In episode No. 13 of our ?In The Paint Show," hosts Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland break down and offer predictions for the NorCal and SoCal regional championships, talk about LeBron James calling out his teammates in the media and go in on the NBA's recent proposal to lower the age minimum for the NBA Draft from 19 to 18 years old.

The fellas talk about James' decision to call out teammates as the Los Angeles Lakers look to stay relevant in the Western Conference playoff race. Did management screw this up before it ever got started by placing an aging superstar with a young core that is simply not ready to compete for a NBA championship? Did LeBron throw off the time clock for the entire franchise by brining his closing championship window to La La land?

Ron and Dev also break down what it would mean if the NBA allowed high school players to enter the NBA Draft once again as it did before the "One-and-Done" rule was established for the 2006 NBA Draft. They go hard on the pros and cons of the?NBA's proposal to change the draft age from 19 to 18 years old. What does it mean that the league is much younger than it used to be? Will a bunch of unprepared players try to declare for the NBA Draft if a new age requirement is in place by 2022?

Also check out this week's pod to see how if Ron and Devin know their stuff as it relates to the CIF regional playoffs? Were their first round predictions spot on or bricks? Hint: Devin know his stuff!

The fellas covered plenty of topics this week, so make sure to give our Pod a listen and share it with friends!

To learn more about our hosts, Ronnie Flores and Devin Ugland, and to get more information about what "In The Paint" is all about, check out our intro below!

Subscribe to our new Podcast on iTunes here

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Every season there are prospects that quickly rise in mainstream national player rankings, but it's not often a somewhat unheralded player can rise to the top five and into the conversation of best overall long-term prospect in his class.

That is the current scenario of 6-foot-10 Jaden McDaniels, who went from a solid Top 100 prospect after a productive junior campaign at Federal Way (Federal Way, Wash.), to the talk of the summer recruiting scene and exploding into a top five prospect after starring for Seattle Rotary on the EYBL circuit.

It's easy to see why national scouts like his long-term potential: a sinewy frame with a quick second jump to alter shots, soft hands, good ball-handling ability at his size that he uses for dribble pull-ups and the ability to post up and create space near the elbows.

That ability was on full display during the first round of the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas, as the Eagles opened the Platinum Division with a hard-fought 54-45 victory over Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.). Federal Way, currently No. 24 in the FAB 50 National Rankings, remained unbeaten despite McDaniels' major foul trouble.

It's just another learning experience for a young man with a quiet demeanor who has been thrust into the national spotlight in the past six months. He's also still undecided for college, with Kentucky, San Diego St., Texas,?UCLA, Washington as his finalists, and that can easily add to the constant questions and distractions during the high school season.

"I'm just worried about getting better and not focused on recruiting...just focusing on us playing well as a team," said McDaniels following Federal Way's first round victory. "All my official visits went well, it was a good experience."

The road to the top is bound to have some bumps, and McDaniels is far from a finished product, but that's what national scouts are most excited about. With hard work, his best days are ahead of him.

McDaniels' foul trouble versus Bishop O'Dowd meant two long spells on the bench. He did block a couple of shots, but when he re-entered the game with 7:46 remaining and his team leading 46-38 he didn't score again, finishing with six points and four rebounds, as he fouled out with 3:01 remaining on a bang-bang charge-block call in the backcourt.

McDaniels' teammates, particularly senior guard Jishai Miller and athletic junior forward Tari Eason, picked up the slack as the Eagles advanced to play Chino Hills (Calif.) and highly-regarded USC commit Onyeka Okongwu. And that's what matters most to McDaniels right now, his team advancing and getting another opportunity.

The No. 4 prospect in the 247Sports.com rankings does get knocked off his desired spot by smaller defenders that can get under him and he could attack the glass with more fervor, but there is plenty a veteran evaluator can point out about a majority of the top prospects. It's about recognizing any shortcomings and addressing them, and McDaniels has a solid idea of how to keep things in perspective and where to go from here.

