Tracy McGrady has found himself under immense scrutiny for his comments comparing himself to the late Kobe Bryant. McGrady believes that if Bryant and he swapped positions in their NBA careers, he would have had more success. However, that isn’t to downplay what Bryant achieved. The Hall-of-Fame forward put the outside noise to bed by revealing just how close he was to Kobe.
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McGrady and Bryant were both players who went to the NBA straight from high school. Kobe got a head start in the 1996 NBA Draft, while McGrady declared the following year. Despite that commonality in their career, that wasn’t the defining trait that brought them close together.
Once McGrady joined the Toronto Raptors, Adidas came looking to add him to their roster. It was a dream to sign a sneaker deal, especially with a marquee company such as Adidas. The 6-foot-8 forward wasn’t the only young star on the brand with three stripes. Bryant was also a young star with the company.
Although Bryant was only a year older than McGrady, he served as a mentor figure. Their connection through Adidas took their relationship to a different level.
“We both were Adidas guys at the time. I could just pick up the phone and call my man,” McGrady said on 7 PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony. “He was so gracious enough to give me game.”
Bryant came from a completely different upbringing than McGrady. The Los Angeles Lakers legend had a father who experienced the difficulties that come with being an NBA player. McGrady was a first-generation professional athlete. Being an 18-year-old playing basketball for millions of dollars was a scary situation to navigate.
“He’s somebody that I leaned on religiously at that time,” McGrady revealed. “He’s very grounded and comes from a two-parent home. His structure and my structure are two completely different structures. I needed to have that conversation and learn from him.”
Not only did McGrady and Bryant have countless conversations about the NBA and life, but the two also spent plenty of time together. They may have been rivals on the court, but Bryant opened up his home to McGrady when he needed it the most.
“I was living with him,” McGrady proclaimed. “At his house in LA, and then we went on a trip to Paris together for Adidas. Just to have those conversations, it really got me through a lot, and I’m not even talking about basketball.”
It makes sense why Bryant and McGrady played so hard against each other during their primes. They held each other at an incredibly high level of respect, not just as competitors, but as friends.
McGrady doesn’t want people to get the wrong idea. He would never speak ill of Bryant. The five-time NBA champion means way too much to him to ever spew negativity on his name.
