McGrady gets a taste of fan fury over limited playing time

Qingdao Eagles' former NBA player Tracy McGrady picks up the basketball while on the bench during a preseason exhibition game against a team of American players on Tuesday.

Photo by Xinhua

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AUTHORITIES in Shandong Province were forced to stop a basketball match involving former NBA superstar Tracy McGrady after fans began tossing objects onto the court, angry at his limited playing time in the game.

The seven-time NBA All Star created a sensation when he signed with the Chinese Basketball Association's Qingdao Eagles last month, selling out each of the club's three pre-season exhibition matches against a team of American players.

But Tuesday's third game in Binzhou City was halted late in the fourth quarter after fans began hurling water bottles and other objects and calling for McGrady, who was sitting on the bench, to play, webportal Sina.com said.

McGrady, 33, had only played the first minute and 38 seconds of the match, scoring five points and helping Qingdao to a 13-0 lead, which it never gave up.

In a video of the game also posted on Sina.com, most of the 5,000 fans in the arena are seen shouting in unison for McGrady to play.

Objects rained down on the court as security personnel hurriedly escorted McGrady into the locker room.

McGrady only played limited minutes in his first match in China last week, but on Sunday in his second exhibition appearance he scored 34 points and had nine rebounds in 28 minutes of playing time.

The performance was widely reported throughout China, further fuelling expectations for the 15-year NBA veteran, who in 2003 and 2004 led the league in scoring.

McGrady returned to the court and told the crowd that he did not play because of the weather and stadium conditions.

The CBA regular season begins this weekend, with 17 teams set to play 32 games each, before an eight-team championship playoff.

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