"I feel I'm more assertive of defense and I'm just trying to be a better teammate all-around," McDaniels said about what he's worked on to improve the most.

McDaniels was ranked No. 89 by 247Sports.com following his junior season then moved up to No. 10 in mid-May. He then went to?No. 4 in August following the July live evaluation period. Was it a case of increased exposure or an improvement in overall game when it came to McDaniels?

"It wasn't a case of exposure...everything improved, from his body, athleticism and skill," said Evan Daniels, 247Sports.com Director of Scouting.

It's not as if a meteoric rise is unprecedented in grassroots basketball or if McDaniels came out of nowhere, as he averaged 21.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 4.6 apg, 3.3 bpg for a Class 4A state-runner up team in 2017-18. Ironically, McDaniels doesn't really know the history of the fast-rising prospects in grassroots history, but if his career comes even close to following the trajectory of the terrific players chronicled below, he'll be just fine.

"No, I don't know the history of guys like Tracy McGrady, but the exposure (as a highly-regarded prospect) has been really fun," McDaniels said. "Just playing against the top players, getting that opportunity, is what it was all about."

Below are five terrific players who "blew up" at various times in their high school careers. All five went on to great success at the next levels of the game:

Anthony Davis (Perspectives Charter, Chicago) 6-9 PF '11

Prior to the spring of 2010, no one outside of Chicago really knew about this budding prospect, as Davis did not play in the traditional grassroots system until he was a rising junior. He was a thin 6-foot-4 prospect as a sophomore and grew three inches going into his junior year. It wasn't until the spring of 2010 that the 6-foot-9 Davis showed the country glimpses of what he is today: one of the NBA's best players with the New Orleans Pelicans.

Before a spurt that saw him grow 7-8 inches over two years, Davis was toiling at a small charter school in the Chicago Public League. By the first session of Nike EYBL for Meanstreets at Boo Williams, Davis' name was quickly spreading across the country as a franchise-type talent. He went from national obscurity in March 2010 to "he's a Top 5 national prospect" at the Bill Hensley Memorial Run-n-Slam All-Star Classic in Indiana in early May.

Davis was ranked by HOOP SCOOP as the top performer at the NBA Players Association Top 100 Camp in June, and a top three player at both the LeBron James King City Classic and NIKE Peach Jam. He was the player of the summer in 2010, but by the end of it, it wasn't hard to see Davis was the best player in the country.

Larry Johnson (Skyline, Dallas) 6-5 PF '87

Thirty years ago club and high school basketball in Texas just didn't have a tremendous reputation as a talent-laden region that it does today. Football was (and still is) king, but even spring football rated above hoops in the eyes of many Texans back then.

Johnson was a man child at Skyline, but the rest of the country simply hadn't seen him. Legendary Skyline head coach J.D. Mayo started the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder on the freshman team for the first game, but that same day he decided to insert him into the varsity lineup and immediately knew he had something special on his hands. Johnson started every game of his four-year career and Mayo desperately wanted the nation's most respected talent scouts to come check out Johnson.

Longtime talent scout?Bob Gibbons of All-Star Sports had Johnson at No. 49 in the country based on his reputation. Guard LaBradford Smith of Bay City had the big reputation in Texas' 1987 class and forward Marcus Liberty of King (Chicago) had the biggest reputation nationally and big guard Eric Manual of Southwest (Macon, Ga.) was also in the discussion as the top prospect. Johnson's rep, however, was spreading like wildfire in the spring and summer of 1986.

In a poll of top evaluators that summer, Rick Bolus of High Potential Recruiting Service had Johnson No. 19, Chris Wallace of The Blue Ribbon Yearbook had him No. 6, Brick Oettinger of ACC Poop Sheet and Clark Francis of the Hoop Scoop pegged him at No. 7. The Hoop Scoop later named him its "Sleeper of the Summer" but it's kind of comical to label a top 10 prospect a sleeper. Gibbons' logic seemed to permeate Johnson's meteoric rise; he later confided to Johnson and others the powerful kid from South Dallas was probably the best player in the country, but how good could any recruiting list be if a player went up 50 spots to No. 1 in one single glimpse?

