5 greatest moments in Tracy McGrady’s Hall of Fame career

All-Star Announcement

Back in 2002, Tracy McGrady was still something of an unknown around the league. He had his breakthrough season the year before, winning the Most Improved Player Award, and started his prodigious scoring assault on the league. But the still-22-year-old forward had not announced himself formally as one of the best player in the league.

At this point, he was a good player still searching for a place among his peers. And certainly looking for a spot in the national spotlight.

Yes, McGrady was named to his second All-Star starting lineup in the 2002 All-Star Game, but McGrady was not yet a household name. Not with an Orlando Magic team that lacked a second star — Grant Hill was still injured, despite his own All-Star appearance in those games — and much of a national profile.

McGrady was going to make his team nationally relevant on his own. And he did that with one series of plays in the 2002 All-Star Game.

Not that the All-Star Game ever sees much defense, McGrady decided to put on a show. As he brought up the ball and players slowly aligned themselves defensively, McGrady threw the ball off the backboard from about the 3-point line, wriggled through the defense and dunked the ball as it rebounded back to him.

He did it one more time in the game. And from there, McGrady was not just a dominant scorer but a household name. He mattered.

Not to mention, McGrady pulled off the feat in a regular season game against the Toronto Raptors the following season.

McGrady explained in an interview with the Basketball Hall of Fame he started doing the ball off the backboard dunk in high school as a response to zone defenses. He could not figure out how to beat a zone defense on his own and so he used his crazy athleticism to throw the ball off the backboard and beat everyone to the rebound for a dunk.

The fact he did that in a NBA game is equally impressive.