Celtics
The Celtics might have drafted the Basketball Corridor of Famer twice in 1997, holding two prime 10 picks that yr.
Within the late Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, the Celtics had been near both drafting star gamers or shifting on from future gamers they drafted too quickly on a number of events.
One of many gamers they missed out on within the draft was Tracy McGrady in 1997. But it surely seems, that was by the Basketball Corridor of Famer’s design.
In an interview on the “Ryen Russillo Podcast,” McGrady detailed how Rick Pitino’s presence in Boston induced him to take a unique method throughout his pre-draft interview with the Celtics, who held the No. 3 and No. 6 total picks in that yr’s draft.
“I simply bear in mind in faculty, I used to be being recruited by Kentucky and I knew how exhausting and the way powerful Rick Pitino was,” McGrady started. “Rick Pitino had left and develop into Boston’s coach, and I used to be like, ‘I don’t know if I need to play for Rick Pitino.’ The reason is as a result of [the Celtics were] most likely my hardest pre-draft exercise ever. I wouldn’t thoughts taking part in for Boston, however I didn’t need to play for Rick Pitino at the moment as a result of he was too powerful, man.”
Pitino, who coached Kentucky for eight seasons, grew to become the Celtics’ head coach and group president in Could 1997. Round that point, McGrady opted to declare for the NBA Draft out of highschool as an alternative of going to Kentucky and different faculties.
As McGrady wasn’t a fan of Pitino, he opted to take issues into his personal arms and tried to discover a solution to discourage the Celtics from drafting him.
“It was simply discovering a solution to, I assume, to harm myself and get them to not draft me by not speaking,” McGrady mentioned. “I did wonderful with my interviews with everybody else however Boston, not a lot.”
When Russillo pressed McGrady on whether or not he was simply being a shy 18-year-old which may not have been prepared for the second but or if he was intentionally tanking it, McGrady mentioned it was extra of the latter. However he didn’t need to say he was tanking the interview, both.
“I wouldn’t say I tanked, it however I didn’t do an incredible job of being who I used to be,” McGrady mentioned with a hearty chortle. “That’s what I’ll say … I’m 18 years outdated. I had some directions coming down. I used to be influenced.”
McGrady’s method labored. Russillo mentioned he heard the Celtics wished to take McGrady previous to the interview however had been scared off due to his unwillingness to speak within the interview.
So, Boston handed on McGrady twice. The Celtics did get an All-Star guard with the No. 3 total choose, drafting Chauncey Billups. However they traded him to the Raptors earlier than his rookie season ended.
Three picks later, the Celtics took ahead Ron Mercer. He lasted simply two seasons in Boston earlier than getting traded to Denver within the 1999 offseason.
The whole 1997 NBA Draft is crammed with what-ifs for the Celtics. Along with passing on McGrady and buying and selling Billups lower than a yr after drafting him, Boston missed out on getting the No. 1 total choose regardless of holding the second-best odds to take action. San Antonio gained the lottery as an alternative, deciding on Tim Duncan with the No. 1 total choose.
Duncan, Billups, and McGrady ended up being the one three All-Star gamers from that draft class. And as for Pitino, his time in Boston led to 2001 when he resigned midseason.
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