Tracy McGrady recalls hilarious incident through which he found out Vince Carter was his cousin
Both Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady hold the unique distinction of being some of the most ferocious dunkers in NBA history. But with an ability to nearly jump out of the gym, what neither man knew growing up, as chance encounters unfolded, was that they were related.
In fact, the duo used to play pickup basketball.
With the two becoming good friends, neither knew that, as fate would have it, they were related. The big moment of realization started when Tracy McGrady said, while the two were playing pickup, that he was going to a family reunion that weekend.
The comments caught Carter, who knew that he also had a family reunion that weekend, off guard. At the time, the pair was still unaware of the fact that they were related. It wasn't until McGrady went to the reunion and saw his grandmother and Carter's grandmother sitting at a table talking that he made the connection.
The Hall of Famer recalled the situation during a recent appearance on "The Pat Bev Pod."
"I played on the junior team for the team, he played on the senior team so I played before him and I used to sit in stands and watch him play after my games, not knowing we were related until after one time I moved to North Carolina. I was playing pickup, I told him I was leaving for the weekend going to the family reunions.
"He said something about, 'Oh yeah, my family is having something like that, too.' So I ended up calling him from the family reunion because my grandmother and his grandmother was sitting at table talking, and that's how we found out we was cousins."
When Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter played together in the NBA
Now knowing that Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter are cousins, it makes the fact that the duo played together in Toronto even more interesting.
During the 1998 NBA draft, the Raptors selected Antawn Jamison, however, then traded him to the Golden State Warriors.
In exchange, the team acquired Vince Carter, who it knew was the cousin of sophomore sensation Tracy McGrady. That season, the team finished the lockout season with a 23-27 record, failing to qualify for the playoffs.
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The following year, however, the duo of Carter and McGrady led the Raptors to their first postseason appearance in franchise history. Unfortunately for Toronto fans, there they met the New York Knicks, who swept them in the series.
After the series loss, the Raptors shipped McGrady to the Orlando Magic in a sign-and-trade deal. While the move worked out for McGrady, given his growth in Orlando, it's hard not to wonder what would have happened had the two cousins stayed together.
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