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Orlando Magic Daily Podcast Episode 75: Tracy McGrady’s Legacy with Ben DuBose of Locked On Rockets

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Tracy McGrady goes up for a dunk in a Playoff game against the Detroit Pistons. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Tracy McGrady goes up for a dunk in a Playoff game against the Detroit Pistons. Photo courtesy of Getty Images. /
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With Tracy McGrady entering the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, we discussed his legacy with Ben DuBose of Locked On Rockets.

To Orlando Magic fans, Tracy McGrady is one of the defining players in the franchise’s history.

In the time between the Anfernee Hardaway and Dwight Howard eras, two eras that saw the team reach its peak, Tracy McGrady dominated games and singlehandedly made the team relevant. With the Magic waiting for Grant Hill to get healthy, Tracy McGrady emerged as a bona fide superstar in the league. With Orlando, he made the All-Star team four times and was a two-time All-NBA First Team selection.

No one could argue that McGrady’s Orlando Magic legacy is intact. And it seems likely he will be the next player inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame this coming year.

That is largely because his permanent legacy is intact and set for recognition this weekend. McGrady will enter the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday. It is a long-awaited ceremony for the Magic legend.

For his career, McGrady averaged 19.6 points per game, weighed down by his late career decline thanks to injuries. With the Magic in four seasons, McGrady averaged 28.1 points per game, winning two scoring titles. Again, he cemented himself as one of the best players in the league.

It is this reason he is a Hall of Famer.

But McGrady’s legacy does have some tarnish to it. He failed to get out of the first round of the Playoffs at any point in his career. It might be easy to forget McGrady if you did not live through his career and see his scoring brilliance.

Luckily, McGrady’s legacy has lived on. Whether it be through stories of his play or through YouTube highlights or through his presence on ESPN or greats like Kobe Bryant talking about him and his impact. When he goes into the Hall of Fame on Friday, fans of basketball in the 2000s are certainly going to celebrate his induction.

His legacy is a story of his individual greatness and how little control stars had at that time over their team’s fates.

To discuss McGrady’s place in NBA history and his legacy with both the Orlando Magic and the Houston Rockets, I turned to Ben DuBose of Locked On Rockets to ask him about his perspective on McGrady’s legacy and fill us in on where McGrady went with Houston to give a full perspective on his career.

On This Episode

  • Update on how Houston is recovering from Hurricane Harvey
  • Why Tracy McGrady’s peak was as dominant as any one else
  • What made Tracy McGrady special and one of the best players of his era
  • Why Tracy McGrady never experienced team success
  • Tracy McGrady at the pinnacle of individual dominance
  • How Tracy McGrady fits into the story of basketball
  • How Tracy McGrady tried to adjust in the face of injury
  • How Tracy McGrady compares to Kobe Bryant and how their legends are built
  • Tracy McGrady’s evolution
  • Why Tracy McGrady’s memory seems to endure and who keeps his legacy alive
  • What jersey defines Tracy McGrady’s legacy? Is he a Magic or a Rocket?
  • What will the Houston Rockets look like this year with Chris Paul in the fold?

Be sure to check out Locked On Rockets on iTunes and Audioboom. You can also follow Ben DuBose on Twitter @BenDuBose.

Next: Tracy McGrady's playing legacy is with Orlando Magic

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