Tracy McGrady didn’t find much success in the playoffs, but he had a highlight playoff game play that fans still remember to this day. Die-hard McGrady fans may refuse to talk about his playoff losses, but not his disrespectful dunk on Dallas Mavericks’ 7’6″ center Shawn Bradley in the 2005 playoffs.
As it turns out, most fans have watched the play, and one fan asked T-Mac to discuss it in a Q&A session. That’s when McGrady delivered a savage comment about his incredible dunk.
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“It felt good to dunk on Shawn Bradley at the time,” McGrady reflected. “It was in the playoffs, and I have no mercy when I’m in the playoffs, and I think he’s enjoying retirement today because after that, he retired.”
As it turns out, McGrady was right. Bradley officially retired following that postseason. But even though T-Mac posterized him, the Mavs ended up beating the Houston Rockets in that series. Nevertheless, McGrady still got the bragging rights for dunking on one of the tallest players in NBA history.
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Tracy’s best dunk
McGrady wasn’t just fond of posterizing his opponents during his prime years. He also had a penchant for creating his own dunks.
In fact, it was T-Mac who introduced the off-the-backboard dunk to the NBA. Admittedly, McGrady takes great pride in inventing that dunk and making it one of his signature moves.
“I’m a creative thinker, and I want to be the first to do something,” McGrady once told Slam. “I want to do something that nobody’s done, especially on the NBA level. And when I was in high school, a team was playing a 2-3 zone, and I just got tired of the two guys [at the top] stopping me from penetrating to the basket. So I got pissed and I said, ‘I’m gonna split these two dudes, I’m gonna throw it off the glass and I’m gonna catch this off the glass and dunk It’.”
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“So when I get to the NBA, I wanna throw it off the glass against the best players in the world,” he added.
T-Mac is a dunk icon
As a player, McGrady was recognized as a high flyer, but he was more famous as one of the most prolific scorers of his era. When T-Mac began to face significant challenges due to injuries, his hops dwindled, and he was prompted to embrace the role of a role player.
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McGrady recovered, but he struggled to get back to his old form. Eventually, T-Mac accepted that he could no longer soar high like he used to and dunk on people.
Today, McGrady is remembered by most NBA fans for his scoring abilities. But for those who have an idea of who T-Mac was back in the day, McGrady is a true dunk legend and somebody who his peers feared when he got close to the basket because they never knew which wizardry he would do.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.