The NBA
The 6-foot-8, 200-pound prep-star, who played all five positions at Durham’s Mount Zion Christian Academy, announced his decision to make himself available for the June 25 1997 NBA draft. “I feel this is the best decision for me and my family,” said Tracy, “I considered college, but my dream is to make it to the top, and I had a chance to do that earlier.”
On draft day, with question marks concerning if and when Tracy would get drafted, he was the 9th pick by the Toronto Raptors. On that day he joined the list of players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Jermaine O’Neal, who successfully made the jump from high school to the NBA. Tracy’s success paved the path for numerous other prep-to-pro NBA players before the NBA instituted a rule in 2006 requiring players to be at least 19 and one year removed from high school before entering the league.
Tracy’s stint with the Raptors lasted from 1997-2000, and gave him the opportunity to play alongside his cousin, Vince Carter. The duo were contestants in the NBA’s Slam dunk contest in 2000, where Carter edged out McGrady for the title.
After a few seasons in Carter’s shadow, Tracy was traded to the Orlando Magic in 2000 for a first round draft pick. The trade paid off immediately for the Magic as McGrady blossomed into a superstar in Orlando. In his first season in Florida, Tracy won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, and was named as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. Two seasons later he won the NBA’s scoring title by scoring over 32 points a game, making him the youngest winner of the prestigious title since the NBA/ABA merger. The following season McGrady won the scoring title again, averaging 28 points a game. He also scored his career-high of 62 points that season against the Washington Wizards on March 10, 2004.
Despite Tracy’s personal success, the Magic never made it into the league’s elite, and in June of 2004, Tracy was traded to the Houston Rockets in a seven-player deal. The trade gave him a fresh start on a new team, and also paired him up with 7’6” Yao Ming. After taking some time to adjust to his new team, Tracy led them to a fifth place finish in the Western Conference, but the team was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in a hard fought seven game series. The 2005-06 season was plagued by injuries for Tracy, and the Rockets failed to reach the playoffs. In 2006-07 Tracy led the Rockets to a 52-win season, their best finish in over a decade, but lost a tough series in 7 games to the Utah Jazz. Visibly emotional after the series, Tracy vowed to do everything in his power to take the Rockets even further in the 2007-2008 season. In 2008 the Rockets won 22 consecutive games in a row, for the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history. The Rockets entered the post season in the 5th seat and once again faced the Utah Jazz. Even in the absence of Yao Ming, who suffered a broken foot in February to keep him out of the second half of the season, the Rockets fought hard, even taking game 3 on Utah’s home court. Despite McGrady’s 40 points and 10 rebounds, the Rockets lost game six and were once again knocked out in the first round (4-2).
Tracy McGrady has racked up numerous individual accolades and continues to be one of the league’s most recognizable stars. He has been selected to the All-Star Team 7 times since 2001 and has been an All-NBA selection 7 times as well. In 2007, his image appeared on the cover of NBA Live 07.
McGrady's career took off when he forced a sign-and-trade to the Orlando Magic in exchange for a first round draft pick in 2000. In the 2000-2001 season, he won the Most Improved Player Award and was selected a starter in the All Star game. He and Grant Hill both were supposed to be valuable players for Orlando, but because of a long series of injuries to Hill, McGrady became the top player for the Magic. In the 2002-2003 season, McGrady captured the NBA scoring title, averaging 32.1 points per game. In the 2003-2004 season, he once again captured the NBA scoring title, averaging 28 points per game. and set an NBA season high when he dropped 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?0.
Despite McGrady's play in the 1st round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs, Houston was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in game seven by 40 points.
In the early 2005?6 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?6 season the Rockets were 2?5 in games he did not play in and 2?6 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?7 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. 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. 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." 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.