There’s a saying about how some decorated active players still have work to do to become Hall of Famers.
Tracy McGrady needs to stop working.
A few years ago, McGrady looked bound to be a lock for the Hall of Fame. He had two scoring titles on his resume and seven straight All-Star appearances, all during seasons in which he averaged 24 or more points.
But McGrady, 32, has been slipping dramatically the past several years, primarily because of injuries, and it might seriously damage his Hall hopes. During the past three seasons, he has averaged 7.5 points as a role player, including a mere 5.7 this year for Atlanta.
For the first time in nine years, McGrady’s career scoring average dropped below 20. He’s now at 19.9.
“I didn’t know that,’’ the swingman said of the baseball equivalent of a career batting average falling under .300. “I look back on it and still consider myself a 20-point-average person.’’
Despite his legacy being tarnished as he plays out the string, McGrady also considers himself a Hall of Famer when all is said and done.
“If we’re going by the numbers, I think they’re Hall of Fame numbers,’’ said the 15-year veteran. “You total (two scoring titles) up along with my points, my playoff average (28.5 in 38 career games), so, yeah, I think I have the credentials.’’
The website basketball-reference.com throws the numbers into a computer for a statistic it calls Hall of Fame Probability. What spews out is McGrady has a 61.59 percent chance, which sounds about right.
The scoring titles McGrady won in 2002-03 and 2003-04 with Orlando help plenty. No eligible player in history with two such crowns has not made the Hall, and all the non-eligible guys with two look to be locks.
But two-time winner Adrian Dantley really had to sweat it out. After retiring in 1991 and going through the mandated five-year waiting period, Dantley had to endure more than a decade before finally being enshrined in 2008.
With the Basketball Hall of Fame taking into consideration a player’s entire career, Dantley had to sit by the phone that long even though he was an All-American at Notre Dame and won an Olympic gold medal in 1976. McGrady gets no college help because he never spent a day at one, and he never played in the Olympics.
Dantley’s career scoring average of 24.3 also is much better than McGrady’s, and he at least played in one NBA Finals. It has been well chronicled that McGrady, despite his gaudy playoff statistics, never has played on a team that won even one series.
Hawks executive and television analyst Dominique Wilkins, who wasn’t enshrined until his second year of eligibility in 2006 despite being seemingly a no-brainer first-ballot choice, was asked to analyze whether McGrady one day will join him in the Hall. He can’t say for sure.
“He had Hall of Fame numbers, especially early on,’’ Wilkins said. “I think he’s been plagued by some injuries. It will be interesting to see what the powers to be say. . . . I would say with the Hall of Fame, I’m not sure about anything. I should have been a first-ballot (pick), but I wasn’t. I think it’s tough, period. They make it tough to make it. No doubt (McGrady) has a chance. . . . But Bernard King has been on the ballot (since 1999 and can’t make it).’’
Wilkins brings up an interesting comparison to King, who won one scoring title, had a 22.5 career scoring average, also had little playoff success (winning only two career playoff series, both in the first round) and also battled serious injuries late in his career. King in addition has had the baggage of once battling drug problems.
At least King knew when it was time to quit, hanging up his high tops after his scoring average had slipped to 7.0 when he was 36 in 1992-93. All McGrady is doing is hurting his Hall chances by hanging on.
The nomadic McGrady is with fourth team in three seasons. He averaged 8.2 points for Houston and New York in 2009-10 and 8.0 with Detroit last season before this season’s frustrating stint with the Hawks, which has seen him publicly complain about playing time.
Will this finally be the end for him?
“I just take it year by year, so I’ll evaluate how I feel in the offseason with my family and wife and kids,’’ McGrady said. “If I feel like coming back, maybe I’ll give it a shot. If not, I’ll sail off and watch it.’’
Of course, there would have to be a team to sign McGrady for him to play another season. He’s now on a one-year deal for the minimum for $1.35 million. Two years ago, he was playing for $23.24 million.
If McGrady does stick around, he’s unconcerned about dropping numbers hurting his Hall hopes.
“I didn’t play just to get into the Hall of Fame,’’ he said. “That’s not what I really played for. So, again, I think the numbers speak for itself on what I’ve accomplished in this league. And, if they’re not good enough, so be it.’’
They once looked as if they would be good enough for the Hall. Now, who knows?
