When last we saw Tracy McGrady, he was a minor league baseball pitcher. Before that he was playing basketball in China. Before that he rode the bench for the San Antonio Spurs during their 2013 Finals run, playing 31 minutes through the entire playoffs, shooting 0-of-7. The last time he played meaningful minutes in the NBA was 2012 with the Hawks. Then in 2013 McGrady said he was retiring and we celebrated his career.
Now McGrady is thinking comeback.
And to see if he can get there he is woking out with Kobe Bryant.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports has the details.“Yes, I was working out with K.B. to get in shape and see how my body feels,” McGrady told Yahoo Sports in an email Tuesday night.
Bryant and McGrady, 35, worked out three days a week for a period of time in August, several sources, including McGrady, told Yahoo. At least two NBA teams were contacted over the summer about their potential interest in McGrady, but none registered a desire to further explore the possibility, league executives told Yahoo Sports.
If McGrady gets a chance — and that’s a big ‘if” — it likely will be a mid-season acquisition. One main reason for that is when NBA training camps open in October McGrady will be taking part in a tour of China (where he remains very popular as Yao Ming’s former star teammate) that pays him handsomely.
If he’s missing training camp it’s not likely a team just gives him a roster spot over a young player they can develop for the future. Especially if he’s not contributing. Which he likely will not be.
But McGrady is trying to get foot in the door again.