Tracy McGrady entered the league as a Toronto Raptor, but he said that he didn’t really feel like he made it to the NBA till he was going head to head with Kobe Bryant on the Magic.
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The Hall of Famer had some of the greatest offensive seasons in NBA history as a member of several different teams. McGrady is mostly remembered for his 13 points in 33 seconds moment against the San Antonio Spurs in perhaps the craziest NBA comeback you’ve ever seen.
However, the former guard/forward had many more of those moments too. He used to be a high flier, running up crazy dunks alongside Vince Carter on the Raptors, and he was a solid defensive player as well. McGrady recently sat down with Draymond Green to discuss what it was like when he played and when he felt like he really belonged in the NBA.
Tracy McGrady knew he made it when he was going head-to-head with Kobe Bryant
During the 2000s, there was one name in basketball that reigned above all: Kobe Bryant. Sure, he wasn’t winning championships throughout the 2000’s (he didn’t win one until 2009 after Shaq left the Lakers), but if you thought of the NBA, you thought of Kobe.
T-Mac was well aware of the Kobe love at the time, and he knew that if he really wanted to be a force to be reckoned with in the league, he’d have to hold his own against ‘The Black Mamba.’ And that’s exactly what he did. In an interview once, Kobe Bryant was asked who the toughest player he ever had to guard in his career was, and he calmly answered that it was McGrady.
In McGrady’s sit down with Draymond, he talked about his battles with Kobe Bryant and also mentioned how he only felt like he belonged in the league when his name was being brought up alongside “That dude. That No. 8 with the fro.”
Kobe vs T-Mac battles were truly legendary to see, and it makes sense why McGrady felt like the bar was set with No. 8 at the time. The two had incredible respect for each other and gave us some incredible basketball to watch over the years.
