Although Tracy McGrady could never carry his teams to immense playoff success, his repertoire is considered on par with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. Additionally, his game was highly influenced by these two transcendental scorers. The 6’9″ versatile scorer had many memorable duels against Kobe Bryant. On his official Instagram account, McGrady shared a reel of him breaking down his duel with Bryant in 2002.
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Terming the game “epic”, T-Mac broke down some of the moves that were exchanged. He touched upon his incredible move where he faked driving to the left and then faded away near the free-throw line to leave Kobe Bryant in the dust. Then he referred to Bryant’s lightning-quick first step and broke down a move where he is left behind and the help is late.
“What people don’t understand, is Kobe was fast. He had a quick first step. He kinda lulled me to sleep and put the ball between his legs and blew by me. ‘Alright, cool’, but I’m thinking somebody is back there to cut him off. Well, long behold, nobody’s back there,” narrated Tracy McGrady.
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McGrady then expressed how this fierce blow-by dunk was revenge for the fadeaway where Bryant fell while guarding him. This incredible duel took place on November 26, 2002, in a regular season game between Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and McGrady’s Orlando Magic. During the game, McGrady’s 38 points, nine rebounds, and six assists led the Magic to a 112-102 win. In the loss, Bryant contributed 38 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists as the eventual champions slipped to a 5-11 record.
More than the stats, it was the similarities between the two remarkable players that stood out. Both players could adjust their moves on the fly and were a combination of a deadly driving game and an unstoppable shooting game. They didn’t show any hesitation in shooting over defenders and had quickfire foot movement. Apart from that, the two had immense mutual respect.
Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady were in awe of each other
Game recognizes Game. This statement holds in the case of T-Mac and Mamba. After crossing paths multiple times, they knew that they were the real deal. During one of the interviews, Bryant was asked who was his toughest player to guard during his NBA career. To which Bryant responded that it was none other than McGrady.
“The guy that always me the most problems gave actually was Tracy McGrady. He had all the skills and all the athleticism but he was 6’9”. And he was really really tough to figure out,” replied Kobe Bryant.
Of course, the former Magic All-Star also holds Mamba in high regard. In February, this year, he rolled out a reel with the title “My message to anyone that says “Kobe isn’t top 5’’’’. For T-Mac, anyone not putting Kobe in their all-time top-five list should “get the f*** outta here!!”.
