"I pumped fake one time and he jumped up and he came down on me right on top of my head" - Tracy McGrady shares why he took match-ups with Kenyon Martin personally originally appeared on Basketball Network .
There were players in the NBA that nobody wanted to risk pissing off for fear of them dropping a 50-point game on their heads. At the top of that list was the GOAT, Michael Jordan, while another was the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant . These were players who headed to the game deadset on dominating their foes and the last thing they needed was more fuel to their fire.
Another name that undoubtedly belongs on that list is Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady . Standing at 6'8", McGrady truly came into his own after being traded to the Orlando Magic , stepping out of the shadow of his cousin, Vince Carter , during his time with the Toronto Raptors . T-Mac quickly established himself as one of the most prolific scorers the game has ever seen, capable of effortlessly dismantling defenses and piling up points against any opponent.
While McGrady was often a laid-back dude, he revealed that there was one player in the league who he always looked forward to facing: power forward Kenyon Martin .
To be clear, McGrady had no issue with Martin, the first pick of the 2000 NBA Draft. He understood how intense the former Cincinnati standout was and how physicality was a significant part of his game. However, there was one incident when T-Mac thought Martin went too far.
"He had a tendency of hard fouling — you know, tough, tough guy s**t. And he fouled me one time in his phase of fouling people hard," Tracy recalled . "I pump faked one time and he jumped up, and he came down on me like this, right on top of my head."
"And from that point on, bro, every time I seen Kenyon Martin , I just — 46 piece, 40 piece. Like, it was just mental. Like every time I see you, I got to," he continued. "It's personal. Yeah, it's personal."
McGrady, though, clarified that he and Martin had no beef whatsoever in the NBA. Whatever extracurriculars they shared on the floor, it stayed on the floor.
"That's my dude too. I love Kenyon. I love the way he play. I wish I had played with that motherf****r. I love the dude," Tracy said.
The saying "Let sleeping dogs lie" perfectly applies to the NBA — sometimes, it's best to leave a star player alone and let him go about his game. Provoking him could backfire, making it even harder to secure a win against his team. As mentioned, MJ and Kobe were two fine examples of players who did not need more prodding to perform at their best.
"Certain guys got that switch, you know what I mean? Like, it might be a day where I feel like 30 today. You know what I mean? We going to win this s**t. I feel like 30. Y'all ain't really, you know, giving me that juice, that you really want this tonight. So I'm going to give you a 30," McGrady explained.
"But then, when you start chirping—or somebody on the sideline start chirping—now you start waking those juices up. Like, all right, I'm starting to get focused. And that 30 turns into a 45 piece," he continued.
T-Mac was more than capable of handing out 40-pieces and 50-pieces to those foolish enough to talk trash to him. The two-time scoring champion was a chill guy, but he never hesitated to put a foe in his place when he had to.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 13, 2025, where it first appeared.
