According to Yahoo!'s Marc Spears, Tracy McGrady says he's retiring after the Finals.
Tracy McGrady says he will consider retiring after the NBA Finals.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) June 5, 2013
It's time. After announcing his retirement from the the NBA in October and going to play in China, Mac made a surprise return with the Spurs as a playoff addition. But he's seen all of 17 minutes. His days as a rotation player in the NBA are over.
Earlier in the playoffs, after cameras caught T-Mac on the bench, Jeff Van Gundy went on an impassioned tangent about McGrady's Hall of Fame bona fides.
Shadow League EIC Vince Thomas agrees. Here's an excerpt from his brief T-Mac "appreciation" back in October, reacting to McGrady's initial retirement.
There was a five-year period, from 2001 to 2005, when there was a legitimate conversation to be had about which of those two players was the best – especially early on. It was Kobe, no doubt; but the two players pushed each other. During that five-season span, Mac averaged about 28 ppg, 8 rpg, 5 apg and 2 spg. He lead the league in scoring in ’03 and ’04. He was All-NBA for all five seasons (2nd, 1st, 1st, 2 nd, 3rd) and finished in the top-5 for MVP voting in ’02 and ’03. His knock, during that span (four with Orlando, one with Houston), was that he never got out of the first round of the playoffs. But, his squads were never favored in those series. And they didn’t lose because Mac submarined. In those four postseasons, the man averaged a 32, 7 and 6. Go back and look at those roster and box scores. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
Injuries and attitude derailed the second half of Mac’s career. And so many variables (i.e. injuries to Grant Hill and then Yao) proved to be obstacles the dude couldn’t hurdle when he was in his prime. But, before you discard his career or flippantly dismiss his NBA retirement, like it doesn’t matter, remember that five-year prime he submitted. He’s done now, but Mac was one of the coldest to ever do it when he was doin’ it.
