NBA Legend Tracy McGrady Announces Personal News on Friday

Tracy McGrady Credited Kobe Bryant for His Lifetime Adidas Contract

McGrady signed a deal with Adidas back in 1997 ahead of his rookie season. However, just a few years later, in 2002, he signed a lifetime contract with the company worth $100 million.

In a 2020 interview on the "All the Smoke"podcast, the Florida native made it clear that he does not believe he would have gotten the contract if it were not for Kobe Bryant's departure from the company that same year.

"If it wasn't for [Kobe Bryant] leaving Adidas, I probably wouldn't have gotten my big deal. I would've got leftovers. Man, my dog, thank you. Hey man, when Kob left, I was next on the totem pole. I moved up the charts, boy. And [expletive], I got that big bag and still getting it. My dog, thank you," McGrady said.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Rfwf0HdczBc

Though McGrady had a lucrative deal with Adidas, it became clear over time that he no longer had interest in remaining with the company.

In 2022, just a year before his departure from Adidas became official, McGrady revealed he had a "rocky" relationship with the company and that their partnership was likely "coming to an end."

"It's rocky. I've been with Adidas for 25 years; I think we're coming to an end," McGrady said. "The treatment that I've gotten from them over the last 10 years, it is what it is. I deserve better. So yeah, I think it's coming to an end. When I started [Ones Basketball League], I was told I couldn't pull this off by Adidas. And so that's why I feel that way."

Regardless of how their relationship was in the past, McGrady has found his way back to Adidas once again. What will come of their new partnership remains to be seen, however.