McGrady about baseball: 'I had it in the back of my mind my entire career'

Tracy McGrady had an impressive 15-year basketball career. He averaged 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 4.4 assists a game. He won two scoring titles. He made just under $163 million, according to Basketball Reference. But baseball was never far from his thoughts, he told Yahoo Sports' Tim Brown. 

"Honestly speaking, I had it in the back of my mind my entire career," he said.

And now, at 34-year-old, baseball will finally get McGrady's full attention, as he attempts a pitching career with the independent Sugar Land Skeeters:

"This is not a gimmick. This is serious business. I don't want to embarrass myself or my family or an organization. This is real."

Not even the Skeeters. 

McGrady pitched "a lifetime ago" in high school, Brown writes, and he's enjoying being back on the mound:

He spent a week in Los Angeles with Tom House at USC, threw for Roger Clemens, threw to Roger's son, Koby, worked out with Arizona Diamondbacks scout Scipio Spinks, picked up a slider and a splitter over the past three months, and by Tuesday afternoon he was officially seeking work as a pitcher.

"Still working on my [velocity]," McGrady said. "Command's pretty good. Fastball, splitter, slider, change."

Command is everything. But according to Roger Clemens, a Skeeter alumni, McGrady has a lot of work to do:

The important thing is, McGrady's trying. He had a dream to play professional basketball, and he lived it. He has other dreams. Baseball:

What I want it to turn into is to pursue a professional baseball career. This is my childhood dream. I don't know where this is going to go, honestly. But I'm committed to it.

This is just sheer love for the game. It's just an athlete that always wanted to fulfill his dream to play baseball.

We're trying not to be cynical, T-Mac. Go chase your dreams.