Johnson lived up to his tremendous billing, averaging 29 points and 19 rebounds as a Skyline senior after signing with SMU during the early period. He was later named Mr. Basketball USA over Liberty and Manual before being a two-time National JUCO Player of the Year after fallout of his SAT score in light of SMU's Death Penalty ruling in football.

He was being touted as a sure-fire NBA prospect as a junior college player, led UNLV to the NCAA title in 1989-90 and was the NCAA Player of the Year the following season. He was also NBA Rookie of the Year in 1991-92 after being selected No. 1 overall by the Charlotte Hornets before back injuries slowed his pro career.

Tracy McGrady (Mt. Zion Christian, Durham, N.C.) 6-7 SF '97

T-Mac is the poster child for using a grassroots game or event to springboard from unknown to top of the class. In the case of McGrady, he truly wasn't on anyone radar during his junior season at Auburndale High in Florida. Forget Top 100, he wasn't in anyone's Top 500 prior to getting an invite to attend Sonny Vaccaro's?adidas ABCD Camp in July 1996. Vacarro, the camp founder and director, was pestered by Florida talent scout Alvis Smith to take a chance on the unknown talent by extending him an invite to the prestigious camp. Vaccaro was a bit leery, but the rest, as they say, is history.

No. 175 was the talk of the camp. Veteran talent scouts couldn't believe their eyes. The myth lives on that McGrady was the No. 175 ranked player in camp and the last player to get a jersey, but the reality is he wasn't even in the Top 500. Five days later, he was the No. 1 overall prospect in the country.

McGrady was No. 5 in the camp in scoring (16.5 ppg), tied with Lamar Odom at No. 3 in rebounding (7.8 rpg), No. 2 in steals (2.1) and No. 1 in blocked shots (2.1). He simply was the best player in a talented camp from start to finish. For his senior season, he transferred to Mt. Zion and continued the dominance in a major high school basketball setting.

Odom, who was rated the No. 1 player in the country before ABCD and the other player nationally who could match McGrady talent-wise, was the only other serious National Player of the Year candidate as Mt. Zion won a major tourney title (Las Vegas Holiday Prep Invitational) in which Odom’s team also was involved and lost to T-Mac's team.

McGrady finished his senior season with numbers of 22.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game for a team that finished 26-2 and No. 4 in the National Prep Poll (FAB 50 precursor). McGrady was the No. 9 pick of the 1997 NBA Draft and during his NBA Hall of Fame speech 20 years later talked about his No. 175 at ABCD and personally singled out and thanked Vaccaro for the opportunity.

Shaquille O'Neal (Cole, San Antonio, Texas) 6-11 C '89

Similar to Larry Johnson, O'Neal was unknown nationally prior to the Houston Shootout following his junior season. Talent scouts had a chance to see O'Neal the summer prior at the BCI Tournament in Tempe, Ariz., and if they happened to take a look what they saw was a 6-foot-7 nondescript power forward. Nobody paid attention, but all that quickly changed.

"Shaq was 6-foot-7 as a rising junior going into BCI, but he grew four inches and all of a sudden you had something, and he kept growing," said veteran scout Van Coleman at Tarkanian Classic, who attended BCI in the summer of 1988 as the recruiting world awaited O'Neal's games.

By all accounts, O'Neal was terrific at the Houston Shootout and had heavyweight college coaches such as Eddie Sutton (Kentucky), Joey Meyer (DePaul), Dean Smith (North Carolina) and Digger Phelps (Notre Dame) following his every move at BCI. Nobody was disappointed who saw him as the skinny 6-foot-11 prospect who wore a size 18 shoe and was still 16 until January 1989 quickly ascended to No. 2 in the national class, behind New York City point guard legend Kenny Anderson, in a matter of two events.

