During the early 2000s, a debate raged as to who was the best shooting guard in the NBA: Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady?
Obviously, years later, Kobe Bryant became the obvious answer, as he went on to win five championships while Tracy McGrady failed to lead his team out of the first round of the playoffs.
Still, one cannot deny just how good prime McGrady was during his days with the Orlando Magic, and Bryant himself says that McGrady was the hardest matchup of his career in his book, “Mamba Mentality”:
“Tracy McGrady was the single hardest match-up I had in my career, he could just do about everything on offense,” wrote Bryant, per ESPN.
That is definitely true.
A legitimate argument can be made that McGrady was LeBron James before LeBron James was LeBron James.
McGrady had a ridiculously quick first step to burn defenders off the dribble, a great post-up game, fantastic handles, terrific court vision and insane athleticism that could even make guys like Vince Carter and Bryant himself jealous at times.
The one area where McGrady was lacking just a bit was his perimeter shooting, as he was a lifetime 33.8 percent 3-point shooter. However, if he was feeling it from long range, it was over.
McGrady won back-to-back scoring titles with the Magic in 2003 and 2004 before being traded to the Houston Rockets, where back issues began to take a toll on his career.
In spite of his short prime, McGrady ended up making the Hall of Fame with career averages of 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game.
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