Tracy McGrady entered the NBA at the time Michael Jordan had already established his legacy. As a matter of fact, players joining in 1990s dreamed of facing Michael Jordan at least once in their career.
The Michael Jordan era of the Chicago Bulls entrenched their dominance in the NBA. Tracy McGrady was picked by the Toronto Raptors as their 9th overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. Soon after the Raptors drafted his long-lost cousin Vince Carter, the two started making a name for themselves.
However, in their youth, they managed to follow the legacy built by Michael Jordan. There was a time in the NBA when Scottie Pippen was suspected to be traded with Tracy McGrady to the Bulls. Unfortunately, Jordan was against the decision made by the management.
Tracy was on the podcast show, ‘All The Smoke’, where he took a dive into nostalgia. Remembering his teenage year, “Bro, I got an opportunity to go in the back by the locker room after the game. So, I’m standing back there. I’m 17 years old, kid. … Mike comes round that corner, bro, I ain’t gonna lie to you. The man had a glow, bro. I swear.”
Tracy McGrady was star-struck by aura of Michael Jordan
“Mike, dog, that s*** is real. … Mike came out, I was like, ‘Damn, bro.’ I didn’t know what to say. I was like, ‘That’s MJ, dog. That’s MJ.” Added Tracy. Moving to his rookie year, he recalled his first encounter with MJ on court.
He elaborated, “But, man, once it wore, you know, that mystique wears off when you’re around somebody for a long time. It wears off. It’s like, ‘OK, s***, let’s get it.’ I damn near had my best game as a rookie playing against him. I almost had a triple-double.”
“In front of 30,000, you know, we played in the SkyDome. 30,000. Mike had them coming in there, bro. And that was the year they had, what, 72-10? We was one of them 10.”
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