Tracy McGrady’s playing legacy is with the Orlando Magic
Tracy McGrady enters the Hall of Fame after cementing his legacy primarily with the Orlando Magic, making him the Magic’s first true Hall of Famer.
When Tracy McGrady enters the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he will be the second player with a strong Orlando Magic legacy to enter the Hall in the franchise’s relatively short 28-year history.
That is quite a distinguished mark for the franchise. In many ways, it cements the Magic not as a fleeting franchise but among the league’s greats. Now, the story of the league cannot be told without thinking of the Magic.
There will be no permanent marker of this — unlike the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is no distinguishing mark on the plaques commemorating the player’s induction — but it is still a marker for the Magic to lay claim to and remember. In the Basketball Hall of Fame, there is memorabilia and memories from all parts of a player’s career. It is not limited to one team.
Despite how beloved the 1995 Magic are, including that 30 for 30 documentary that will memorialize and keep that team alive far longer than most NBA runners-up, Shaquille O’Neal will go down in history as a Los Angeles Lakers center. Sure, Shaquille O’Neal is on the NBA2K18 all-time Orlando Magic, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers (deservedly so). But three of his four titles came with the Lakers, as did most of his most dominant seasons.
The Magic can claim enough of him to call him the franchise’s first Hall of Famer. But he did not predominately make his mark with the Magic. Again, other than a team with a cult following. O’Neal is a Los Angeles Laker.
McGrady is different.
With McGrady, he does not entirely belong to the Magic. But a significant number of his memories and his highlights happened in Magic blue. The majority of his prime happened in a Magic uniform. And that makes his legacy more clearly one that belongs to the Magic.
Orlando Magic
If he were to go into the Hall of Fame with a jersey, the Magic would be the first one many fans think of.
The Houston Rockets will also lay claim to him. McGrady kept up his strong scoring performances in Houston after Orlando traded him in 2004. Perhaps his most famous moment came in a Houston Rockets uniform — his 13 points in 35 seconds to beat the San Antonio Spurs. But his body was certainly beginning to break down, he was not the same player as he was in Orlando.
When looking at merely on-court production, it is clear his legacy belongs to the Magic.
In four years with Orlando, McGrady averaged 28.1 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game and 5.2 assists per game. He made the Playoffs in three of those seasons, carrying the team with Grant Hill largely sidelined with injuries during his tenure.
But it was at this time he truly blossomed into a star. He was an All-Star starter all four years in Orlando and an All-NBA team selection, including two first team selections. He averaged a league-high 32.1 points per game in 2003 and won the scoring title again in 2004, averaging 28.0 points per game.
It is safe to say he is the greatest scorer in Magic history.
And somehow he stepped his game up in the Playoffs. He averaged 32.0 points per game, 5.9 assists per game and 6.5 rebounds per game. McGrady carried a heavy burden, but he became a transcendent player in the league. Even on his own, he could will the Magic into the Playoffs and give the team a chance. It would be impossible to tell the story of the NBA in the 2000s without some mention of McGrady.
And it is for this reason he is in the Hall of Fame.
But that also includes his time with the Rockets. McGrady averaged 22.7 points per game, 5.6 assists per game and 5.5 rebounds per game with Houston. He finally had the help he needed in Yao Ming.
But his body was beginning to break down. He made the next three All-Star Games for the Rockets, but by 2006 he was already missing significant time. By 2009, McGrady would never make it through a full season again in his career.
Strictly by on-court performance, McGrady’s numbers were better with the Magic. He was a historically great scorer with Orlando. He kept it up in Houston, although to a lesser extent because he started to get some of the help he never got in Orlando, although not by much.
This point was something I discussed with Locked On Rockets host Ben DuBose on an episode of Locked On Magic earlier this week:
It is clearly something that remains open for debate. He holds a place with both franchises — and really three considering his three years of growth with the Toronto Raptors before arriving in Orlando.
McGrady’s career was not overly long. His prime years lasted until about 2008 or 2009, giving him a roughly 10-year career of rising play and prime play. Most of that prime play — four years — he spent in Orlando, tearing up the record books and terrorizing defenses.
Most of his memorable moments happened with Orlando — the off-the-backboard dunk, the 62-point game and his Playoff performances. On top of all this, his most iconic shoe — the T-Mac 2 — came out while he was in Orlando.
But, there is undoubtedly a case for Houston to lay claim to his legacy. And some of that has to do with what happened off the court.
While with the Rockets, McGrady expanded his marketing presence and became one of the most popular players in China. He still is immensely popular in China. It started with his time with the Magic, but exploded in his time with the Rockets playing alongside Yao.
McGrady’s best teams and the closest he came to advancing out of the first round all came with the Rockets too. The lack of team success makes it hard to judge his legacy fully.
How fans choose to remember him might be another matter from how the stats say we should remember him. That is the funny thing about memorializing these things.
The debate over who owns more of his legacy should live on. And may be a largely irrelevant conversation anyway — it is not cast in bronze, so to speak.
When looking purely at the numbers and the impact he had, McGrady should be wearing a Magic jersey. His best years came in Orlando as did the majority of his prime.
It is for this reason McGrady’s Hall of Fame means so much to the Magic. He is the first player whose primary memories come in a Magic uniform. He is the first true Orlando Magic player in the Hall of Fame.
Next: Tracy McGrady's legacy marred by poor support
And his legacy in Orlando will live on.