"No basketball for me" - Tracy McGrady loved two other sports more than basketball

It’s kind of hard to believe but Tracy McGrady never dreamed of becoming an NBA star. Instead, he envisioned himself making it to the MLB or the NFL someday.

Admittedly, McGrady was all in on pursuing a baseball or football career. Growing up, he had zero interest in basketball as his older cousins often encouraged him to hoop with them, but to no avail.

It reached the point where his cousins would really force him to play and based on how T-Mac described it, sometimes it was physical.

Eventually, McGrady learned to love basketball and from then on, his game took off, leaving his cousins dumbfounded.

“Baseball was my love, right? And I have a big family and I used to go to the park all the time with my cousins when they played basketball and I never wanted to play because I was always baseball. Football. No basketball for me,” McGrady said on Hoop Hall’s “60 Days of Summer” in 2017.

“So, I go to the park with these guys who are older than I am, my cousins and they always used to beat me up because they wanted me to play,” he continued. “One of the guys get tired and they needed an extra guy, I didn’t want to play. So, after years of being picked on by my cousins, I finally get out there and then start playing and I actually started loving the game, started dominating the game and you know they hated me for that. So, I got joy out of kicking my cousins’ butt on the basketball court.”

T-Mac’s love for baseball and football remains intact

For someone who is not an enthusiast of the sport, McGrady’s progress as a basketball player was quick and nothing short of fascinating. He made a name for himself at Mount Zion Christian Academy, where he played basketball in high school.

In his senior year, McGrady averaged an impressive tally of 27.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 2.8 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.

He gained national attention and decided to skip college and turn pro at 18 years old.

In 1999, T-Mac was drafted by the Toronto Raptors straight out of high school as the 9th overall pick. From that point forward, he never looked back.

However, McGrady once made a shocking revelation in a separate discussion. As it turns out, his love for baseball and football remained the same all throughout his NBA career.

“I started baseball at 5,” McGrady once revealed. “That was my favorite sport. Even in my NBA career, it is still my favorite sport. I played football when I was 8 years old. I didn’t really start playing basketball until I was like 9, 10 years old.”

T-Mac was meant for basketball

McGrady went on to become one of the most versatile and prolific scorers players in NBA history. However, knowing the back story behind his career, it’s kind of hard not to think about it now.

Even though he initially didn’t enjoy playing basketball, the game still found a way to make him realize that he was meant to be an NBA superstar. In hindsight, T-Mac wouldn’t have been a seven-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion and a Hall of Famer if it hadn’t been for his older cousins.

All told, McGrady’s journey to becoming one of the game’s all-time greats only goes to show that not all NBA stars aspired to be one.

Sometimes, their circumstances just lead them to that path.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

“No basketball for me” – Tracy McGrady loved two other sports more than basketball

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