In the late 1990s, two young talents entered the NBA with dreams of greatness: Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. Kobe, drafted by the Charlotte Hornets and traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and McGrady, drafted by the Toronto Raptors, quickly formed a bond.
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The two stars had one of the best friendships and rivalries the league has ever seen. How did the two meet? And which star got the better of the two? Stick around and we’ll unravel the answers to these questions.
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Kobe and McGrady’s friendship
Kobe Bryant met Tracy McGrady when he was 18 and McGrady was just 17. The two immediately formed a bond, thanks to both of them skipping college to join the NBA. Both stars had similar playing styles, with Kobe once stating that McGrady was the hardest player to guard, as he did everything he could do, but was taller and more athletic.
This was high praise coming from a player who didn’t like to finish second to anyone in any discussion. Yes, McGrady was like a taller Kobe when it came to skill level. The only thing that held McGrady back was the fact that he didn’t have Kobe’s killer mindset, which has famously been dubbed the Mamba Mentality.
Still, Kobe respected McGrady’s game and his journey into the NBA. When McGrady entered the league, he would call Kobe all the time, asking for advice. The two had very similar starts to their careers. Both came into the NBA straight from high school, and finding playing time in the NBA was hard to come by.
This was tough for McGrady to deal with, but Kobe helped guide McGrady, as Kobe proved his earlier doubters wrong by earning a starting role on the Lakers in his third season. McGrady likewise earned a starting role once he became a free agent in his fourth season, becoming the star player on the Orlando Magic.
Kobe and McGrady’s rivalry
When the two superstars were dominating the league in the early 2000s, their friendship simmered down a bit, as Kobe distanced himself to focus solely on keeping the Lakers on top as NBA champions.
Kobe didn’t develop a dislike for his friend, but he understood that McGrady had become his rival. To maintain his status as the best in the league, Kobe felt it necessary to keep some distance between himself and his on-court friends. However, he still cheered for McGrady.
Kobe once recalled a time when he was out at lunch with his wife, and the restaurant was showing a playoff game featuring McGrady. Kobe couldn’t have been happier, watching his friend find success in the playoffs.
Rewind back before either player became the stars we know them as. Kobe and McGrady not only spoke on the phone a lot, but also hung out all the time. This includes getting on a roller coaster at Disney World, which McGrady was initially against.
“Kobe had me so mad one time, we were at Disney World, in Paris,” McGrady explained. “I just finished eating. He wanted to get on a roller coaster. I don’t want to get on a roller coaster, I don’t like roller coasters. This man kept begging me to get on this roller coaster… Bruh, I got on there and man, I wanted to choke the sh*t outta Kob after we got out there! I was so sick bro, I was done for the whole day!”
Despite this incident, McGrady enjoyed hanging out with Kobe. McGrady would travel with Kobe and his parents on a few different occasions. This was where McGrady saw and learned about Kobe’s incredible dedication to the game of basketball.
While most teenagers wanted to go out and party, Kobe chose to stay inside and watch karate movies, as well as classic Michael Jordan films, like Michael Jordan’s Playground. McGrady saw this firsthand on one of their trips together overseas.
McGrady also learned about Kobe’s mind games when he became a victim of the Black Mamba.
“He likes to play mind games, and he always trying to get an edge on whoever, his opponents, whatever. I don’t care if I’m his friend, whatever,” McGrady said in an interview he and Kobe had with Rachel Nichols.
“I told him, I said, I’m about to go work out. And he was like, What are you going to work out for? You’re in the offseason. I go to the weight room, who’s in there? This dude.”
Kobe had a famous and incredible work ethic. And with his will to get any edge over his competition, it’s no surprise he pulled this on his close friend, McGrady. In the same interview with Nichols, Kobe claimed the two played one-on-one once when they were in Europe together, and that he smoked McGrady 11-3.
McGrady immediately responded, stating that the two did not play one-on-one. Instead, they were just working on their game together, shooting, but not keeping score. Kobe insisted that they played one-on-one, while McGrady maintains that they were not actually playing a game together.
One thing is true: Kobe mistakenly said that the incident took place in Germany, when it actually occurred in Paris, France. However, Kobe may be correct about the score aspect, even if McGrady didn’t realize he was participating in a one-on-one game.
Kobe vs. McGrady
We all know that Kobe won five NBA championships, while McGrady failed to win one. But how did the two stars do against each other?
Kobe and McGrady played each other 21 times during their careers, all in the regular season. Kobe’s teams won 14 out of the 21 matchups and he outscored McGrady 26.9 to 17.9.
In fact, Kobe outscored McGrady 17 times in those head-to-head matchups. Kobe’s high-scoring game occurred on March 30, 2007, when he dropped 53 points. However, Kobe’s Lakers lost to McGrady’s Houston Rockets 107-104 in overtime, with McGrady scoring 30 himself.
McGrady’s high-scoring game was on November 27, 2002, when he scored 38 points. Strangely enough, Kobe also scored 38 in the game, and the two had some incredible one-on-one moments, like when McGrady nailed a turnaround jumper over Kobe, who slipped.
Kobe followed that up on the very next possession, blowing by McGrady and dunking over three Magic players. Despite Kobe’s best efforts, McGrady’s Magic won, 112-102.
The two may have been rivals, going at each other every time they played one another, but their friendship never wavered, despite Kobe’s focus on his craft. In fact, Kobe once said that if he could have played with any player, he’d choose McGrady.
That’s the ultimate compliment coming from Kobe and one can wonder how a team with Kobe and McGrady would have looked. It would’ve been scary for their opponents, that’s for sure.
