[Vintage 1998] Tracy McGrady's decision to enter 1998 NBA Draft

For a kid like Mcgrady it would have been very foolish to not make the jump right away, it's even clearer in hindsight.

LOL at the 5:36 mark where McGrady shows one of his most conspicuous traits: Yapping his mouth to the point of sabotaging himself.

N64.

 

Yeah, for Tmac's case, making the jump was absolutely the right choice for him. He probably would have gotten injured in college.

 

lol don't bother with Rockets Jones, guys..

thats what he woulda done bc its "the right thing to do"

 

you can always follow him like the other people here do from one team's beginning of the season all the way to the end of the first round of the playoffs.

 

Why doesn't he just watch Hakeem re-runs instead? Living in the present is over rated anyway.

 

lol @ a decision making you millions being the dumbest thing ever smh.

Kwame Brown entering the draft wasn't even the dumbest thing ever for his career.

 

If I were him, I would have made the correct decision and go to college, then become a doctor or a lawyer.

 

Are you kidding me?

If you have a chance to be a lottery pick (or even first round) in a draft for a sport, you do it.

Imagine if he had gone to college, and gotten a bad injury. He would never have gotten any money.

Life isn't always black and white.

 

The saddest thing about TMac is his legacy will always be affected by who is telling the story. Everyone spins TMac much higher or lower than he deserves.

 

Purely false and subjective.

 

The reason why the 22 game win streak and the 13 in 33 seconds are some of our best memories of McGrady is because he never led us out of the first round.

 

I really think he gets way too much heat for that.

2004-2005 - screwed by Donaghy and refs; J. Howard out with heart issue; Ryan Bowen starter at PF. Terrible supporting cast.

2005-2006 - T-Mac/Yao Injured - missed playoffs

2006-2007 - Legit shot to get out of first round - Yao fails to get rebounds near the end

2007-2008 - Yao Injured; Rafer Injured (say what you will about Rafer, he played a huge role that year - far better starter than AB/Bobby Jackson at the time)

Just to put things into perspective...if you wanna single out McGrady, he averaged 27.6ppg, 7.2rpg, 6.9apg, 1bpg, 1.3spg... I dont know very many players in todays era other than Lebron who could put up those types of numbers in the playoffs. (I'm sure im missing a few others, but he's the only one coming to mind right now).

 

He definitely didn't deserve a lot of the heat he got, but when you are a teams best player and you open your mouth you better be ready for the criticism when you don't pull through.

 

WTK079,

Also, those are only first round numbers comparing them to lebron's isn't fair since lebron sustained those numbers through multiple rounds.

 

You can talk about those previous seasons as much as you want and point the blame for a variety of things for why he came up short but the biggest thing that pissed me off about McGrady was the 2008-2009 season. That team was DEEP and had 3 legit superstars at the time in their PRIME.

McGrady never made the effort to get along with Artest and he decided to put the team through hell acting like a b**** and disrupting chemistry before he ultimately decides to shut it down for a micofracture surgery which A) He didn't need right away and B) Something he could've had done in the off season and C) Before telling Adelman and the medical staff. This is what left such a sour taste in the mouths of the majority of CFans. All the rest of the shortcomings prior to these events pale in comparison to the 08-09 season.

McGrady had the opportunity of a lifetime that season to make things happen, cement his legacy and get out of the first round and beyond. That team was seriously supposed to win it all.

Brooks/Lowry
McGrady/Wafer
Artest/Battier
Scola/Landry
Yao/Deke

They were two deep at every position and McGrady, Artest, Scola and Yao were all in their prime still.

 

Whether he needed the surgery or not, it was apparent that he wasn't himself that season. I don't think he would have purposely sabotaged his best shot at post-season success because he didn't like Ron Artest or something. The knee was obviously bothering him. His reaction to it was incredibly stupid, but the whole issue was due to him playing through the injury the year before.

If anything I just feel really bad about it as a Rockets fan. That was the chosen year. Though in all fairness that's what I said the year before, when we signed Steve Francis. But, alas, the timing of the injuries could not have been worse.

 

Too bad Mcgravy wasn't in his prime anymore that season. He pretty much died after that 22 winning streak season by playing on a bummed knee. We could've had VC if he didn't pull the micro fracture drama.

 

I can see you've never encountered a serious knee injury, and i sincerely hope that you never do (speaking from experience). But I really dont understand your logic - why would a player, in a season where his team had the best shot at a Finals, risk HIS CAREER with a microfracture surgery, if he didnt really need it?

I dont know if you remember watching the playoffs in 2008, but he was playing through a lot of pain in his shoulder and knee. He entered the 08-09 season and said he wasnt 100%. He tried to fight through the pain, but he couldnt get rid of the pain or gain full strength in his knee.

Trainers and coaches can say "he's fine" all they want, but only Tracy knows the discomfort he was feeling. While I dont agree with the way McGrady went about breaking the news to the team of his surgery, but if his coaching staff keeps saying he's fine and telling the media he's fine when he doesn't feel fine, do you expect McGrady to continue to go to them for advice?