In reality, all the college coaches that clamored for O'Neal services were late to the ball game. LSU's Dale Brown first saw him two years earlier at a coaching clinic and mistook the 14-year old for an active serviceman. The relationship Brown forged with the youngster paid off, as O'Neal went to LSU and was a two-time All-American and the No. 1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft after being named MVP of both the McDonald's All-American Game and Dapper Dan Roundball Classic following his senior season. He realistically could have been the No. 1 pick in both 1990 and 1991 and went on to become the most dominant center of the "modern" NBA.

Bill Walton (Helix, San Diego, Calif.) 6-11 C '70

There wasn't a complex grassroots system in place in the summer of 1969 or Walton might have blown up in similar fashion to T-Mac or Anthony Davis. He had a good junior season for Helix, but Reseda (Calif.) guard Greg Lee, who was the big name in California at that time and on the cover of Cal Prep Basketball Magazine, and forward Keith Wilkes of Santa Barbara (Calif.),who was the 1969 State Player of the Year by Cal-Hi Sports as a junior, also received a good amount of hype. That all changed early in Walton's senior year when Helix went to challenge some of Southern California's best teams in the Covina Tournament of Champions.

Against a very good Pasadena (Calif.) team in the title game, Walton had tournament single-game records of 50 points and 34 rebounds in a 110-68 rout. Walton made 18-of-24 shots from the field, 14-of-16 free throws and added nine blocked shots. Nobody in attendance could believe how good the tall kid from San Diego was. One of the coaches in attendance was UCLA assistant Denny Crum, John Wooden's chief recruiter who later led Louisville to two NCAA titles. What transpired was one of the most famous conversations in grassroots history.

“I just saw the greatest high school player I’ve ever seen,” Crum told Wooden.

“Better than Lewis (Alcindor)?” Wooden asked.

“Yeah,” Crum said.

“Keep your voice down and close the door,” Wooden snickered.

Crum's evaluation turned out to be not far from the truth, as Walton had a senior season for the ages. He averaged 29 points, grabbed 825 rebounds (still a state record), good for a 25.0 average, as Helix finished 33-0 and extended its winning streak to 49 consecutive games with Walton in the lineup. Tom McMillen of Mansfield (Pa.) garnered most of the national headlines and was the Sports Illustrated cover boy as a high school player, but it wasn't a secret among college coaches that Walton was the real deal. He went on to immortality at UCLA, leading the Bruins to two NCAA titles before going on to win NBA Championships with Portland in 1977 and Boston in 1986.

Ronnie Flores is the national Grassroots editor of www.ebooksnet.com. He can be reached at?[email protected]. Don't forget to follow him on Twitter:?@RonMFlores

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On this date in history (2005), Tracy McGrady "sucked the gravity right out of the building" by posterizing Shawn Bradley in Game 2 of the Rockets first-round series with the Dallas Mavs. It remains one of the best dunks of all-time and the most memorable poster on Bradley and that's saying a lot -- especially if you remember Shaq's dunk on Bradley in the early 90s.

What many people don't remember about this day was the Rockets taking a 2-0 lead on the Mavs, in Dallas, behind an impressive 28 points, 10 assists, 8 boards, 3 steals, 3 blocks, and a game-winner! Yes, T-Mac ended this game with a game-winning jumper and some more mean-muggin' that sucked the souls of Mavs fans right out of the building.

Now, this is the part where Rockets fans choose to remain forgetful. The Rockets returned home to H-Town, lost back-to-back games, went back to Dallas, and lost another. The Rockets convincingly beat the Mavs by 18 in Game 6 and then were just murdered in Game 7. Like McGrady on Bradley murder! McGrady and Yao Ming did what they could in the final game with 61 combined points but the rest of the Rockets scored just 15 total points as the well-balanced Mavs team put up 116.

