Part of me cried a little today. Today marks the retirement of Tracy McGrady, this month marked the retirement of Allen Iverson as well. Goodbye Tracy McGrady. Goodbye Allen Iverson
Allen Iverson aka “The Answer”, a former first round pick for the Philadelphia 76ers, lived up to his high draft pick. Allen is historically one of the 76ers greatest players to ever wear their uniform, add to that his ROTY (Rookie of the Year) award, a NBA MVP, multiple:scoring titles, All Star selections and NBA First Team selections, lastly a 2001 Finals appearance; A.I has quite a nice resume for any NBA player.
“The Answer” will probably be best remembered for his “practice” rant that signaled his end in a 76ers uniform. Past that rant though, he’ll be remembered for his killer cross over, his one handed put back dunk, and his amazing Game 1 Finals performance in 2001.
Allen’s legacy will be an interesting one. He revolutionized the Point Guard position, proved a little guy can hang with the best, and brought about a cultural revolution in the NBA (tattoos, corn rows, oversized jerseys); on the flip side though he will be remembered for being selfish, a cancer to teams, and a coach killer.
Tracy McGrady aka T Mac was a former 9th round draft pick for the Toronto Raptors. He may have played up to his superstar potential but never achieved the success others did. T Mac was a prolific scorer and earned multiple scoring titles, All Star selections and NBA First Team selections as well; sadly T Mac never took his own team to the Finals, let alone past the first round of the playoffs.
T Mac will be best remembered for the classic performance he put on against the Spurs where he scored 13 points in 35 seconds! McGrady will also be remembered for his amazing dunks and his offensive dominance.
Tracy McGrady’s legacy is also an interesting one. He had the superstar potential to be one of the best, in his prime years he easily was the best. Sadly due to injuries he never was able to win it all.
This month marks the end of two of the great players in the NBA. While these two men have no rings between the two, their names are still talked about today and I will tell my kids about Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady. I hope to see both in the NBA Hall Of Fame as soon as they’re eligible.
