‘Adidas lured Tracy McGrady with $12 million to ditch Kentucky in 1997’: When the Rockets star told Shannon Sharpe why chose the bag over college ball

Tracy McGrady was one of the few players who joined the NBA straight out of high school, but it wouldn’t have happened without some major money in play.

The former Magic and Rockets star was one of the greatest offensive talents in the NBA when he played. He was drafted in 1997 by the Toronto Raptors, and he eventually showed that he belonged in the league despite not playing basketball in college.

His first few years in the league were tough for the youngster, but eventually McGrady was able to grow and blossom into the offensive talent we all remember him for.

In his fourth year in the league, T-Mac made the All Star team as a member of the Orlando Magic averaging 26.8 points per game. He peaked in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons where he led the league in scoring in back to back seasons. In 2002-03, McGrady averaged a ridiculous 32.1 points per game to lead the league.

Of course, McGrady’s most memorable moment came as a member of the Houston Rockets when he scored 13 points in 33 seconds to lead the team to a wild comeback win against the San Antonio Spurs.

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Tracy McGrady turned down the chance to play college basketball for $12 million from Adidas

McGrady was very set on playing college basketball. He wanted to go play for Kentucky, and the idea appealed to him so much that he paid visit to the college as well, setting his mind on going to the school.

T-Mac explained the proposition, however, that kept him from going to Kentucky ultimately.

“I took my business to a couple of colleges,” McGrady explained to Shannon Sharpe. “When I went to Kentucky, and I saw how those boys were living, I said ‘this is where I want to go to school’. I was already a fan before I went there… I’m sitting in my coach’s office, he’s giving me this speech – ‘I know you love Kentucky and what they have to offer and I know you’ll do great. I have an offer from Adidas, they want you really bad.'”

So, what exactly was that offer?

“And when he sat it in front of me, at that time, at 18 years old, it’s not a hard decision… Forget college, they can’t offer me $12 million, I can’t turn that down… They were in Florida and I was in North Carolina, so I made the call. Obviously, they were overwhelmed with joy. And that’s what it’s about to me. Having that type of impact on your family. I wasn’t fortunate enough to win a championship but when I look back on what I was able to do for my mother and my grandmother, absolutely.”

$12 million is an incredible amount and at 18 years old, it’s hard to say no to that kind of money when you know you have that much skill and talent to make it in the league. He also explained why he chose the money at that point in further detail too.

“I’m going to Kentucky. If I can make $12 million and enjoy the college experience, why not? I love college basketball, I watch it frequently. I watch my Kentucky Wildcats faithfully. Yes, I would have taken that $12 million and gone to Kentucky for sure… I think the one thing I do miss out on is the whole March Madness thing.”

“That experience for me is the memory you would love to create and love to be able to talk about those memories 30-40 years from now. For that, I wish I had the opportunity to experience that. But going to the parties and stuff life that, that really is not my thing.”

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