10 Career-Defining Tracy McGrady Basketball Cards – Instant PC
Tracy McGray was one of the early members of the prep-to-pro trend that swept the NBA during the late 1990s, and after playing alongside Vince Carter in Toronto he developed into one of the best scorers in the league during his time in Orlando and Houston en route to a Hall of Fame career.
All told, there are more than 5,000 Tracy McGrady cards, according to the Beckett database.
So where does one begin putting together a Tracy McGrady PC?
The following 10 cards serve as an excellent representation of his playing career and footprint on the hobby, making them a great place to start.
1997 Press Pass #8 Tracy McGrady
McGrady averaged 27.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.7 assists during his senior season at Mt. Zion Christian Academy in North Carolina, and after initially committing to the University of Kentucky he opted to enter the NBA draft as a projected lottery pick.
He has a few pre-NBA cards in the 1997 Press Pass and 1997 Score Board Rookies sets, including a handful of inserts.
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1997-98 E-X2001 #79 Tracy McGrady RC
Toronto selected McGrady with the No. 9 overall pick in the 1997 draft, and he averaged 7.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game as an 18-year-old rookie. The Raptors finished just 16-66 that year, with eight different players averaging at least 10 points per game and no clear-cut superstar on the roster.
McGrady has 18 different Rookie Cards at a wide variety of price points. The most valuable of the bunch are his Topps Chrome and E-X2001 rookies, which both have a book value of $30. Some of his lower-end options can be had for just a couple bucks.
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1999-00 SkyBox Premium Autographics #73 Tracy McGrady
After playing sparingly his first two seasons in the league, McGrady stepped into a large role during the 1999-00 season and averaged 15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. The Raptors won 45 games and made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history that year.
No collection of a late ’90s/early ’00s star would be complete without one of his SkyBox Premium Autographics cards. McGrady has pricey options in the 1997-98 ($1,000) and 1998-99 ($300) sets, while his 1999-00 option ($100) carries a more reasonable price tag.
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2000-01 Topps Gold Label Jam Artists #JA2 Tracy McGrady
McGrady was a free agent following the 1999-00 season, and he was ultimately sent to Orlando in a sign-and-trade deal for a 2005 first-round pick. He inked a seven-year, $92.8 million deal with the Magic and won Most Improved Player honors in his first year with the team when he averaged 26.8 points and earned his first of seven straight All-Star selections.
The premium Topps Gold Label brand turned out some great-looking base cards, and the same was true of their insert sets. The Jam Artists inserts were found in 1:8 packs and have a 10-card checklist.
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2002-03 Upper Deck Electric Company #EC3 Tracy McGrady
With 32.1 points per game, McGrady won his first of back-to-back scoring titles during the 2002-03 season. That still stands as the highest single-season scoring average in Orlando Magic franchise history, ahead of Shaquille O’Neal who averaged 29.3 points during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
The Electric Company inserts in 2002-03 Upper Deck were a fairly tough pull at 1:24 Series 2 packs, and the seven-card checklist was an odd assortment of stars (McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce) and up-and-comers (Jay Williams, Kareem Rush, Nene Hilario, Caron Butler).
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2004-05 E-XL Jambalaya #5 Tracy McGrady
After four seasons in Orlando, McGrady joined his third team when he was traded to the Rockets in a seven-player deal that sent Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley the other way. In Houston, he teamed with second-year big man Yao Ming to form one of the better guard-center tandems in the NBA. The Rockets finished 51-31 in McGrady’s first season with the team.
Very few 1990s and ’00s cards have held their value as well as the Jambalaya inserts. They can be found in 1997-98 E-X2001, 2003-04 E-XL, 2004-05 E-XL, 2006-07 E-XL and 2011-12 Fleer Retro Basketball. McGrady was featured in all three of the E-XL sets.
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2009-10 Panini Season Update #33 Tracy McGrady
McGrady underwent season-ending knee surgery midway through the 2008-09 season. He played just six games when he returned to action the following year before he was shut down while Houston looked for a trade partner. He was eventually dealt to the Knicks in a huge three-team trade, and he averaged 9.4 points in 26.1 minutes in 24 starts in New York.
Since he was a free agent following the 2009-10 season and signed elsewhere, there are only a handful of options with McGrady in a Knicks uniform, including his 2019-10 Panini Season Update card.
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2010-11 Donruss #53 Tracy McGrady
At 31 years old, McGrady was no longer the dynamic scorer he was in his prime, but he was still a useful role player on a one-year deal with the Pistons during the 2010-11 campaign. He played 23.4 minutes per game and averaged 8.0 points and 3.5 rebounds.
No longer a staple in insert sets, McGrady’s time in Detroit is represented here with his simple Donruss base card.
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2011-12 Limited #67 Tracy McGrady
The 2011-12 season would be McGrady’s final year in the NBA. He spent it as a bench player on the Hawks, averaging 5.3 points in 16.1 minutes of action per contest. He then spent the 2012-13 season in China where he averaged 25.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists for the Qingdao Eagles.
A base card from the 2011-12 Limited set wraps up his playing days, though he actually returned from China and played with the Spurs during the 2013 postseason, reaching the NBA finals for the only time in his career while sitting at the end of the bench.
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2013-14 Panini Prizm #38 Tracy McGrady
McGrady was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2017. He wrapped up his NBA career ranked in the top 100 all-time in total points (18,381, 74th) and points per game (19.6, 72nd). He was viewed as one of the biggest snubs from the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team when it was announced in 2021.
A player’s first Panini Prizm card, whether he’s active or long retired has become a must-own for any player collector, and McGrady’s came right after he retired in the 2013-14 set.
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