There’s no doubt that despite his lack of championship rings, Tracy McGrady is one of the greatest shooting guards we’ve seen play in the NBA.
McGrady played for a total of seven NBA teams across his 15-year career, his best years coming with the Houston Rockets between 2005 and 2009. T-Mac also had memorable stints in Orlando alongside Grant Hill, and in Toronto, where he was drafted to play with his cousin Vince Carter.
Despite his best years coming during his time in Houston, McGrady could never advance far in the postseason, which was one of the biggest knocks against him his entire career. Either T-Mac would be on a sub-par team that had no chance making the playoffs, or when he was on a team good enough to make the Conference Finals or the Finals ever, McGrady was more often than not injured, something that became more common as he aged.
What many fans don’t know however, is that McGrady could’ve very well started his career in Los Angeles alongside long-time rival Kobe Bryant in 1997.
According to stories, Jerry West, who was the GM of the Lakers at the time, was high on McGrady heading into the 1997 draft, and wanted to do anything possible to pair him with Kobe.
“In 1997, Jerry West was more impressed by Tracy McGrady’s workout than Kobe Bryant’s, the year before. West wanted to do “whatever it took” to pair the two together. Jerry Buss ultimately denied the deal. T-Mac later said he would have been a “Scottie Pippen-type” along Kobe/Shaq.”
Owner Jerry Buss vetoed the trade for McGrady unfortunately, which would have seen the Lakers trade for McGrady to form a big three of sorts with Kobe and Shaq. With two high-scoring guards and one of the most dominant centers of all-time on the roster, who knows how many titles the Lakers could have ripped off in the 2000’s.
