Orlando Magic: Tracy McGrady’s Tenure In Retrospect
When Tracy McGrady was with the Orlando Magic, this was a real question: “Who is going to be better in five years: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James or Tracy McGrady?”
That was the topic of conversation back when Kobe and McGrady were in their prime, with LeBron on the way up as the league’s next superstar. In the 2002-03 season, McGrady put up Michael Jordan-type of numbers, averaging 32.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Without question, McGrady had justified the Magic agreeing to sign-and-trade for him and his seven-year, $93 million max contract at the time he was a free agent. This came after his last season in Toronto in which he only averaged 15.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. Kobe and LeBron are already two of the greatest players of all-time, so for McGrady to be mentioned in the same category at that time goes to show you just how great of a player he was.
McGrady was brought to Orlando in the summer of 2000 in a sign-and-trade deal that only cost the Magic a draft pick. He was expected to team with another preeminent star in Grant Hill, who also signed with the Magic that summer, to form a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference. The only problem though is that Hill never stayed healthy and there was not enough of a supporting cast around McGrady to contend. Hill’s health, though, was the primary reason McGrady never made it out of the first round with the Magic in his four seasons with the franchise. Most notably in the 2003 playoffs, McGrady led the Magic to go up 3-1 against the Detroit Pistons, who were the No. 1 seed. Being the Magic fan that I am, I remember it as clear as day when McGrady embarrassed himself in the postgame press conference, jokingly stating that it felt good to be out of the first round. Unfortunately for Magic fans, this is one of the things they may remember about him the most.
McGrady’s first season in Orlando was exceptional and the league took notice of his arrival as one of its premier players. His play won him the Most Improved Player award in 2001. Over the course of his career in Orlando, McGrady revitalized the franchise and brought the excitement back that had been missing since Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway had the Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals.
If there was a player you could compare his game to, Kevin Durant gets the call. Durant is essentially a taller version of McGrady, with that incredible length, explosiveness, ball handling and shooting ability, but Durant is a more efficient scorer. Durant is arguably the top scorer in the league today and McGrady also captured two scoring titles throughout his career.
From 2000-04, McGrady was one of the top fan favorites in the league, providing highlight after highlight, shake after shake, dunk after dunk. He was one of the few players who started the trend of throwing alley-oops to themselves off the backboard, like he did in the 2002 All-Star Game. As much of an entertainer and highlight reel that McGrady was, he left the franchise in 2004 with more to be desired, particularly more playoff wins. All great players get judged by their playoff success.
It will be interesting to see if T-Mac gets voted into the Hall of Fame.
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