"It Ain't Easy Being Good" - basketball players

Basketball Digest, Summer, 2001 by Brett Ballantini

Tracy McGrady shifted on the fly from a complementary player to the sole superstar--and he came through the test a much better player than anyone thought he could be

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE YEAR of redemption for the Orlando Magic. Five years after losing Shaquille O'Neal to the left coast and a year removed from trading Penny Hardaway to the Phoenix Suns, the Magic were bouncing back by adding two new superstars, free-agent signees Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady.

While many saw the Magic jumping to the top of a weak Eastern Conference, it turned out that the sore ankle that forced Hill to miss the 2000 Olympics hadn't completely healed. Hill's output for the season? Four games. Welcome home, Tracy.

With the burden of expectations--already high after signing a max contract to play in his hometown at age 21--falling fully on McGrady's shoulders, the four-year veteran reacted as no one thought he would. T-Mac simply took over the team and displayed a staggering burst of growth that finds him BASKETBALL DIEST'S 2000-01 Most Improved Player.

"Orlando is a perfect fit. Everything's been happening to me for a reason," McGrady says. "Grant going down gave me the opportunity to show what I could really do on the basketball court, to see if I could handle the pressure and lead this team to the playoffs."

McGrady navigated the Magic through a rocky start, complicated by the "will he/won't he" nature of Hill's injury that kept his Orlando teammates on the hook for the first weeks of the season. By season's end, the Magic were 43-39 and back in the playoffs.

"Tracy stepped up to such a high level. I didn't think he could get there this quickly," Magic coach Doc Rivers says. "Because of Grant's injury, our three-year plan for Tracy turned into a three-day plan."

Our Most Improved Player Award usually honors a breakout season by a lesser-known or underachieving player. The combination of his new opportunity and Hill's injury, however, put McGrady in the rare position of being an established star whose growth was greater than that of any other player. His scoring average was nearly double that of his career mark heading into the season (15.4 vs. 26.8 ppg), and he set career marks in minutes (40.1), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.6), steals (1.51), blocks (1.53), and shooting (45.7% from the floor, 35.5% from the arc, and 73.3% from the line). Unofficially, he set Magic records for clutch defensive stops and poster-quality dunks.

"Everybody underestimated me, just like they underestimated this team," McGrady says. "I have a deep passion for this game. I'm all about winning. It was time for me to elevate my game, and I think I did a pretty good job."

That low-key assessment is in direct contrast to the euphoria Orlando feels over scoring the free-agent steal of the summer. Rivers puts is bluntly: "I'll hang up the phone on anyone who calls and offers a trade for Tracy."

As for McGrady, who laughs when told he won family bragging rights by being named to BASKETBALL DIGEST'S All-NBA First Team over cousin Vince Carter, he's surprised even himself with some of what he's been able to accomplish in this, his first season as a full-time starter.

"There was a span in the season when I was scoring 30 in consecutive games, and I thought, `This is too easy,'" McGrady says, laughing. "Even Grant was telling me, `Man, you're making it look easy.' My friends were asking, `Are you bored?' But I was just out there playing."

The key to McGrady's improvement this season was the work he put into his game over the summer, anticipating the additional pressure that would come after signing a massive contract to play in his hometown.

"I worked my butt off trying to get myself ready for what I was about to go up against: coming into a new role, a new system, everybody expecting me to produce," McGrady says. "Then I sort of got thrown to the wolves [with Hill's injury] and fought back."

Burdens and expectations aside, playing nearly more than 10 mpg more this season than last can add up, especially for a young player who's still getting a feel for his game. Complicate matters with the fact that as one of the best defenders in the league [McGrady is also featured in our All-Defensive Team story beginning on page 52], McGrady is unable to take a single play off during the course of a game.

"Pacing myself was definitely something I had to adjust to," McGrady says. "Defending the best guy on the other team and having to put up numbers on offense is definitely a tough job. Coach has told me, `It ain't easy being good,' and I finally realized that."

Rivers knows a little something about playing on both ends of the court, and McGrady's consistent production all season long is an indication that his young superstar was well-prepared for the long haul of the season. "He's sustained a high level. A lot of young players can play a good 20 minutes, or have a great month. Tracy's done it all year," Rivers says.

There's no question that defense is what put McGrady in position for super-stardom, and he's not likely to forget where his bread is buttered. "I'm confident on both ends of the court. I'm guarding the best player on the other team, and I've got to put up numbers as well," McGrady says with a sigh. "It's tough to do that night in and night out, but defense is the key to winning ballgames, and there's nothing more exciting than locking a guy up, then going to the other end and putting numbers up on the guy. I enjoy both ends of the court, but defense is where it starts."