Sports Nicknames - T-Mac, The Big Sleep, Breezy

Basketball is a physical sport that becomes even more exciting and entertaining when some lively characters like Tracy McGrady add to it with their charisma, grace, and boss-like attitude. McGrady would go down as one of the all-time NBA greats with his stunning performances in his 16-year-long NBA Career.



Humble Beginnings to a Great Career:

McGrady's career started at Toronto Raptors, as the team picked him at the 1997 NBA Draft. He was the ninth pick in the first round of the draft. In 2000, his career took an interesting turn as McGrady made his way to Orlando Magic. Coming to Orlando proved magical for McGrady as he became a prominent scorer in the league and remained a strong contender for the NBA MVP award.

Eventually, he ended up with various Orlando Magic franchise records. Among these records, the most stunning and inspirational record is for most points in an NBA game. He scored a record-breaking 62 points in the game against Washington Wizards in 2004. This was the time when his different nicknames became famous among fans and basketball lovers.


T-Mac:

One obvious nickname that Tracy McGrady had was "T-Mac". McGrady was called T-Mac, which was an easier and shorter version of his name. T-Mac remained the go-to identity of McGrady for quite some time. Even today, the name is popular and is used regularly to refer to Tracy McGrady.


The Big Sleep:

This nickname is particularly convincing and has a great story behind it. As we mentioned earlier, McGrady had his own ways that worked particularly well for him. Some have reported that McGrady could sleep for almost 20 hours a day as a teenager. But that just was his style.

Ahead of one of the NBA games, McGrady chose to sleep. His theory was simple. He believed that if he woke up fresh just ahead of the game, he would be better able to move on the court. Interestingly, the theory worked, and McGrady scored 41 points in that game. This meant only one thing. McGrady's sleeping schedule worked for him, and that's how he was nicknamed "Big Sleep".

He could sleep for long hours and still appear very fresh, athletic, agile, and alert on the playing field.


Breezy:

ESPN chose to refer to McGrady as "Breezy" in one of the articles. The logic behind this different nickname for T-Mac was that he always made things look so simple and effortless. He could simply cruise like a gently blowing breeze. This control over his game earned him this nickname.
Breezy, he was!


Achievements and Records:

Tracy McGrady has several great achievements and honors next to his name. He was a 7-time NBA All-Star. At a young age, he won the award for Most Improved Player. Twice he became the NBA Scoring Champion. Towards the end of his career, he played a key role in the development of Chinese Basketball and played in some impressive seasons in 2012-13.

In his honor, the Chinese basketball franchise, Qingdao Eagles, retired the Jersey Number 1.

McGrady finished his career with more than 18,000 points and 19.6 points per game. He also completed 5,276 rebounds at 5.6 rebounds per game. In addition to that, he was also involved in 4,161 assists at 4.4 assists per game.

McGrady was part of the 2003 USA Basketball Team that won Gold at the FIBA Americas Championship.


Retirement:

McGrady retired from basketball in 2013 and has since worked as an Analyst at ESPN.

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