Tracy McGrady's late-career timeline still feels strange in hindsight.
A Reddit thread noted that McGrady had just turned 30 when he became a journeyman with the Knicks in 2010. That came only six years after Houston acquired him from Orlando on June 29, 2004, a little over a month after his 25th birthday.
The age breakdown is the hook. McGrady played for Toronto from 18 to 21, Orlando from 21 to 25, and Houston from 25 to 29. By the end of his Rockets run, injuries had taken away much of the burst that made him a scoring champion and one of the league's cleanest shot creators.
After Houston, the stops came quickly: Knicks, Pistons, Hawks and Spurs, with a China stint mixed in before his final NBA appearance in San Antonio. The thread compared that timeline to Devin Booker becoming a journeyman now at 30, which is why it hit a nerve.
Fans also brought up names like Amar'e Stoudemire, Derrick Rose, Ben Simmons, Anfernee Hardaway, Bill Walton and Andrew Bynum. The common thread is obvious. Star status can disappear fast when injuries arrive early, even for players who once looked built for a decade at the top.
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