The art of being among the greatest basketball players on earth is not based on purely God-given ability but also the hours of work behind the scenes that help players perfect their craft.
Kobe Bryant was an example of how hard work can polish your game to an unbeatable level. Tracy McGrady was among the best of his generation before injuries slowed him down and was a rival and friend of Kobe’s. He revealed recently that his approach to training changed after spending a summer in Paris with Kobe in 1998.
“When I was in my prime, I never played pick-up basketball. When I worked out in the offseason, everything was just skill work. You know where I got that from. Me and Kobe took a trip to Paris and we took our trainers with us. On that trip, that’s all we worked on, our individual skills. He told me, ‘Man, I never play pick-up because how many reps can you get playing pick-up basketball?’ We did a lot of skill training and I picked up a lot of things and from that trip, that’s what I had added to my training in the offseason, all footwork stuff… That was like 1998. I came in in 1997, I was 19 years old.”
Kobe’s notorious for his work ethic and it seems McGrady realized early that he needs to match what Kobe does to be as good as him, if not better. The pair would be the starting guards on the 2002-03 All-NBA First Team together, showing how summers full of work ultimately helped them become the best.
How That Summer Impacted The Players?
Kobe took his first steps into stardom after the summer of 1998, averaging 19.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in the 98-99 season. Though that season ended with a playoff sweep loss to the San Antonio Spurs, it was the first glimpse of how elite the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe duo would be. They’d win the next three championships after this season.
Tracy McGrady was a sophomore that season and was still fighting to become a part of the Raptors’ rotation. He averaged 9.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists before exploding the following season and establishing himself as one of the brightest young talents in the league. He’d leave Toronto for the Orlando Magic at the turn of the millennium for his most successful seasons in the NBA, but injuries would eventually keep him from realizing his full potential. McGrady never made it out of the first round of the playoffs in his career.
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