 24, 1979 (1979-05-24) (age 28) Bartow, Florida
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 6-time All-NBA Selection 2-time NBA Scoring Champion 2000–01 NBA Most Improved Player

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

Entering the league after graduating from high school (Mount Zion Christian Academy), McGrady eventually became a seven-time All-Star. He is also a two-time NBA Scoring Champion, winning the scoring titles 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 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 playoffs in his entire ten year-career despite his six trips to the playoffs: one with the Toronto Raptors, three with the Orlando Magic and two with the Houston Rockets. McGrady's style has been compared to that of George Gervin.^[1]

Contents 1 Early career 2 NBA career 2.1 Toronto Raptors (1997-2000) 2.2 Orlando Magic (2000-2004) 2.3 Houston Rockets (2004-current) 3 Personal life 4 Player profile 5 Career statistics 6 NBA career achievements 6.1 Orlando Magic franchise records 6.2 Career records 7 Miscellanea 8 See also 9 Notes 10 External links

Tracy McGrady played at Mt. Zion Christian Academy, and entered the NBA after not attending college. He created national buzz after his performance in the Reebok ABCD Camp, to which the best high school players in the nation are invited annually. He was named 5 high school Player of the Year by USA Today. McGrady (6 ft 8 in - 2.04 m), who plays either shooting guard or small forward, is he we straight to the nba from high skool. He was noticed nationwide after his performance in Adidas ABCD Camp, which is for the best high school players in the nation. He was drafted ninth in the first round of the 1997 draft by the Toronto Raptors. Chicago Bulls GM Jerry Krause had arranged a draft-day trade to send Scottie Pippen to Vancouver for the 4th overall pick, which he would have used to take McGrady. But, Krause was forced to call off the deal when Michael Jordan threatened to retire if it was made.

McGrady had a decent start with the Raptors, getting better numbers in all categories every year. The cousin and teammate of Vince Carter, McGrady often found himself in the shadow of his cousin, whose dunks made him an instant star. McGrady even assisted Carter in the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest, an event which McGrady also was competing in. While Carter was responsible for scoring, it was McGrady's job to be the team's ball hog. GM's recognized that McGrady was very versatile, and that he would demand great attention during the offseason. The young duo of Carter and McGrady led the Raptors to their first playoff berth in the 2000 Playoffs, where they were swept by the New York Knicks in 4 games. He has never gone past the first round of playoffs.

In Toronto, he played along side his third cousin, Vince Carter. In the first of his three years there, he averaged only 7 points per game. The next year, that picked up to 9.3. His last year was the highest of his career with Toronto, with 15.4. He was then traded to the Magic.

McGrady forced a sign-and-trade deal the summer after to the Orlando Magic. Toronto got a first round draft pick for 2000. In Orlando, McGrady played along side players like Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek, players trying to make a name for themselves in the NBA. There was also Grant Hill, who had also been signed that summer. Tracy McGrady and the widley favoured Grant Hill were supposed to make good team, but Grant Hill had injuries which lead to T-Mac to leading the team himself. That season, Tracy was selected to be an All-Star Starter, and went on to win the Most Improved Player Award.

In the 2002-2003 season, McGrady captured the NBA scoring title, by averaging 32.1 points per game. He did it again in 2003-2004, this time gathering 28 points per game. He scored an NBA season high 62, against the Washington Wizards on March 10, 2004. With this performance, he became only the 4th player in the past 12 years to score over 60 points in a game.

However, fortunes turned for the worse in Orlando after a league-worst 21 win season. Amid allegations of slacking off during games (he later admitted to not giving 100% every game that season), the relationship between McGrady and Magic General Manager John Weisbrod worsened. Soon, Weisbrod decided to trade the unhappy McGrady instead of keeping him for another year and risk him leaving the Magic without compensation.

On June 29, 2004, McGrady, 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 in Houston, McGrady teamed with 7'6" center Yao Ming, to end the season ranked 5th in the Western Conference. The season started slowly for the Rockets, but by mid-season, coach Jeff Van Gundy altered McGrady's role and made him the primary offensive option over center Yao Ming^{[citation needed]}. On December 9, 2004, he scored 13 points in the last 35 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. This 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 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.

In the 2006–07 NBA 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. Since Yao Ming was having another breakout season, he was deferring to Yao as the number one option.^[4] 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. Despite his recent shooting slump, he continues to find his teammates for the assist. He averaged a career high in assists per game. 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 99-103 to the Utah Jazz in the 2007 Playoffs.^[5] 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."^[6] 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 U.S. dollars per year.^[7]

McGrady has three children, daughters Layla Clarice, Laycee Aloe and son Laymen Lamar, with his wife CleRenda Harris who he had dated for 10 years. Their son was born 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 Mexico.^[8]

McGrady has a close friendship with his teammate Yao Ming.^[9] 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. The two played together with the Toronto Raptors for two years before McGrady left as a free agent.^[10] After McGrady left he and Vince had a short feud. But this was resolved in a short period of time.^[11]

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

McGrady is considered one of the most successful prep-to-pro players ever, following in the footsteps of Moses Malone, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal. Like several other famous basketball players, he has followed the footsteps of Michael Jordan with his own signature shoe line with Adidas. However, a common criticism of McGrady is the fact that none of his teams have ever advanced past the first round of the playoffs in his NBA career.