?BONUS VIDEOS

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In 1996, an unknown Tracy McGrady attended the Adidas ABCD camp. He was given the jersey number 175 because he was the last player to be invited. He left the camp as the number one player in the nation and a year later, then Raptors' Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas drafted the teenage T-Mac with the 9th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft. 20 years later, Thomas welcomed the seven-time All-Star and two-time scoring champ into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

"I had a zillion thoughts in my mind why I didn't deserve to be here." Said McGrady during his Hall of Fame speech. "I started thinking of all these NBA greats, who had accomplished so many great things. Then I began to compare myself to them. It was way too easy to focus on what you don't have and what you didn't accomplish. But I'm grateful for those people that saw in me and believed in me, maybe when I always didn't believe in myself."

Throughout the day, many of the NBA's current greats and players who grew up comparing themselves and being inspired by McGrady, shared their love for the player they all believe deserves to be in the hall.

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In honor of Tracy McGrady being an inductee in the?Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the NBA just dropped a five-minute mixtape called "Tracy McGrady's INSANE Career Mixtape" and it's pretty insane.

Most of you have probably seen his best dunks from his Houston Rockets days but not from his time in the Magic Kingdom, where he became a league leader in scoring and turned into the All-NBA player many of his critics in Toronto didn't think he could become. It was in Toronto where he had a head coach say he would probably be out of the league in a few years and it was in TO where he put up decent numbers and ESPN at 11 worthy highlights only to be overshadowed by his higher-flying cousin, Vince Carter.

T-Mac's history of exceeding expectations and making a name for himself goes back to 1996 when an unknown McGrady attended the Adidas ABCD camp. He was given the jersey number 175 because he was the last player to be invited. 21 years later, he's getting the last laugh with an invitation to the Hall of Fame.

BONUS MIXTAPE

TRACY MCGRADY: "That was a conversation of who was the best players in the league. It was me and Kobe. Of barbershop talk and around the league. Real hoopers, real basketball people know.”

(Via @PatBevPod)pic.twitter.com/X0GD7zuIIj

— www.ebooksnet.com (@Ballislife) July 26, 2023

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It's a pretty safe bet the #1 pick in the upcoming 2017 NBA draft will be Markelle Fultz, a player some have called a 6'4 Tracy McGrady. During a recent a trip to Texas, Fultz stopped by the home of the former 9th pick in the 1997 draft for a conversation about future goals and to play some 1-on-1.

Obviously the two were playing "let's not get physically hurt or try to hurt the other's ego" 1-on-1 and that's why McGrady ended up winning. I'm not knocking the 38-year old T-Mac at all because during his prime, the 7 x All-Star was one of the greatest 1-on-1 players in NBA history. But, I'm pretty sure Fultz and his 19-year old  legs could take him right now.

While talking about goals, the uber confident Fultz said he's not only eyeing the rookie of the year award, he wants to win the MVP award. Not MVP of the Rising Stars or All-Star game but the MVP award James Harden and Russell Westbrook fought over (how stupid is it that we still do not know who the winner is because the NBA wanted to create a post-NBA Finals award show?). It's very unlikely Fultz will be a MVP contender during his rookie season but his story of going from unknown high school sophomore on the JV basketball team to a top three player in the nation for the Class of 2016 and then the favorite to be the #1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft is amazing enough.

Another great story I like reminding people is the one about McGrady's rookie coach, Darrell Walker, putting him in the doghouse and telling people the 18-year old might be out of the league in a couple of years if he doesn't improve his work ethic. Thankfully for McGrady, Walker was out of there and "Uncle Butch" Carter along with cousin Vince Carter arrived in Toronto. The rest is history and 20 years later, he's part of the Hall of Fame Class of 2017.

Last thing, I can't mention T-Mac and Sugar Land without giving a shout out to the Sugar Land Skeeters. It's the baseball team McGrady played for a few years ago and because I live a block a way from the arena.

BACK IN THE DAY

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Shout out to Oakley And Allen for digging this up.

