Tracy McGrady retires from NBA at age 34

Tracy McGrady (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Tracy McGrady finally reached the NBA Finals in June. Two months later, the two-time scoring champion is walking away.
McGrady, 34, announced his retirement Monday morning on ESPN's First Take. A seven-time All-Star, McGrady last played with the San Antonio Spurs, contributing minor minutes during the team's postseason run to a Western Conference championship after signing late in the season.
"It's been 16 years playing the game I love. I've had a great run but it's time for it to come to an end," McGrady said.
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McGrady retires with career averages of 19.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 4.4 assists a game. During his prime, for the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets, he was the NBA's preeminent scorer. But injuries cut into his promising career by his mid-20s.
Drafted ninth overall in 1997 out of high school by the Toronto Raptors, McGrady spent the past four seasons bouncing around. In February 2010, he was traded from the Rockets to the New York Knicks, where he finished out that season. Then he signed one-year deals the Detroit Pistons to the Hawks and finally to the Spurs, though he did not play a single regular-season game in 2012-13.
He left the door open to play outside the NBA, though.
Bernard King's recent induction means every eligible points-per-game champion in NBA history has been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Like King, McGrady was unable to stay healthy enough to fulfill his massive promise but played long and well enough to merit consideration.
This season was the first in which McGrady made it out of the first round of the NBA playoffs, thanks to seven-game first-round series losses in 2003, 2005 and 2007. He played twice in the 2013 Finals loss to the Miami Heat, not scoring any points in 14 minutes, 22 seconds of action at the end of blowouts. He was not under contract with any team for next season.