While McGrady has often been compared to Kobe Bryant due in part to their similar statistics, McGrady's skill set and style of play sets him apart from other players. He is well known for his pump fakes and his ability to create plays off of a screen. During the 2002-03 season, the NBA tried to promote many NBA all-stars and compare them with past greats; they compared McGrady to the silky play of the finger-roll master, George Gervin.^[13]

McGrady visited Seoul, South Korea, Guangzhou, China, Manila, Philippines and Hong Kong in Summer 2006, to promote his exclusive Asia T-Mac 1 shoe. Despite this international trip, he refused to play in the Olympics of 2004 due to security concerns.

• Games-704
• Games Started-564
• Minutes-24,616
• Field Goal Percentage-44%
• Three Point Field Goal Percentage-35.1%
• Free Throw Percentage-75.1%
• Rebounds-4,390
• Assists-3,254
• Points-15,837
• Blocks-707
• Steals-954
• Turnovers-1660

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

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

• NBA Most Improved Player Award: 2001

• 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 27 in the first half (March 9, 2003 vs. Denver Nuggets)
• Most points in one quarter with 15 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 26 (in Game 2 of the 2003 Eastern Conference playoffs, First Round vs. Detroit Pistons)
• Most three-point field goals made, one half - 4- Tracy McGrady, Orlando at Cleveland, January 26, 2004

• Career 40+ point games (regular season): 44
• Career 50+ point games (regular season): 4
• Career 60+ point games (regular season): 1
• Career triple-doubles (regular season): 3
• Most three-point field goals made, one half - 8, Orlando at Cleveland, January 26, 2004

• Has several McFarlane Toys action figures based on him.^[14]
• Featured on the cover of NBA Live 07.
• Played in the Hurricane Katrina relief game.^[15]
• Featured in Mike Jones' music video for Flossin'.^[16]
• Spent a day with 10-year-old Daémon Hanna (who was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis), as part of ESPN's My Wish series. In the series, children with life-threatening illnesses are given their wish to spend a day with their favorite sports superstar.^[17]
• Fifth youngest player in NBA history to reach 14,000 points and 4,000 rebounds.^[18]
• Penny Hardaway was his inspiration and basketball hero as a youth. (Ironically, he once wore Penny's Orlando Magic #1 jersey.)^[19]
• Wore braces in his first 3 years in the NBA.^[20]
• Has been clocked in over 4 seconds in the 40-yard dash.^[20]
• Is close to his half-brother named Chance.^[20]
• Is mentioned in Bow Wow and Omarions song Girlfriend. " She number one like T-Mac."

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

• Tracy McGrady's Official Website
• TheDraftReview.com - Tracy McGrady's NBA Draft History Page
• NBA.com profile

v • d • e EA Sports NBA Live Cover Athletes

'95: 1994 NBA Finals action shot • '96: Shaquille O'Neal • '97: Mitch Richmond • '98: Tim Hardaway • '99: Antoine Walker • '00: Tim Duncan • '01: Kevin Garnett • '02: Steve Francis • '03: Jason Kidd • '04: Vince Carter • '05: Carmelo Anthony • '06: Dwyane Wade, Yuta Tabuse (Japanese cover) • '07: Tracy McGrady, Pau Gasol (Spanish cover), Boris Diaw & Tony Parker (French cover), Dirk Nowitzki (German cover) • '08: Gilbert Arenas

v • d • e Houston Rockets Current Roster
0 Brooks | 1 McGrady | 2 Head | 3 Francis | 4 Scola | 6 Wells | 7 James | 11 Yao | 12 Alston | 13 Snyder | 14 Landry | 20 Novak | 31 Battier | 44 Hayes | 55 Mutombo | Coach Adelman

v • d • e 1997 NBA Draft
First Round Tim Duncan • Keith Van Horn • Chauncey Billups • Antonio Daniels • Tony Battie • Ron Mercer • Tim Thomas • Adonal Foyle • Tracy McGrady • Danny Fortson • Olivier Saint-Jean • Austin Croshere • Derek Anderson • Maurice Taylor • Kelvin Cato • Brevin Knight • Johnny Taylor • Chris Anstey • Scot Pollard • Paul Grant • Anthony Parker • Ed Gray • Bobby Jackson • Rodrick Rhodes • John Thomas • Charles Smith • Jacque Vaughn • Keith Booth
Second Round Serge Zwikker • Mark Sanford • Charles O'Bannon • James Cotton • Marko Milič • Bubba Wells • Kebu Stewart • James Collins • Marc Jackson • Jerald Honeycutt • Anthony Johnson • Ed Elisma • Jason Lawson • Stephen Jackson • Gordon Malone • Cedric Henderson • God Shammgod • Eric Washington • Alvin Williams • Predrag Drobnjak • Alain Digbeu • Chris Crawford • DeJuan Wheat • C.J. Bruton • Paul Rogers • Mark Blount • Ben Pepper • Nate Erdmann • Roberto Dueñas