Pistons < Spurs
02-18-2006, 01:01 AM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2334682
HOUSTON -- All-Star weekend has come to Houston during one of the worst times of Tracy McGrady's life.
The 26-year-old Rockets star, who'll play in his sixth All-Star game Sunday, won't divulge what's bothering him, but said his personal crisis is as trying as anything he's ever faced.
"I'm human, I'm going through some things in my life, things I've got to deal with, and I'm just trying to handle it the best way I can," McGrady said. "It's wearing and tearing at me. This weight has gotten heavy for me and it's taking a toll."
Even Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy is concerned, making a recent unscheduled visit to McGrady's house to talk to him about his issues. McGrady told Van Gundy he was considering taking some games off and disappearing from public life.
"I told my coach that's how I felt -- that I really felt like leaving and not tell people where I was going, just getting away for a few days and just clearing my mind," McGrady said. "I need peace of mind right now. It's all just piled up on me and broken me down."
McGrady has missed 13 games this season with back spasms and left another game in late December to see his fiancee, Clerenda Harris, give birth to their second child, a son.
But McGrady wouldn't say whether the issues were health-related or who they involve.
"I've dealt with family members passing away, best friends getting killed," McGrady said. "This is a lot worse than that because it's a combination of things in different areas.
"I'm in a tough stage of my life right now."
Whatever is bothering him, it's affected his play.
In his last 12 games, McGrady has shot worse than 32 percent from the field six times, including a 4-for-15 night in Houston's 109-75 loss to Phoenix on Thursday. He went 3-for-20 against New York last Sunday and refused to speak to reporters afterward.
"At times, I don't even want to be in the arena or a uniform," McGrady said. "It's just been so frustrating. In the past, I've usually done a great job of keeping things to myself and really not letting things affect me.
"I am going through some things and it does affect my professional life. I try not to let it, but I can't really control it."
McGrady had planned to skip Friday's media availability. Friends convinced him to go and McGrady said he hopes the weekend festivities in his backyard will take his mind off the personal problems.
"It really took a lot for me to come down here with the things that are going on," McGrady said. "They told me it was the best thing for me and I realize this is in the city I perform in every night."
McGrady said friends are helping him work through the issues, and he feels better than he did a few days ago.
"There, for a while, I wasn't really myself in games, after games, and everybody noticed it," he said. "I just felt like sharing with people what I was going through -- things that wear and tear on me physically and emotionally."
Across the room, McGrady's All-Star teammate, Yao Ming, was answering less personal questions -- most of them in Chinese. A swarm of Asian media mobbed the 7-foot-6 Yao, the top vote-getter for the All-Star game, as soon as he ducked under a black curtain and appeared in a hotel ballroom.
Yao will play in his fourth All-Star game and compared his experiences since he was drafted in 2002 to earning a college education.
"The NBA life has made me grow up a lot," Yao said. "I have not just grown up in my basketball skills, it's made me stronger and tougher."
For one thing, he's become more confident in his English, doing interviews without a translator for the first time this season.
"It's getting a lot easier," Yao said. "I'm getting used to it."
HOUSTON -- All-Star weekend has come to Houston during one of the worst times of Tracy McGrady's life.
The 26-year-old Rockets star, who'll play in his sixth All-Star game Sunday, won't divulge what's bothering him, but said his personal crisis is as trying as anything he's ever faced.
"I'm human, I'm going through some things in my life, things I've got to deal with, and I'm just trying to handle it the best way I can," McGrady said. "It's wearing and tearing at me. This weight has gotten heavy for me and it's taking a toll."
Even Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy is concerned, making a recent unscheduled visit to McGrady's house to talk to him about his issues. McGrady told Van Gundy he was considering taking some games off and disappearing from public life.
"I told my coach that's how I felt -- that I really felt like leaving and not tell people where I was going, just getting away for a few days and just clearing my mind," McGrady said. "I need peace of mind right now. It's all just piled up on me and broken me down."
McGrady has missed 13 games this season with back spasms and left another game in late December to see his fiancee, Clerenda Harris, give birth to their second child, a son.
But McGrady wouldn't say whether the issues were health-related or who they involve.
"I've dealt with family members passing away, best friends getting killed," McGrady said. "This is a lot worse than that because it's a combination of things in different areas.
"I'm in a tough stage of my life right now."
Whatever is bothering him, it's affected his play.
In his last 12 games, McGrady has shot worse than 32 percent from the field six times, including a 4-for-15 night in Houston's 109-75 loss to Phoenix on Thursday. He went 3-for-20 against New York last Sunday and refused to speak to reporters afterward.
"At times, I don't even want to be in the arena or a uniform," McGrady said. "It's just been so frustrating. In the past, I've usually done a great job of keeping things to myself and really not letting things affect me.
"I am going through some things and it does affect my professional life. I try not to let it, but I can't really control it."
McGrady had planned to skip Friday's media availability. Friends convinced him to go and McGrady said he hopes the weekend festivities in his backyard will take his mind off the personal problems.
"It really took a lot for me to come down here with the things that are going on," McGrady said. "They told me it was the best thing for me and I realize this is in the city I perform in every night."
McGrady said friends are helping him work through the issues, and he feels better than he did a few days ago.
"There, for a while, I wasn't really myself in games, after games, and everybody noticed it," he said. "I just felt like sharing with people what I was going through -- things that wear and tear on me physically and emotionally."
Across the room, McGrady's All-Star teammate, Yao Ming, was answering less personal questions -- most of them in Chinese. A swarm of Asian media mobbed the 7-foot-6 Yao, the top vote-getter for the All-Star game, as soon as he ducked under a black curtain and appeared in a hotel ballroom.
Yao will play in his fourth All-Star game and compared his experiences since he was drafted in 2002 to earning a college education.
"The NBA life has made me grow up a lot," Yao said. "I have not just grown up in my basketball skills, it's made me stronger and tougher."
For one thing, he's become more confident in his English, doing interviews without a translator for the first time this season.
"It's getting a lot easier," Yao said. "I'm getting used to it."