“Draft night, I almost got traded for Scottie Pippen, it was about to go down, but Michael Jordan made the calls”: Tracy McGrady reveals how His Airness threatened to retire if Pip was traded

NBA Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady reveals Michael Jordan bulldozed through the trade between him and Scottie Pippen, threatening to retire.

During a recent appearance on The Knuckleheads podcast, Tracy McGrady revealed he was almost traded to the Chicago Bulls during his draft night in 1997. However, this trade involved shipping Scottie Pippen out, something Bulls legend Michael Jordan wouldn’t let happen.

One of the greatest scorers in league history, T-Mac had a successful NBA career. A seven-time All-Star, seven-time All-NBA, two-time scoring champion, and former MIPY. In what many believe, McGrady was one of the biggest snubs who did not make it on the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team.

T-Mac rose to success when he signed with the Orlando Magic. The veteran guard was known for his iconic rivalry with the late Kobe Bryant. Though the two superstars shared a great relationship off the court, they gave each other a hard time on the hardwood.

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During a recent podcast, T-Mac shared an interesting story regarding how he almost made his NBA debut for the Chicago Bulls. However, Jordan was adamant the deal never happened.

Michael Jordan threatened to retire if Jerry Krause would sanction the Scottie Pippen-Tracy McGrady trade.

It is common knowledge now that Pippen never shared a great relationship with the Bulls front office. The Bulls forward and the management clashed on several occasions. At the time, many believed Pippen was severely underpaid. Bulls GM Jerry Krause wanted to get rid of Pippen and tried every trick in the book but never had his way, courtesy of MJ.

In a recent conversation, T-Mac spoke about almost making his NBA debut for the Bulls, but the deal never went through as Jordan was not ready to part ways with Pippen.

“Draft night, I almost got traded for Scottie,” said T-Mac. “The night before the draft, Jerry Krause called my agent, got me up 12 0’clock at night, had me got to a secret location to take a physical. It was about to go down, but MJ made the calls, ‘Yo, if y’all do that, I’m retiring.’ So he stopped that real quick.”

In 1997, the Bulls were coming off their 5th championship on the quest for a second 3-peat. The 1997-98 season known as The Last Dance was one of the most scrutinized seasons in Bulls franchise history. It was head coach Phil Jackson’s last season with the team, with MJ openly declaring that he wouldn’t play under any other coach except the Zen Master.

On the other hand, Pippen continued to feud with the Bulls management. Thus it would have been interesting to see the dynamics had the trade between Pippen-McGrady happened.

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Though Pippen had another opportunity years later to sign with the Bulls, he chose the Orlando Magic over them.