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Tracy McGrady recalls wild boycott story during his Pistons days
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- Tracy McGrady recalls wild boycott story during his Pistons days
Tracy McGrady recalls wild boycott story during his Pistons days appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Detroit Pistons have been on a resurgence for the past two seasons after several years of being a laughingstock in the NBA. The Pistons are on pace to secure the top seed in the Eastern Conference and earn homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
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Fans lived through the woeful years, including a 14-win season in 2023-2024. Another forgettable campaign for the Pistons was in 2010-2011. While Rip Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and Tayshaun Prince were still on the roster, the squad struggled mightily.
Tracy McGrady was also part of the team, signing a one-year contract in the summer. On his podcast with Vince Carter , he revealed a wild story about trying to boycott then-coach John Kuester in the middle of the season.
"We don't want him around. We don't want to play for him. We had a trip to Philly, right? Mind you, we've had talks. 'Hey, we ain't going to shootaround.' Us vets, young players talking with us, like, 'All right, everybody's in. We're not going to shootaround,'" recalled McGrady.
The plan, however, did not work after the young guys did not follow through, according to McGrady. He claimed that only the veterans stayed in their rooms during shootaround.
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"We get to the game, Q (Kuester) said, 'All the guys who were at the shootaround,' I think it was like five or six of them, 'Y'all all playing all the minutes tonight.' We didn't play at all. Zero minutes. Bro, do you know how hot we were at them young fellas?" added the seven-time All-Star.
Kuester played only six guys against the Philadelphia 76ers : Will Bynum , Ben Gordon , DaJuan Summers , Charlie Villanueva , and Greg Monroe started, while Jason Maxiell came off the bench. The Pistons lost, 110-94.
The Pistons ended the season with a 30-52 record and missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Kuester was fired at the end of the season.
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McGrady, who recently revealed his pick for this season's MVP , averaged 8.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 72 games. He signed with the Atlanta Hawks in the summer to finish his career.
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