ONEONONE with Tracy McGrady

Sporting News, The, Jan 29, 2001 by Sean Deveney

In his fourth season since joining the NBA out of high school, 21-year-old Tracy McGrady has developed into one of the best players in the league. After three seasons with the Raptors, he left Toronto to play for Orlando, a short drive from his boyhood home in Auburndale, Fla. He is averaging 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists and is second in the All-Star balloting among Eastern Conference guards. TSN's Sean Deveney went one-on-one with McGrady, discussing homecooking, his nickname and baseball

TSN: How is it to be back in Orlando?

TM: Oh, it's great, I love it. It's been everything I expected. It's home, you know.

TSN: Do you get to go back to Auburndale much?

TM: It's only a 30-minute drive.

TSN: I take that as a yes.

TM: Whenever I get a day off, I go down, visit my boys, all my family, my mom.

TSN: Get some home cooking?

TM: Oh, yeah.

TSN: What does mom make well?

TM: Definitely spaghetti. Definitely my favorite. But since I have my own chef now, I don't really go out there for meals. That's why I got a chef.

TSN: How would you describe Auburndale? Is it a small town?

TM: Are-you kidding? It's real small. Not too many people there. But it's a friendly town, a very friendly town. They treat me like anyone else.

TSN: And you had a nickname when you were a kid there. Pumpkinhead. Is that right?

TM: Yeah, Pumpkinhead. Don't even ask me what it means, though. My aunt gave it to me. I don't know why. There are still some guys, some people that call me that.

TSN: You got to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field before a game last year. How was that?

TM: Great, that was great.

TSN: What did you throw?

TM: Fastball.

TSN: Was it a strike?

TM: Well, I had to throw it low and away. They had a pretty good batter up there.

TSN: Batter? For a first pitch?

TM: Naw, there was nobody up there. Joking.

TSN: Oh. Right. Could you have been a pitcher if you had worked on it?

TM: Definitely, I am still working on it It's something I like doing, honestly. I am looking into it, really. It's not a guarantee, but I am going to look into it.

TSN: Really? How hard can you throw?

TM: I was throwing, at my peak, in the 80s. Like high 80s. I could throw.

TSN: This is in high school?

TM: Yeah, high 80s. Definitely. I can throw harder than that if I work on it. I have never had a pitching coach, though. Definitely if I had a professional pitching coach, I'd be throwing a lot harder.

TSN: You think if you really applied yourself, you could ...

TM: Without a doubt.

TSN: You'd like to do that? Be in the minors, work your way up?

TM: Oh, yeah. Something I am definitely going to look into. I was definitely going to do it during the lockout, if that had kept going.

TSN: Well, let's get back to basketball .... Doc Rivers said before the season he was hoping you would reach your potent/al in two or three years. Are you ahead of that? Are you close to your potential?

TM: Not even close. Right now, honestly, there are some nights where I just kind of ... I find myself most nights just playing on natural-born talent, you know? There is still some learning that I have to do. I am just going on natural-born talent. If I get to where I give it 110 percent every night on the court, on both ends, man, the sky's the limit.

For the complete text to this or other One-on-ones, go to sportingnews.com/nba.