This was from an NBA magazine back when Michael Jordan was with the Wizards and Tracy McGrady was putting up 30+ points a game the way Michael Jordan used to do in the 80s and 90s. In the letter, T-Mac, who was almost traded to the Bulls on draft night until MJ vetoed the deal, talks about how big of a fan he was as a kid, how they met when he was just 17-years old and how excited he is that MJ is back in the league.

The following are a few match-ups between the two, including an early one from 1998, when MJ scored 33 and hit the game-winner against T-Mac and the Raptors; McGrady posted an impressive almost triple-double with 12 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 blocks.

Five years later, around the time of the above letter, T-Mac faced off against MJ and the Wizards and blew up for 43 points in a loss. In another loss against MJ and the Wiz, Tmac scored 31 points and was outshined by MJ and his 28 point half. After the game, Tmac had a great quote about his idol:

"I thought it was one of those nights where he was going to get 50. Thank God, he stopped shooting, spreading the ball around.''

The post Tracy McGrady's "Love Letter" to Michael Jordan + MJ Going Off On T-Mac Over The Years appeared first on www.ebooksnet.com.

It was 16 years ago when a pissed-off-mini-fro-wearing Vince Carter turned the 2000 Olympics into a dunk exhibition and 7'2 Fred Weis into the victim of the greatest dunk of all-time. Time flies. Flies like a young Vince Carter...or even a 30-year old Vince Carter...how about a near 40-year old Vince Carter?

While the USA and younger high-flyers like the Raptors' DeMar DeRozan are in Rio trying to do what Carter and his USA team did in 2000, Vince is having fun on a China Tour and having deeeeep 3-point shootouts with his cousin and former Raptors' teammate Tracy McGrady. The greatest dunker of all-time also showed the crowd he still has more hops in his 39-year old body than half of the current Team USA roster.

I apologize if you came here looking for video of the dunks but hopefully this 2002 throwback video of an afro-wearing (he was promoting the Nike Dr Funk ads) Carter in Taiwan will make up for it.

And here's a few more pics and clips of Vince in China by photographer Wa Michael.

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T-Mac -- who asked to be traded after the Magic finished with the worst record in the East -- was coming off back-to-back scoring titles and?excited about the thought of winning championships in Clutch City with All-Star big man Yao Ming.

"I just knew it was going to take time. I’m happy and it’s time to move on. I can’t predict the future, but it definitely would be nice. The ultimate goal is to win a championship for the Houston Rockets.?Bring me a championship, big man. Bring me a championship. I’ve led the league in scoring two consecutive years. As long as we win, that’s all that matters to me. I’m going to try to go in there and do what I do. If that consists of me sacrificing, giving Yao the ball and playing through other guys, that’s what I’ll do. I think both teams are going to benefit from this trade. I got want I wanted. Orlando got three solid players. Houston was definitely the No. 1 team on my list," Mcgrady said.

Despite nagging injuries, McGrady remained an All-Star for three more years and became a fan-favorite in H-Town with some of the most?memorable performances in franchise history.

But the first round curse followed him out West and shortly after being shut down for two weeks during the 2009 season to "get himself physically prepared for the 2nd half of the season," the Rockets sent him packing to New York in a three-team trade that brought Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill and a couple of future draft picks to Houston.

As for Francis -- one of four players (The Big O, Magic Johnson and Grant Hill) to ever?average 15/5/5 in each of their first five seasons -- he had a hot start in Orlando's run-and-gun system, averaging 21/6/7 in his first season with the Magic. Then the honeymoon was over. Francis, without friend and traded teammate Cat Mobley, was being blamed for stunting the growth of second-year player Dwight Howard and constantly found himself in trade rumors, which Francis blamed on his mediocre performance. A month after getting suspended by the team for detrimental conduct and a day before the NBA trade deadline, the Magic sent him packing to New York in exchange for Trevor Ariza and the original #1 wearing Orlando Magic guard: Penny Hardaway.

"When I called him this morning, I just said, 'Happy Birthday,' " said Francis's agent, Jeff Fried. "This was like a birthday present for Steve."

