Tracy McGrady won two NBA scoring titles during his career. (REUTERS)

Tracy McGrady officially announced his retirement from the NBA on ESPN’s “First Take.” It wasn’t a complete shock considering McGrady has been relegated to the bench the last three years, most recently this past season with the San Antonio Spurs.

McGrady put up some spectacular numbers during his 16-year career, but he also suffered through some painful moments. Despite scoring more than 18,000 points and winning two scoring titles, T-Mac was associated with playoff failures. He infamously said during the 2003 Eastern Conference playoffs that “it feels good to be in the second round” after his Orlando Magic squad took a 3-1 lead on the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately for the seven-time All-Star, the series was a best-of-seven and the Magic lost the next three games and got bounced in the first round.

ESPN writers J.A. Adande, Bradford Doolittle, Israel Gutierrez, Curtis Harris, and Ethan Sherwood Strauss weighed in on whether or not McGrady deserves a place in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

Here’s what they said:

Adande: This is similar to [Grant] Hill, whose years among the elite were cut short by injuries and who never made it past the first round of the playoffs in his prime. But Hill has his college exploits to pad his résumé and make him a lock in my mind. McGrady’s case is iffier, but six seasons among the league’s top 10 (first- or second-team All-NBA) would be just enough to get my vote. For a while there was a legitimate debate between McGrady and Kobe Bryant. A spot in the Hall of Fame would be a way to remember those times.

Doolittle: It’s a tough case. I did a study a few years ago and found that a player is basically a no-brainer for the Hall at 170 career WARP. McGrady finishes with 149. He’s a solid candidate, but he’s in the gray area where intangible arguments such as his relatively short peak and lack of team playoff success start to enter into the equation. In the end, I think he should be in. Eventually.

Gutierrez: Yes. Every eligible scoring champion is now in the Hall of Fame except Max Zaslofsky (1948), and McGrady won it twice. Plus, he had seven straight seasons of at least 24.4 points, 4.8 assists and 5.3 rebounds. Even without being the most efficient player ever, that’s Hall of Fame-worthy.

Harris: Absolutely. The Hall of Fame should be about the game’s greatest players. For a solid five-year stretch, McGrady had one of the best runs of any player in league history. You can’t possibly discuss the NBA of the 2000s, at least knowledgeably, without mentioning McGrady’s integral place.

Strauss: Yes. The Hall of Fame is nearly as arbitrary as a raffle, so at a certain point, these questions are about personal preference. My defense of T-Mac’s Hall entrance is that his 2002-03 season was an all-timer, and it came during an era when perimeter defense dominated perimeter offense.

Adande makes a good parallel with Grant Hill. Hill was a superstar in college at Duke, winning two national championships, but his NBA career was limited by nagging injuries. McGrady didn’t play college ball — he was the ninth overall selection by the Toronto Raptors straight out of Mt. Zion Christian Academy — so his NBA resume has to be on the front of his business card and that’s where the debate lies.

Gutierrez said every eligible scoring champ made it to the Hall of Fame, except one player. McGrady was the NBA’s top scorer in 2003 and 2004, and averaged more than 24 points per game for seven straight seasons.

Great players belong in the Basketball Hall of Fame, even if some of them never won a championship. Charles Barkley and Karl Malone were two of the most dominant players despite not winning a title. McGrady could be classified as a great scorer and that may be good enough to land him in Springfield some day.

First of all, McGrady hasn’t played a single minute this season and may not play until January, which means that it would probably take him another month or two to get in basketball shape.

Second, McGrady is no longer an elite player. He’s a shell of himself and his numbers last season proved that. In the 35 games he appeared in 2008-09, T-Mac averaged 15 points a game and shot just 38% from the field – both career lows.

Tracy McGrady sitting on the trainer's table getting treatment. Haven't we seen this picture before?

And third, the All-Star game will be played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is expecting at least 80,000 fans to attend, which would be the largest crowd to watch an NBA game. Do we really need to showcase a washed up T-Mac hobbling around the court on such a record-setting occasion? I don’t think so.

So, for those “T-Mac fans” out there, stop voting for your guy. He doesn’t deserve to be an All-Star. I would rather see Steve Nash, Chris Paul or Brandon Roy represent the West and join Kobe Bryant in the starting backcourt.

It’s not too late to get T-Mac out of the game. Here’s the voting breakdown:

Eastern Conference

Forwards: LeBron James (Clev) 649,327; Kevin Garnett (Bos) 533,187; Chris Bosh (Tor) 303,550; Paul Pierce (Bos) 131,379; Josh Smith (Atl) 109,404; Danny Granger (Ind) 100,122; Andre Iguodala (Phi) 75,146; Michael Beasley (Mia) 58,461; Hedo Turkoglu (Tor) 55,416; Rashard Lewis (Orl) 46,073; Luol Deng (Chi) 37,428.

