“You had grown men… It was a different game then” – Tracy McGrady explains why he and other young guys couldn’t get playing time when they came into the NBA originally appeared on Basketball Network.
Tracy McGrady admitted it took time before he was able to truly show what he was truly capable of in the pros since he came to the NBA directly from high school.
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And the reason for that is because veterans like Charles Barkley, Karl Malone and Clyde Drexler, among others, were still around.
“When I came into the league…you had grown men. It was a different game then. So rookies, you had to be one of them ones to come in and play right away,” McGrady explained on the “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast. “Like Kobe ain’t come in and play right away. I didn’t come in and play right away.”
Only a few are chosen
McGrady noted that for a rookie to see action right away, they had to be truly special. He used Allen Iverson as an example, pointing out how A.I. already made a name for himself in college, a reason why he was immediately fielded to play by the Philadelphia 76ers.
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“Back in my days, if you wasn’t A.I. coming into a real bad team… A.I. did his time in college and he became a household name and was phenomenal and went to the Sixers and played right away. But you…Man, back in them days? Young guys didn’t play right away. You couldn’t,” the 9th overall pick quipped.
T-Mac was sorely overlooked
It was ironic for McGrady to mention that it took special players to get the chance to play in the NBA immediately. Some personalities saw him as a promising player and felt he would have made an impact for the Toronto Raptors if only he had been utilized.
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For the Raptors, Isiah Thomas knew Tracy had potential. He likened him to San Antonio Spurs great, pointing out how T-Mac could deliver without exerting so much effort.
“He reminded me a lot of George Gervin at that time — his ease, in terms of being able to always get it done without looking like he was working too hard,” Thomas, then the Raptors’ executive vice president, said.
McGrady deserved better
Aside from Thomas, Danny Ainge believed McGrady had the potential to be a good player. He felt that other teams overlooked his talent, passing up a chance to take the Mount Zion Christian Academy high school standout. T-Mac proved the Boston Celtics executive right, especially when he was given proper time on the court.
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“The next year, Tracy McGrady came out and he was the ninth pick, I think, which was a joke. You know, he should have been the second pick,” Ainge said in 2020 via “98.5 The Sports Hub.”
McGrady’s game started to come out in his third year with the Raptors. However, with Toronto leaning more on Vince Carter, T-Mac had no plans of playing second fiddle. He opted to move to the Orlando Magic, where he agreed to a seven-year $92.8 million contract, teaming up with Grant Hill to form a lethal duo on paper.
With Hill struggling to stay healthy, McGrady had to carry the Magic on his shoulders. He responded well, emerging as the star that most envisioned him to be.
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The Raptors could have at least tried to see how McGrady would have fared in his rookie season to reasonably assess if he is truly a good talent. Unfortunately, then-coach Darrell Walker opted to rely on the vets such as Damon Stoudamire and Doug Christie.
After witnessing what McGrady could truly do offensively, it was only then that Toronto probably realized they wasted a gem of a player. Hence, in the end, the Raptors’ loss was the Magic’s gain.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared.