Growing up in Orlando, the team was always mediocre. Every trip to the TD Waterhouse Centre was still a treat. How could you get excited for the perpetual Grant Hill injury and the consistently 40-42 win team that was the early-2000s Orlando Magic?
Tracy McGrady.
It is easy to forget what a tremendous scorer McGrady was at one time. He was a 30-point per game guy and had the fluidity and athleticism to score in any way he wanted. Forty-point games were commonplace in those days. You would see McGrady high-stepping over the half court line and you and the defense would know that he was about to pull for three and make it... and there was nothing anybody could do.
When knee and back injuries sapped away McGrady's athleticism and endurance, nobody was ever sure if that McGrady would return. He became a contract albatross for the Rockets, betrayed by his body.
For one night in 2012, the old McGrady returned. As Joe Johnson said after the game, it was "The Return of the Mac....
Original Story:
