7x All-Star Tracy McGrady was just seconds away from winning a Championship in 2013. At 33-years-old, he was called up by the Spurs in April to help fill their rotation for the playoffs.
The Spurs would go to the Finals that year before losing to the Heat in 7 games. For anyone else, it would have been a gut punch. For McGrady, though, he wouldn’t have enjoyed that title parade anyway.
In a chat with Shannon Sharpe on ‘Club Shay Shay,’ the NBA Hall-of-Famer looked back to that time and revealed why he never felt like a part of that team to begin with:
“Shay, let me ask you a question. You played your career in Denver. You retire from Denver. You’re enjoying life in the offseason. Somebody calls you up and says ‘hey man we got a tight end he’s hurt, can you come in and give us a body.’ Sure, why not? It might be a coach you have the utmost respect for. But when you come back that tight end is healthy, you ain’t really get no burn. Y’all make a run for the Super Bowl. You don’t really play like that. Y’all win the Super Bowl. Do you feel like you was a part of that?
If you can’t contribute to the battles, I don’t feel a part of that. It was a great experience because I’ve never been that deep in the playoffs. To go through that run with them, man it was amazing. I loved every bit of it. But if we would’ve won a ring, I wouldn’t have felt validated as a Champion.”
McGrady did play a very small role for the Spurs, only coming on to add some depth for the postseason. When San Antonio was within seconds of winning the title, McGrady was watching from the sidelines.
Despite very limited playoff success in his career, it’s no wonder why McGrady didn’t feel like he earned it.
Matt Barnes, after winning a championship with the Warriors, revealed similar feelings about his title run in 2017.