Like McGrady, nobody really remembers what Francis did in New York and from the sounds of Francis in a recent must-read interview by Slam Magazine, he doesn't want to remember his time in the Big Apple either.

The years I didn't have the numbers was that New York shit. There was so much shit in New York, it wasn't even injuries, it was coaches, players. I never wanted to get involved in it. Went back to Houston, and the coach benched me. So alright, maybe it's just time for me to be a dad. These people don't fuck with you like that. I was like, I ain't going to argue with that.

Both McGrady and Francis are currently retired and living in Houston. McGrady -- after a brief stint playing baseball in Sugarland, TX and becoming a basketball legend in China -- is still involved in basketball by appearing on ESPN's show The Jump.

Francis is out of the public eye but can often be seen sitting courtside at Rockets games. And every time me and my friends see him, we start sharing stories about our favorite crossover, dunk or block by the man who told Slam, "Shit, I came, I saw, I conquered."

VIDEOS

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Where was this Tracy McGrady during this year's NBA All-Star Celebrity game?

Anyways, here's the great T-Mac doing his best Steph Curry with the "no-look 3" impersonation while wearing a suit. Impressive, but can he do it while wearing this suit?

Anytime I talk about McGrady and 3-pointers, I have to show my favorite T-Mac (and Gilbert Arenas) moment I was fortunate enough to witness in person.

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A few days ago I posted a video of 36 year old Tracy McGrady showing off his signature behind-the-back turnaround jumper while playing pick-up basketball and I said "T-Mac has still got it."

On?Friday night, T-Mac scored a team-high 18 points for the winning Canada team in?the NBA Celebrity game but showed he has a little rust on him and doesn't still "got it" in the hops department. Early on in the first quarter, T-Mac tried to recreate his famous off-the-backboard dunk from the 2002 NBA All-Star game and ended up doing a finger roll.

Then in the 2nd quarter, the 6'8 former All-Star had the opportunity to post up against 5'3 51 year old Muggsy Bogues and maybe pull off his signature turnaround jumper...

Also in the 2nd quarter, T-Mac got an earful from 5'4 Kevin Hart after shooting a wide-open airball.

All jokes aside, it was great to see T-Mac back at All-Star weekend; It's been 9 years since his last appearance and hopefully this fun game will convince him to become a part of the weekend?festivities every year from this point on.

The NBA just has to make sure the future games are in a warmer city.

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Kobe Bryant didn't seem to agree with his new little bro and teammate D'Angelo Russell when the rookie tweeted that "Tracy McGrady might have been the GOAT."  Bryant, who T-Mac considers the toughest player he ever had to guard but still denies Kobe "roasted him" in a game of 1-on-1, replied with a zzzzz emoji.

Russell then made the wise decision of tweeting a "my bad" instead of defending his statement which I'm sure would have been met with some tough future practices alongside fellow rookie and tweeter Larry Nance Jr.

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A couple of months after a devastating finals loss in the 2013 NBA Finals, Tracy McGrady announced that he was retiring from the NBA?during an episode of ESPN's First Take.

"It's been 16 years playing the game I love. I've had a great run but it's time for it to come to an end," said the 34 year old 7 x All-Star.

But it wasn't the end of his playing days - just his NBA days.

After a brief stint playing baseball with the Sugarland Skeeters, McGrady returned to China in 2014 with the USA Legends tour and gave the fans a show which ended with a game-winning 3.

In the summer of 2015, McGrady decided to give his fans in China one last show and to go out on a high note by having a farewell tour. McGrady played well - often scoring over 20 points a game - during the tour and his team finished with a perfrect 12-0 record. ?At the end of tour, his jersey was retired during an emotional ceremony dedicated to one of the best scorers in basketball history.

It may not be the Cinderella ending that would have came from winning a NBA champion but in terms of honoring the individual, this is a pretty great storybook ending.

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Retired basketball and baseball player Tracy McGrady was in Nanjing, China this week, playing with an All-Star team and showing he still has one deadly jumper on his way to 18 points.

