Yao Ming To His Neighbor Who Turned Off TV Before Tracy McGrady Scored 13 Points In 33 Seconds: "T-Mac And I Scored 15 Points In The Last Minute To Turn The Game Around."

It was a great display from the legendary shooting guard, but Yao took credit for that after the game was over. Several years later, the Chinese player would admit he told one neighbor that he and McGrady had turned things around and beat the Spurs together. 

"Remember who gave the ball to him [McGrady], when it was 35 seconds left. But you know, what I told my neighbor, after that night, because he turned off the TV minutes the game over, I told him, 'T-Mac and I scored 15 points in the last minute, to turn the game around.'"

Yao got game and jokes. It's too sad we couldn't watch him playing for a longer time, but he made sure to leave great memories behind. Although McGrady stole that show during that game, Yao was crucial to getting his teammate good looks, setting screens, giving him the ball, and clearing the way for the guard to do his thing, as fans recall. 

McGrady has always praised his former teammate, showing the huge respect he has for the former center and how important they were for each other's careers. 

“[He was] highly skilled, I’m talking about, could dribble the ball, could make the right passes, not just you know, making a pass anywhere, passing on target for where you could get in your shot. He sees the floor well. Left hand, right hand, he shot 80-plus percent from the da– foul line. He had it, bro, he had it. He was highly skilled. One of the, probably the most skilled big men I could remember," McGrady said on All The Smoke last year. 

This duo was really fun to watch during their best days. Unfortunately, they couldn't get things done with the Rockets and retired as one of the best duos that never won a championship. 

Ming finished his career in 2011, becoming an 8× NBA All-Star (2003–2009, 2011), 2× All-NBA Second Team (2007, 2009), and 3× All-NBA Third Team (2004, 2006, 2008). He had to go through a lot to earn his respect in the league, leaving the competition as one of the most beloved players ever.