A year after announcing his retirement from playing basketball, Tracy McGrady worked out and trained with a once again fit Kobe Bryant, in an attempt to check his fitness level. Mcgrady was training with Bryant for three days a week for most of August in a South California gym, before he makes the decision to return to the NBA.
“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.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports also reports that two NBA teams were in contact over possibly signing McGrady to a contract but none of them wished to further explore their options along that route.
Seven All-Star appearances, two scoring titles, five selections to the All-NBA first and second team have been the highlights of McGrady’s career, which was cut short due to multiple injuries. His last encounter in the NBA was as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals against Miami Heat, which the Spurs lost. During that series, McGrady played no meaningful minutes through all seven games and the announcement of his retirement followed.
McGrady was signed by the Spurs on the last day of the 2012-13 NBA regular season after playing his lone season in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) having failed to land a guaranteed deal in the NBA.
Baseball then came knocking for McGrady as he joined a minor league team as a pitcher. However, that career didn’t last too long either.
“It was fun. Baseball has always been a love of mine. I got to fill that dream. I’m glad that I was young enough to go out there and experience that. You know, it’s over now and it’s on to the next one,” Mcgrady said about his time in baseball.
Meanwhile, Bryant who recovered fully from a knee injury which he suffered last December, enters his 18th season in the league and still has two years left in his contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
When training camp begins in early October, McGrady is commited by contract to make an appearance in a profitable Asian basketball tour so he would be unable to catch up with a team during that time. Whether he makes a comeback or not will be seen in another month. But one thing is for sure, McGrady made the right decision to square off against the Black Mamba to test his fitness.
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