Don't fault McGrady for his one-and-done legacy

It has become a cruel tagline, an unfortunate addendum to a player whose living tombstone should read much better. Yet there it is: Tracy McGrady, the Guy Who Can't Get Out of the First Round.

While that hardly summarizes his accomplishments in a manner befitting his talents, it is an easy sell and the perfect catch-all anecdote for cable television chat shows to reference without bringing up context. And, as it usually is with too-simple career summaries, it's not at all fair.

No, Tracy McGrady has not made the second round of the NBA playoffs, despite seven tries. Yes, basketball teams often can ride the hot hand of a certain player in order to win three games out of five or four games out of seven, and McGrady seemingly would have the talent to be that singular, driving and, eventually, winning force.

It has yet to happen, though. And that makes us wonder if the whole ideal behind a team sport that can be changed with the work of one man actually works.

After all, Michael Jordan couldn't make it out of the first round of the playoffs for his first three seasons, and though NBA fans might remember Jordan's historic turn in trying to take down the eventual champs out of Boston in 1986, they probably don't remember a much quieter bow out to the Celtics in 1987 or a first-round loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1985. Jordan's teams managed just one win in 10 playoff games over that span.

Kobe Bryant gave his rather limited Laker teams a fightin' chance in the wake of Shaquille O'Neal's departure from Los Angeles, but they couldn't move out of the first round in 2006 and 2007. LeBron James needed seven games to down the Washington Wizards (not exactly world beaters) in 2006, and he benefited greatly from Washington's injury woes in the two years following.

So the idea of the lone gunslinger throwing in 40 points alongside a healthy dose of rebounds and assists and saving the day doesn't really translate in reality, much less lead to opening-round triumph. And once you throw in the context of who Tracy has taken on over the years, it's a small wonder that we aren't bemoaning this guy's run of bad luck above all.

His first venture into the postseason came in 2000, as a sixth man on a Toronto Raptors team that was dealt the defending Eastern Conference champs out of New York. Further complicating matters, Raptors coach Butch Carter decided to initiate a lawsuit against the starting center of the opposing team not long before tip-off, and the young Raptors eventually were sent home. Lawsuits aside, they lost to a much better team.

Moving on to Orlando the next year, McGrady emerged as a star worthy of his new max contract, and he led a Grant Hill-less team to the playoffs. With Hill's comparable contract taking up cap space, however, Orlando's rotation beyond McGrady and his injured co-star was paper-thin, and the team lost in the first round to a Bucks squad that eventually ended their season one win away from the NBA Finals. Another loss to a much better team.

In 2002, the Magic lost to a deeper and more talented Hornets squad. McGrady's team was good, the other team better. A pattern, you've noticed, already has emerged.

When 2003 rolled around, the first round expanded to a best-of-seven contest and McGrady famously showed relief and enthusiasm at moving on to the East semifinals even while his Magic team was up only 3-1 to the Detroit Pistons. While that was an embarrassing faux pas, it doesn't detract from the fact that the Pistons were a much better team than the Magic, even at that point.

After a trade to Houston, McGrady's Rockets lost a seven-game series to Dallas even after shooting up 2-0 to start the tussle. While the idea of blowing yet another first-round lead may fuel the fire of his detractors, one has to realize that the Rockets – made of McGrady, Yao Ming and a whole host of aging and/or soon-to-retire parts – were not two games better than this Mavericks team.

This is important. It's a team game and there will be some deviations from the norm, but let's cut out the pretense here: Should the 2003 Magic have been up 3-1 on the Pistons? Were they even in Detroit's league? And though the 2005 Rockets boasted some formidable talent, and while it's easy to rip a star whose laconic nature makes it seem as if he's sleepwalking through games, can you really compare rosters and say that Houston was at Dallas' level – much less two games better?

The same goes for Houston's opening-round loss to Utah last season. Yes, the series went seven games (something that denotes equality, usually), and yes, the Yao-less Rockets took the Jazz to six games this year, but there's no way Houston's roster was anywhere close to being on the same level as Utah's last season.

Anomalies in a short sample size shouldn't force us into abandoning common sense, and common sense (as well as a good look at all the teams in question and the rotations at hand) tells us that McGrady's teams never have lost to an inferior squad in the first round. Far from it.

There haven't been any upsets, McGrady hasn't let anyone down, and critiquing him for not making it out of the first round is akin to ripping on Pau Gasol for failing to make it to the second round with the undermanned Memphis Grizzlies in the face of competition out of San Antonio, Phoenix and Dallas. Save that vitriol for the top-ranked tennis pro bowing out against an unheralded opponent in the opening rounds. This is a team sport. Treat it as such.

That said, McGrady hasn't exactly put himself or his team in position to pull off the upset because his offensive arsenal is lacking at times. The third quarter of Houston's Game 6 loss to the Jazz on Friday was the perfect example – while the Jazz defense swarmed, McGrady was unable to contribute offensively by making himself a decoy off the ball. When he did get the ball in the low post, far from his comfort position, he missed a series of shots that other great wing scorers would have connected on.

It's that way of scoring, far from pretty but awfully effective, that separates McGrady from the best of the bunch. Outside of driving to the hole, or if he's not crossing over and pulling up for the 20-foot jump shot, McGrady is pretty lost. And that's why he consistently has been unable to put points on the board late in games, once his tired legs fail him.

That's a blown recipe for overachievement, however, and it's hard to consistently criticize a guy for not playing over his head. The fact remains that, seven times since the year 2000, Tracy McGrady's teams have lost in the first round to outfits that were better than his own. And though an individual can have a big hand in taking down another team in this league, it still is a team game.

And this guy hasn't had the team. That's a shame, and that shouldn't be a reflection on McGrady.