On his enshrinement speech to the Basketball Hall of Fame, Tracy McGrady thanked another Hall of Famer, Isiah Thomas, for getting rid of the coach who didn’t believe in his talents during his rookie season, MassLive.com writer Jay King recounts.
“Your best move, Zeke, was firing that coach my rookie year — firing that coach my rookie year that criticized me saying I wasn't going to be in the NBA in three years,” McGrady said. “Was he wrong? Boy, was he wrong. Boy, was he wrong.”
The coach McGrady was referring to was Darrell Walker, who was his first coach with the Toronto Raptors in the 1997-98 season when Thomas was a part-owner and executive vice-president of the team. Walker went 11-38 that year before being replaced by Butch Carter.
Tracy McGrady came into the NBA as a very raw 18-year-old back when coming straight out of high school was only just becoming en vogue. He struggled in his first two years in the league, but broke out in his third year and signed a massive free-agent contract with the Orlando Magic, where he truly became a Hall-of-Fame-caliber player.
As it turns out, Isiah Thomas played his part in helping McGrady reaching his true potential and eventually proving his doubters wrong.
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