Tracy McGrady tells Draymond Green how competing against Kobe Bryant gave him the confidence he belonged in the league. McGrady's scoring jumped from the mid-teens to 26 points per game after an intense off-season in Orlando, earning him Most Improved Player honors.
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So y'all brought Vince in, by the way, I know those after practices, you and Vince, who was more athletic, man, you or Vince at that time?
Vince. I'm not fucking with him. Not at all.
Vince, Vince.
He was incredible. Before we realized we were cousins, I played on a junior team, Florida, and he was on the big boys team, Florida. So I used to play before him. And the shit that I used to see him do in high school, like damn near touching the top of the backboard, looking down and dropping the ball in the basket. Like it was incredible. Incredible. A lot of people like Vince in high school, bro, I think he broke his right, his wrist in the state finals. He broke his wrist and dropped 35 with the left hand.
What?
Yeah, man. Vince is— Basketball, bro, he's one of the most talented dudes ever. Ever.
Yeah, I agree with that. I've always told people like, and from just from what I can see from afar, like, yo, Vince Carter has to be one of the most talented players to ever step foot in the NBA.
Ever.
Ever. Yeah, it's incredible. But so now you look at today's NBA, right? You coming out 6'8", Do you think today's NBA, you would've thrived even more than you did when you played?
That's all great, but—
Because I think so. I think so.
Why?
Because you just look at the game, right? Like the way you play, all the hand checking y'all have to do. See, a lot of guys get mad when the guys from before us say, "Oh man, the league's soft today." Or they could— the reality is the league is soft today.
It is. I mean, let's call a spade a spade. It is. The rules are a lot different, you know what I'm saying? And come on, man, guys shooting 3-pointers or shooting shots now and you land on somebody's foot, it's a flagrant foul. Like how the hell you contest shots without, you know what I'm saying? Like that, the rules make the game soft, not the players, it's the rules. Yeah, absolutely.
That's what we're talking about.
I think people misinformed that, you know, when we say the league is soft, we're talking about the players. It's the rule changes. That we're talking about. So yes, will I thrive? Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, you gotta think, in our era, bro, some of the scores was 75 to fucking 76.
Yeah.
Finals were in the 60s, right? And I have 30 points. I have 35 points of that. So, man, I mean, there's no question, bro. You can't impede my progress. And it's not like I was just a guy that, you know, scored with the ball in my hands. No, I was catch and shoot as well. I did everything. You know what I mean? So yes, I will definitely thrive in today's game at a high level.
I agree, Juan. Is there a player in today's game that you see that remind yourself of you?
I mean, you got PG, KD, those two, that I could think of that really reminds me of myself. KD is just a different breed though. The way he shoot the freaking ball, man. He just, he's just unbelievable talent. But PG as well, you know, those guys being able to score at multiple levels.
Yeah, no, I like PG game a lot. And I like that comparison. Just the way y'all both handled the ball, shoot the ball, get to the cup, athletic, will put you in the rim. However you want it, you getting that.
Yeah.
I definitely respect that. But just going back some in your playing career. So you had those years with the Raptors and then you move on to Orlando. And I love to hear your perspective, but from my perspective as a young kid watching, I felt like, like you said, you went to the Raptors and then Vince came and you were in the shadow and all of a sudden, To me, like, it really took me to like really brush up on my history and like go back and actually to realize that, hey, T-Mac is actually older. Well, not older, but you were older than Vince as far as years in the league.
Career to the league.
Yeah. But when Vince came in, it was like you was in the background and playing the shadow in Toronto. Because for me watching all of those years, I felt like your career really took off when you went to Orlando. Like that's when Tracy McGrady became T-Mac, when you went to Orlando. Can you walk me through that?
Yeah, so it, you know, it had nothing to really do with Vince being, you know, me being in Vince's shadow. My third year in Toronto is really when I turned the corner and really showed that, you know, all right, this kid is really, really talented. 'Cause I averaged like 15 points, for that season, I was like the 3rd or 4th option for that team. And then my first playoff game against the Knicks, I had like 26 points. Like, I balled out. Had a really good series against a tough New York Knicks team. But it was so much internal, you know, problems that was going on that people didn't know about. And then also, I mean, Toronto was competing against Orlando, which, you know, I'm from that area. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? So it had nothing to do with Vince. This is just, dog, I wanna go back home. 'Cause I remember when I was a kid, I used to drive by the arena and I used to tell my mom, "I'm gonna be playing in there one day." Right?
Absolutely.
So this opportunity had presented itself and G. Hill was there in Orlando. I thought we was gonna get Tim Duncan, but even just myself and G. Hill, you know, it was like, Damn, we gonna be all right. I got this, this is it. That's the perfect move. And then we know what happened with G. Hill. He had the ankle problems the year before he joined Orlando and Detroit, he broke his ankle. So it was like, here are the keys, young fella. Let's see what you got. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] We don't know where we going, but you got the keys and you about to drive us. "Let's see what you got." You know, and I put a lot of work in that first year I was with Orlando, off-season, like to really push myself to exhaustion to, you know, improve on every aspect of my game. And I surprised myself, Dray. I'm not even gonna lie. I think I averaged probably 26 that year.
Wow.
Like it was the biggest point differential from, you know, one year to the next. And it was just incredible what I was able to do. And that was just a manifestation of the work that I put in that off-season. And then, you know, the maturity and the confidence grew to another level to where I just felt, you know, extra comfortable out on the basketball court.
Yeah. And you won Most Improved that year, right?
Won Most Improved that year, yep.
All-NBA Second Team.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was a lot of stuff thrown at me that year. And I was, And that's when, you know, it's— I don't know if there was a game or what it was that really had me like, "Okay, I belong. I belong here and this is what it's gonna be." But, you know, I think competing against Kobe, you know, around that time and holding my own because Kobe is— You know, and it's, if it was my 4th year, he's in his 5th year and he's that dude. You know what I'm saying?
Draymond Green.
That's the number 8 with the fro. He was that dude. He was that dude. So I'm like, damn, if I can, he's the bar. So if I'm competing against him every night, okay, I belong here. This is what it is, right? So it's just staying focused, sacrificing, and really understanding that these folks really counted on me. And to back up, I think I'm the first guy to be a non-starter to sign a max deal.
Yeah.
Like I didn't start, I didn't even start when I was in Toronto. And then I went to Orlando and signed a max contract.
