Tracy McGrady: A Hall of Fame Career?

Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson retiring within days of each other is just a coincidence. But it’s incredibly fitting that two superstars who were never able to win an NBA championship, or a first-round playoff series in T-Mac’s case, are hanging it up in the same week.

OK, so maybe McGrady technically did win a first-round playoff series as an injured reserve in Houston and again last season as an unused insurance policy with the San Antonio Spurs. But aren’t those statements indicative of his career? Maybe it won’t be what we remember most about Tracy McGrady’s time in the NBA, but won’t it at least hinder his chances of making the Hall of Fame?

McGrady didn’t quite stir up the same amount of controversy that Allen Iverson did during his time in the league; The Answer’s complicated legacy makes him more of an enigma than T-Mac will ever be.

But McGrady’s career is still a bit of a head scratcher; you’d expect a guy who was once in the MVP conversation to have won an NBA title, or at least a playoff series, in his prime. You’d also think a talented, multi-faceted player like McGrady, who led the league in scoring twice, would’ve been known for his impact in the postseason instead of his failures.

Take a look at T-Mac’s NBA resume: Seven-time All-Star, seven All-NBA selections and career averages of 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. When healthy during his prime, McGrady was a top 10 player at least and in the discussion for best player in the league at most.

He had a versatile skill set that was reminiscent of George Gervin, Grant Hill and now, LeBron James. He was the reason the infamous Steve Francis trade was so incredibly lopsided. But because injuries derailed him and his teammates from being healthy and winning a playoff series, does T-Mac have a shot at making the Hall of Fame?

It’s pretty obvious that McGrady’s biggest obstacle to the Hall of Fame is his lack of playoff success. But which playoff series should he have won, exactly? In 1999-2000, McGrady was Vince Carter‘s shadow with the Toronto Raptors and that team wasn’t about to beat the 2000 New York Knicks, comprised of Patrick Ewing, Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell, that went to the Eastern Conference Finals.

In 2000-01, McGrady was supposed to unite with Grant Hill to make up one of the deadliest backcourts in the NBA. But Hill played only four games because of his infamous ankle injury and although McGrady stepped up his game and emerged as an All-Star player, there was no way he was beating the 2001 Milwaukee Bucks (Sam Cassell, Ray Allen and Glenn Robinson), who fell short to Allen Iverson’s Philadelphia 76ers in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Two playoff series, two losses to Eastern Conference Finals contenders.

In 2001-02, the fact that McGrady’s one-man show helped the Magic grab the fifth spot in the East was an accomplishment in and of itself. But one player was not enough to overcome a superior Charlotte Hornets squad (Baron Davis, David Wesley, Jamal Mashburn, P.J. Brown and Jamaal Magloire).

The next season, McGrady posted a jaw-dropping 32.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game and had a player efficiency rating better than 30, making him one of just seven post-modern players to do so. The No. 8 seeded Magic took a 3-1 series lead over top-seeded Detroit Pistons, but then collapsed and lost three straight. T-Mac’s critics will often bring up this series, but the fact he was even able to lead that Magic squad to a 3-1 series lead over the top team in the East says something.

It’s also understandable to bring up the 2004-05 season, McGrady’s best shot at winning a playoff series as a member of the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets. Despite his monster jam on Shawn Bradley in Game 2, T-Mac and the Rockets were decimated in Game 7 against the Dallas Mavericks.

But even though they were trounced by 40 points in that final game, McGrady can’t be blamed after averaging 30.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.7 assists for the series. In 2006-07, McGrady and Yao Ming failed again, this time against the Utah Jazz in seven games. The next season the Rockets lost again to the Jazz, but Houston was injury-plagued all season and McGrady gave his all in the decisive Game 6, recording 40 points and 10 rebounds.

At that point, we can agree that McGrady had officially exited his prime years. His only shot at a title from then on would be as a role player and that didn’t even happen. McGrady played for seven different teams in his NBA career and was never a contributing factor to a team that won a playoff series.

But is it T-Mac’s fault Grant Hill’s ankles turned to papier mache in Orlando? Or that Yao Ming could hardly stay healthy in Houston? Absolutely not. His lack of playoff success will probably mean he doesn’t get into the Hall of Fame the first year he’s eligible, but he still has the resume to get in.

One thing has to be mentioned about the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame: it needs to be redone. Badly. There are a number of players in the Hall of Fame that probably don’t belong there and many that are still left out. The standard qualifications are sketchy at best, especially when one considers there is no separate Hall of Fame for NBA accomplishments and NCAA achievements.

For example, Grant Hill will likely be inducted to the Hall of Fame because of his prime years in the NBA and his college achievements. T-Mac never went to college and doesn’t have that luxury. But every eligible scoring champion in NBA history except one (Max Zaslofsky, 1948) has been inducted.

The fact that “Kobe vs. T-Mac” was ever a legitimate conversation should be a clue as to McGrady’s game in his prime. Injuries to himself and talented teammates prevented him from ever elevating his game to the next level, but he still averaged 29.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game during the playoffs in Orlando and Houston.

So as easy as it is to condemn his Hall of Fame candidacy, it’s wrong to limit him to just another great regular season player. He gave us a 62-point game against the Wizards, helped lead Houston’s 22-game record win streak and graced us with the legendary 13 points in 35 seconds game. So if there’s any justice to this flawed Hall of Fame system, Tracy McGrady will earn his place there someday.

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