Tracy McGrady is one of the most gifted and skilled players we’ve seen in the NBA in the past two decades. At 6-foot-8, he could do things with the basketball that made fans question, “how is that possible?” T-Mac, already a member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, received another important honor on Tuesday. The Orlando Magic inducted him into the team’s Hall of Fame.
The enshrinement made T-Mac emotional.
“Yes, I got inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, but today is special to me,” said McGrady, who now works for ESPN as an analyst. “On a personal level, growing up in Auburndale, Florida, my mom used to drive over here every summer when I was playing basketball in Orlando…and I used to tell my mom, I would tell my friends that I was going to be wearing this uniform one day.”
McGrady started his career with Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors, but he had his best years with the Magic and the Houston Rockets. He played 295 games for the Magic and still leads the franchise in scoring average (he put up 28.1 points per game for the Magic). McGrady wore No. 1 in honor of Penny Hardaway. He said signing with Orlando in 2000 was an easy decision.
“Nobody had to do any recruiting,” he said. “I knew I was coming home.”
The Magic sent the love right back at T-Mac, who spent four years in Orlando.
“To say you represented the Orlando Magic well would be a vast, vast understatement,” team CEO Alex Martins said to McGrady during the ceremony.
Drafted No. 9 overall in 1997, McGrady went on to become a seven-time All-Star. He won Most Improved Player in 2001 and twice made the All-NBA First Team. McGrady, who entered the league from high school, finished his career with the San Antonio Spurs in 2013.
