[情報] Magic to Honor Tracy McGrady on Opening Night
Denton: Magic to Honor Tracy McGrady on Opening Night
Tracy McGrady is retired from professional basketball at the ripe old age of
34, but he isn’t very far removed from some of the greatest moments of his
illustrious 16-year career.
Even now in retirement, McGrady will scroll through his library of game
footage, and pop in a videotape or DVD of some of his finest performances.
Many of those moments occurred when he was not just a member of the Orlando
Magic, but a four-time All-NBA performer and the league’s most lethal
scorer.
Finally away from the game, McGrady can look back at the string-bean guard in
Magic blue and white in those videos and smile at all that he accomplished.
He not only lived out a life-long dream of playing for his favorite childhood
team in the Magic, but Orlando also provided him the stage to blossom into
one of the best players of his generation.
``Honestly, when I’m sitting home and I don’t have anything to watch on TV,
I pop those tapes in from the playoffs with the Magic and watch them,’’
McGrady said on Thursday. ``I’ll probably do it three or four times a week.
I’ll watch those games from Orlando and Houston, watch my playoff games and
reflect on what I was doing out there. When you are in the moment like that,
you don’t fully grasp it. But now that I can sit back and analyze it, and
see stretches where I scored like 15 straight points, I kind of amaze myself
with some of the stuff that I was able to accomplish.’’
Many of those same highlights will be shown on the Amway Center video board
when McGrady will be honored by the Magic on Opening Night on Nov. 1 before
the home opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. As part of their 25th
anniversary season, the Magic plan on bringing back and honoring several of
the top players from the franchise’s history.
魔術計畫在今年25週年的球季邀請幾名隊史頂尖球員,對鵜鶘的開幕戰將邀請到T-Mac
到Amway Center來。
T-Mac表示他現在沒事幹時還經常會拿以前在奧蘭多跟休士頓時的季後賽影片出來觀看
在那個當下你不能完全領悟每一個細節,但現在自己能坐在那裡慢慢的分析,看到連
得15分的影片時自己也會覺得很豪洨,當時是怎麼辦到的..
McGrady, who played in Orlando from 2000-04 and won NBA scoring titles in
2003 and ’04, said he was particularly touched that the Magic wanted him to
be the first in the legends series to be honored. He is planning on having
his children and several other family members in attendance, and he knows it
will be an emotional night for him.
``That is a special feeling right there for them wanting to bring me back to
be the first guy back to open this season,’’ McGrady said. ``It’s an
honor. I played there for four years, and playing in front of that crowd
every night and trying to entertain them, I think they always appreciated
what I brought to the organization. It’s going to be fun to go back and see
some of the familiar faces and be a part of a really special night."
Maybe no player in Magic history knows exactly what the franchise has meant
to Central Florida more than McGrady. As a child growing up in nearby
Auburndale in Polk County, McGrady attended games at Orlando Arena those
first few seasons, marveled at the raw size and power of Shaquille O’Neal
and patterned his own game after Penny Hardaway. The No. 1 Magic jersey was
the first one he ever owned and he always dreamed of being able to slide that
jersey on someday when he reached the NBA himself.
That childhood dream became a reality in August of 2000 when the Magic inked
McGrady and Grant Hill to matching six-year, $92.88 million free-agent
contracts. The day will always be an unforgettable one for McGrady because it
signified his hometown believing in him enough to invest greatly in his
future as a 21-year-old rising star.
``It was a dream come true for me to play with the Magic. With Orlando being
30 miles up from Auburndale and me watching those guys once they got a
franchise with Nick Anderson, Penny (Hardaway) and Shaq … that was local to
me and I always considered myself a local guy,’’ T-Mac said. ``It was
unbelievable for me to be able to play back at home in front of the hometown
fans and my family. To have that ability for my family and fans to watch me
blossom into the player that I became, you can never repeat a time like that.
``And considering that I wasn’t even a starter until my last year in
Toronto, and the Magic put all of their trust in me, that was amazing,’’
McGrady continued. ``They were confident in me by signing me to a max
contract. I think I was probably the first guy ever in the league to sign a
max contract as a non-starter. For them to have had that confidence in me
showed me a lot about the Magic. I’m forever grateful for that opportunity
they gave me to shine.’’
對於成為魔術Legends Series計劃的第一位致敬對象覺得很感動,到時將會帶著
小孩與家人一同出席,這將會是個激動的夜晚。
魔術隊當年給了他這個21歲,還不是先發球員的他92.88M的頂薪,自己應該是第
一個拿到頂薪的替補球員,很感激魔術隊的賞識與信任,給了自己絕佳的發光機
會,尤其能回到家鄉打球是美夢成真的事。
McGrady rewarded that confidence by becoming a perennial all-star and the NBA
’s most potent scorer. He averaged a jaw-dropping 26.8 points in his first
season with the Magic and followed that up with another 25.6 points a night.
