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Tracy McGrady Credits Former Sacramento Kings Player For Development

By Anthony Cardenas

SHANGHAI, CHINA: Tracy McGrady (C, back to camera)of Houston Rockets leaps to shoot during the NBA pre-session match against Sacramento Kings at Shanghai Stadium, 14 October 2004. Houston Rockets defeated Sacramento Kings by 88-86. AFP PHOTO/LIU Jin (Photo credit should read LIU JIN/AFP via Getty Images)
SHANGHAI, CHINA: Tracy McGrady (C, back to camera)of Houston Rockets leaps to shoot during the NBA pre-session match against Sacramento Kings at Shanghai Stadium, 14 October 2004. Houston Rockets defeated Sacramento Kings by 88-86. AFP PHOTO/LIU Jin (Photo credit should read LIU JIN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Former NBA Star Tracy McGrady appeared on the All The Smoke Podcast last week and gave a shout out to a Sacramento Kings’ fan favorite.

During the current NBA and sports hiatus, one of the best sources of content has been the All The Smoke podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson. They’ve hosted a slew of guests via video chats, and their most recent interview was with Tracy McGrady, who credited a former Sacramento Kings player for having a hand in his development.

McGrady was drafted straight out of high school in 1997 and was about as raw as prospects come during his rookie season. His Toronto Raptors were in the midst of a terrible stretch of years, and finished that campaign with a 16-66 record. McGrady averaged just 7 points in 18.4 minutes.

That season was one of the topics of discussion during this particular episode of the podcast, and McGrady highlighted his struggles and what got him through them. In doing so, he gave a huge shout out to Doug Christie, former Kings legend and current color commentator for the local broadcast.

"“I just kept working. And the man who helped me out the most was that damn Doug Christie, bro…I played Doug 1-on-1 every day, and we would just go at each other, man. That’s how I was working on my 1-on-1 game, and building my confidence up. Because I know he was a great defender, like a hell of a defender. And to go up against him every day, I’d be ready for whatever.”"

It must sound like music to Christie’s ears. McGrady would go on to become one of the most feared scorers in the league throughout his career, leading the league in scoring twice and once averaged over 32 points per game. The fact that McGrady recalls those 1-on-1 games with such passion tells you how much Christie actually had an impact on the young and budding superstar.

A couple of days after the episode aired, Christie responded via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TheDougChristie/status/1264220274725011456

Rumor has it that Christie will be appearing on The Kings Pulse Podcast hosted by our own Brenden Nunes sometime in the near future. If you have any ideas for questions that you’d like to hear answered, give us a shout on Twitter or in the comment section below.

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