If there was one criticism of Tracy McGrady's career, it was his inability to lead a team deep into the playoffs.
In 16 seasons, the 2017 Hall of Fame inductee never won a championship, and made the Finals just once as a seldom-used bench member for the San Antonio Spurs.
While some may argue that his career is incomplete without a championship, McGrady is perfectly content with remaining ringless, saying he'd take the Hall of Fame over a title any day of the week.
"This is elite. It doesn't matter how many championships. Anybody can be a champion," McGrady told Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. "But everybody can't be in the Hall of Fame. This is it. This is my championship."
McGrady served as one of the greatest offensive players of his generation, collecting two scoring titles, seven consecutive All-Star nods, and more than 18,000 points during his storied career.
"It doesn't get any better than this," McGrady said. "You're talking about going into a class of greatness. Legendary. This is forever. It doesn't matter how many playoff games you lost. What you didn't accomplish. None of that matters. It's what I did do. What I did accomplish over my career. To be honored with this prestigious award is phenomenal."
McGrady will be officially inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sept. 8.