As it turns out, he was just getting warmed up as he led the NBA in scoring
in back-to-back seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04 at 32.1 points per game and 28
points per game. He still holds team records for highest career scoring
average in a Magic uniform (28.1 ppg.), 40-point games in a season (11 in
2002-03) and 30-point games in a season (51 in 2002-03).
And – out of sheer necessity because of crippling ankle injuries to Hill –
McGrady was even better in the playoffs. He scored 33 points in his first
playoff game with the Magic and had 42 points two games later for his first
postseason victory with Orlando. He averaged 30 points a year later against
Charlotte and got the Magic to a 3-1 series lead against Detroit in 2003 with
performances of 43, 46, 29 and 27 points.
Much like he does by watching the old videotapes and reliving Magic memories,
McGrady still goes over in his head the night in 2004 when he battered the
Washington Wizards for a franchise-record 62 points. But even that
record-setting performance left McGrady strangely wanting more because he
struggled in the fourth quarter of what could have very well been an 80-point
night.
``I was (mad) at myself after that night. Actually the 62 points didn’t seem
good enough,’’ McGrady said, still somewhat frustrated some nine years
later. ``I missed nine free throws and I went through a stretch where I
missed seven shots in a row. I remember that night like it was yesterday. I
could have had so many more points. Maybe I could have been the first guy to
have 80 points before Kobe did it.’’
這裡開始嘴砲他對巫師那場比賽應該可以得超過80分的,比Kobe還早拿到超過80分!
Of course, McGrady was never able to lead the Magic out of the first round of
the playoffs during his time in Orlando largely because the supporting cast
around him was so weak. He ultimately asked out of Orlando because of a
falling out with former GM John Weisbord. Even now, McGrady wonders how his
career could have been different had he stayed in one place and had been able
to play with a healthy Grant Hill in Orlando or a healthy Yao Ming in
Houston.
``I have those conversations with my guys, but it’s hard to do it. It’s
hard to look back on those times because there were so many unfortunate
situations throughout my career. I’ve accomplished a lot in the league, but
some of the things just didn’t go right for me,’’ he said.
``Unfortunately a lot of my career is based off what ifs,’’ McGrady said
candidly. ``What if I had stayed in Toronto with the team that we had with my
cousin (Vince Carter)? What if we would have kept Mike Miller and we would
have had a healthy Grant Hill in Orlando? There’s no question in my mind
that we would have been a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference.’’
Those days are long gone now, and McGrady has turned his focus to his
post-playing career. Working with childhood friend Tim Bennett of Overtime
Sports, McGrady has agreed to become an owner of a Minor League Baseball
franchise pending the approval of a $21 million bond to build a stadium in
Biloxi, Miss. McGrady’s first love growing up was baseball and he recently
threw some 90-mile-an-hour fastballs to Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann
during a trip to a minor league park in Pearl, Miss.
生涯仍有些遺憾,很多不幸的事發生在他的生涯讓事情沒有走向對的方向,例如當
年沒有離開繼續與表哥VC並肩作戰、如果當年球隊有留住Mike Miller、如果能跟
健康的Grant Hill或姚明一起並肩作戰...etc
情況會變得如何?這是沒有答案的問題..但可以想見球隊會成為一支東部勁旅。
眾所皆知,T-Mac最愛的運動其實是棒球,他現在成為了小聯盟球隊的owner並投資興
建球場,且還丟了幾顆90miles的球給公道伯Brian McCann接捕。
As for his upcoming honoring by the Magic, McGrady said he can hardly wait
for Nov. 1 to arrive. Booed in recent years by Magic fans who were upset that
he forced a trade in 2004, McGrady is hopeful that the fans will instead
focus on all of the great moments he provided while wearing a Magic uniform
for four seasons. He said he has nothing but great memories of his time in
Orlando and he is honored that he can help the Magic celebrate their 25th
anniversary season.
``I know that it will be an emotional night for me,’’ McGrady said. ``I
will have my kids there with me and for them to witness 18,000 people
hopefully giving me a standing ovation, yeah, it will be very emotional for
me.
``To be able to reflect back on the times that I had when I played there, it
will be so much fun,’’ he continued. ``It was some really amazing times for
me in Orlando. We didn’t really accomplish a lot as a team, but for what we
had, we brought it every night. And I’ll say that we really entertained the
Orlando fans with the Darrell Armstrongs, the Bo Outlaws, Monty Williams and
Pat Garritys. We laid it all out there and entertained our fans. As far as a
team standpoint with what we had to work with, I think we accomplished a lot.
’’
T-Mac期待能得到18000名觀眾的起力鼓掌,那將會十分的感人。
---
當初分手其實分得有些難看,滿意外第一個找的傳奇球星就是T-Mac
接下來會找Shaq回來大和解嗎XD?
--
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◆ From: 122.116.220.163
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