Tracy McGrady never came close to winning an NBA championship, so he’ll have to settle instead for enshrinment into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which isn’t a bad consolation prize.
.@Real_T_Mac on his path to @Hoophall…
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— NBA TV (@NBATV) September 8, 2017
T-Mac says he is “deeply humbled and extremely honored” by the honor.
McGrady, 38, was one of the most unstoppable scorers and exciting players in NBA history.
Per USA Today:
“I wasn’t lucky enough to win a championship. This (Hall of Fame induction) is my championship,” the 38 year old said Friday on Sirius XM NBA Radio. “You know how tough it is, the grind, everything that has to fall in place for you to win a championship. This is mine. I look back, like, this wasn’t a goal of mine. When I was in high school, I knew nothing about the Hall of Fame. The ultimate goal was to win a championship. When I look back, I’m proud of the journey that it took to get to this point.
“I’m deeply humbled and extremely honored, because I didn’t know it was going to happen so fast. You look, being inside the arena … seeing all those great faces up on the wall, to know that mine is gonna be up there, my kids are here to witness this — you couldn’t ask for anything better.”
McGrady, who headlines a Hall of Fame class that includes UConn women’s basketball legend Rebecca Lobo, former Chicago Bulls executive Jerry Krause, ex-ABA and NBA star George McGinnis, and Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self, added that he’s not bothered by the outside pressure put on NBA players to win championships.
“I think as long as the players that play the game understand how tough it is, it doesn’t bother me that they say ‘Why is he in the Hall of Hame without winning? He doesn’t have a ring,'” McGrady said. “That’s the thing now. If you don’t have a ring, you wasn’t nothing.
“From top to bottom goes into winning a championship. If you’re playing for an organization that’s just happy, an owner that’s just happy owning a franchise and not really putting those pieces and trying to win a championship, then you’re gonna have unsuccessful seasons. Yeah, you’ll make the playoffs, but you’re not a championship contending team. Only a handful of those are gunning each year, year in and year out, to put those types of teams to win a championship. You’re just as good as your ownership and your general manager.”