Despite looking a few pounds heavier since his NBA days, T-Mac looks like and is treated like a legend in China. For the past few years, McGrady has been making visits to China as either a player for the Qingdao Eagles, the Ball Up Streetball Team or with the USA Legends. Last October, he made some noise when he hit a game-winner with the Legends team.

McGrady also attended a press conference this week wearing a pretty cool tribute to his 13 points in 35 seconds game vs the Spurs.

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This comment by a YouTube member says it all:
"Dude probably the only time I felt emotional off video game footage. Shady Strikes Again!" by Parish DeBerry

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Vince Carter matches up against his cousin and former teammate, Tracy McGrady. Who would you pick in their prime?

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Check out T-mac talk about his experience in China and his future in basketball during Houston Rocket's blowout win over the Mavz.

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1 on 1 vs Jordan: “I’m not sure, but he would win some and I would win some in a seven-game series. It would probably come down to the last few shots.”

vs LeBron: “LeBron is a terrific all-around, five-on-five basketball player who’s an all-time great. But I’d get him… LeBron is a terrific all-around, five-on-five basketball player who’s an all-time great. But I’d get him.”

vs T-Mac: “I played T-Mac. I cooked him. Roasted him. Wasn’t even close. Ask him, he’ll tell you. When I was about 20, we were in Germany doing some promotional stuff for that other sneaker company and we played basketball every day. We were in the gym all the time. We played three games of one-on-one to 11. I won all three games. One game I won 11-2. After the third game he said he had back spasms and couldn’t play anymore.”

Who would give him the most trouble? “Kevin Durant is the guy that would give me the most trouble. With his length and ability to use the dribble, he’d be tough.”

via Boxden

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Check out this nicely put together mixtape of T-Mac's 38/13/8 night.

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Tracy McGrady came off the bench for the Atlanta Hawks this season averaging 5.2 ppg, meaning he's pretty much an irrelevant player to the majority of our audience today. However, let's rewind about 9 years and the same Tracy McGrady was a max contract franchise player with a lifetime shoe deal with adidas and leading the NBA in scoring at 32.1 PPG. Many argued he was the best player in the league with potential to be a once in a generation type player, and with his 6'8" frame, elite athleticism and skill-set the idea wasn't too farteched.

Let's travel out west to a place known as LA LA land and if you weren't arguing in favor of McGrady being the best player in the league it was because you believed this man was. The man of course is none other than the best player of the post-Jordan era, Kobe Bryant. It's easy to mock this topic now knowing how both careers turned out, but think 2003. Kobe only had 3 championships that he "won cause of Shaq," no MVP, no 81 point game, none of the things that have put him in the conversation for top 5 player. Ever.

Kobe Bryant vs Tracy McGrady, the great debate. Every time they went head to head it was always one of the most exciting match-ups of the NBA season. Both at their athletic peak, both always ended up with similar stats and always took turns guarding each other.

Here's the famous game from 2003 when both of them went on to score 38 a piece. The Magic won this one 112-102.

Another game from 2004 where both scored 38. Tracy McGrady started off hot in the first half scoring 21 points, Kobe finished the first with 1 point. The Magic were up by as much as 19 points at one point and T-mac started out strong until Kobe took the challenge of guarding him. Kobe went on to score 37 points in the 2nd half and led the Lakers comeback to beat the Magic.

The debate was never ending. T-mac fans argued T-mac was a superior scorer to Kobe because of his length and shooting stroke, Kobe fans argued that Kobe was the best all around player in the NBA and a far superior defender. Unfortunatley McGrady's career was plagued by serious injuries and he was never able to return to being the player he once was. All we are left with is what could've been and what if's. Kobe on the other hand has gone on to have one of the most remarkable careers in the history of the game and even surpassing the global popularity of Michael Jordan.

So. What's your take? 2003 Kobe or 2003 T-mac and why?

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Check out Darrion Pellum with the sick T-mac trademark dunk impersonation.

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