Guards: Dwyane Wade (Mia) 672,227; Vince Carter (Orl) 292,002; Gilbert Arenas (Was) 212,526; Ray Allen (Bos) 208,276 Derrick Rose (Chi) 196,059; Allen Iverson (Phi) 136,976*; Joe Johnson (Atl) 118,964; Rajon Rondo (Bos) 113,371; Jose Calderon (Tor) 68,084; Mike Bibby (Atl) 48,935.

Centers: Dwight Howard (Orl) 625,279; Shaquille O’Neal (Cle) 206,657; Andrea Bargnani (Tor) 67,310; Al Horford (Atl) 52,747; Andrew Bogut (Mil) 45,920; Brook Lopez (NJ) 39,420; Jermaine O’Neal (Mia) 38,956; Rasheed Wallace (Bos) 36,855; Kendrick Perkins (Bos) 19,408; Brad Miller (Chi) 17,188; Tyson Chandler (Cha) 14,062; Samuel Dalembert, (Phi) 13,969.

Western Conference

Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 588,958; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 366,300; Pau Gasol (LAL) 280,758; Tim Duncan (SA) 271,321; Kevin Durant (OKC) 177,205; Trevor Ariza (Hou) 168,167; Shawn Marion (Dal) 161,653; Luis Scola (Hou) 134,321; Ron Artest (LAL) 99,209; Lamar Odom (LAL) 85,817; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 70,588.

Guards: Kobe Bryant (LAL) 692,518; Tracy McGrady (Hou) 281,545; Steve Nash (Pho) 272,135; Chris Paul (NO) 248,049; Jason Kidd (Dal) 207,247; Jason Terry (Dal) 131,422; Aaron Brooks (Hou) 131,167; Chauncey Billups (Den) 112,509; Brandon Roy (Por) 106,416; Deron Williams (Utah) 94,715; Manu Ginobili (SA) 75,392.

Centers: Amar’e Stoudemire (Pho) 447,776; Andrew Bynum (LAL) 299,484; Nene (Den) 90,439; Marc Gasol (Mem) 75,765; Greg Oden (Por) 73,874; Al Jefferson (Min) 48,676; Antonio McDyess (SA) 46,323; Mehmet Okur (Utah) 35,606; Marcus Camby (LAC) 35,471; Andris Biedrins (GS) 28,287; Emeka Okafor (NO) 19,827; Spencer Hawes (Sac) 10,733.

Tracy McGrady's knees have been so problematic he was forced to sit out the playoffs.

The Houston Rockets finally figured out a way to get out of the first round – don’t play Tracy McGrady. The harsh reality of the situation is McGrady was holding back the Rockets and probably the best thing that could have happened was T-Mac getting hurt and sitting out the NBA playoffs.

For whatever reason, McGrady has never been able to get his teams past the first round. But the moment he puts on a suit and posts a DNP on the box score, the Rockets find themselves in the Western Conference semifinals for the first time since 1997. Coincidence? Not likely.

For all his wonderful individual accomplishments, T-Mac is a reluctant superstar. He just does not have a closer’s mentality. He would rather pass up a shot than take it himself. When things get rough and tough, McGrady grows soft, which does not translate well to his teammates who are all looking to their All-Star guard to deliver daggers instead of wet pampers.

He is also prone to injury, logging more minutes on the trainer’s table than on the court, which makes him more of a She-Mac than a T-Mac in the eyes of most observers. Perception sometimes becomes reality, and T-Mac has never been able to shed his cream puff image. Like a nasty computer virus, T-Mac’s sagging attitude has infected the rest of the team, particularly center Yao Ming. Yao’s confidence comes and goes, and some blame T-Mac for bringing down his 7-foot-6 center.

The Rockets may not be a better team talent-wise without McGrady, but they are certainly playing better without their much-maligned superstar and have a better shot in the second round with the tandem of Yao Ming and Ron Artest leading the way.

Sure, Artest tends pound the ball too much and take ill-advised shots, but what Artest brings to the table is a certain swagger and toughness the Rockets have been lacking in more than 10 years.

And Yao seems to truly enjoy playing with his new BFF.

At the postgame press conference following the victory in Game 6 against Portland, Yao and Artest were laughing and joking with reporters. Artest was in such a great mood he went into the stands. (No! Not again, right?)  This time, Artest exchanged celebratory handshakes with the fans.

“It’s not the first time I’ve been in the stands,” Artest joked. “This guy offered me a (drink), so I went in there and sat down with him.” Then, when Artest stood up and left the podium, Yao spoke into the microphone and told Artest, “I’ll see you in the club.”

How times have changed in Houston. The dark cloud that had been hovering over the franchise for years is finally lifted, and Yao and Artest are smiling from ear to ear and are going clubbing.