[CHRON] McGrady thrives under bright lights of league

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/4301845.html

All the league's a stage
Crown would provide showstopper for star who thrives under bright lights


By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

SALT LAKE CITY - The best stories, the ones that inspire and move, are told in the third act.

It is also, Tracy McGrady knows, when his career will be measured and defined and when his legacy will be written.

The first act introduces the players, sets up their story and makes the rest worth watching. For McGrady, the scene was Toronto, and his role was as a teenage prodigy dazzling fans alongside his distant cousin Vince Carter.

The second act can be filled with the memorable scenes, moments to drive the story, and usually ends in conflict. That was Orlando with McGrady's homecoming filled with scoring championships, All-Star Games and great riches but a bitter exit.

Houston is the third act. And with the dramatic arc of his story clear, if not its end, McGrady finds himself heading into tonight's opener of his third season with the Rockets considering how he got to this point and how the journey has changed him.

As if he hadn't noticed before, when he looked back to the teen in Toronto and T-Mac of Orlando, he no longer recognized them as the face he sees in the mirror. The final act is all that matters now, and he invites it, almost dares it, to define his career.

"It seems so long ago; it really does," McGrady, 27, said of his time leading to tonight's game at Utah. "It's been 10 years. It's amazing how fast it goes.

"First, being a teenager and enjoying the life of being an NBA player, not really focusing on becoming an NBA star, just enjoying being in the NBA. Then, coming to the Magic, coming into my own, making a name for myself, bringing the team to the playoffs and just being a household name. And now, really, just trying to win a championship."

• • •


The difference in McGrady's manner, in his demeanor, even from his first two seasons with the Rockets, is clear. He seems grounded. He is less brash in his comments, more measured.

He seems more determined, more businesslike, even if that cost him some exuberance.

"Those first three years (in Orlando) was some of the best feelings, coming into the arena, putting on the uniform and playing in front of your hometown fans, to hear the MVP chants," McGrady said. "I would never forget those years.

"I was a very young and exciting player at the time. I was young and full of energy. I was young back then and enjoying the life. I'm quiet and boring now."

And his game is all about winning a championship.

"Before it was about me accomplishing this, or me individually, about what I accomplished myself. I'm over that now and on to bigger things."

His opinions are as strong as ever, he said. He just no longer feels the need to express them. He said all that matters in his career will be on the court. A player who never has won a playoff series, he said he is driven only by the chase of a championship.

"As Tracy's matured, maybe his need for all those ancillary things has changed," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "He just enjoys the game, his teammates and trying to accomplish something meaningful in the game, rather than the outside things like fame or media notoriety, because all that stuff is a little fleeting."

He still does the commercials and appearances. He is still among the highest-paid NBA players, earning $16.9 million this season, and is due roughly $81 million over the four years left on his contract.

Last season, he was disheartened with his and the Rockets' injury-ravaged slide. This season, he has seemed rejuvenated.

"He's passionate, and I think he feels good about himself, how he feels, and also the direction of the team," Van Gundy said. "I thought he felt the same way last year, and then after the first game, (he) battled injury and battled the mental battle. The season went not so good, and I think that took away a little of his passion."

But McGrady this season is different, not just from the hopes the Rockets held before last season but from each of the first nine seasons of his career.

"This is the first time I just felt like I cannot just make the playoffs but go deep in the playoffs," he said. "All the other years, I felt we could get to the playoffs, but whoever we matched up against was going to be a better team. We were always going to be a lower seed. We didn't have the talent to push through to the second round. This year, I have different feelings about it."

• • •


In many ways, McGrady has set a more difficult standard for himself. Many truly great players never won championships. Yet McGrady has made that his goal.

"That's too harsh," Van Gundy said. "I agree leading the league in scoring and all that, people don't really remember that stuff. I also think he should not just judge himself on just winning championships. I've been around a number of players, a number of great players, a number of championship-caliber players that have done everything they can to win a championship, conducting themselves as champions and have been beaten by better teams.

"If Tracy prepares himself as a champion and he gives himself to the cause, he should be satisfied by that because that's under his control."

But for McGrady, the pursuit of a title has seemed the only worthwhile goal.

Can he be the Rockets' Dwyane Wade, their Kobe Bryant, their Tim Duncan, the sort that go beyond prodigious talent to touch greatness?

"I think this will be a year I will have a complete year, the most games that I played in my career," McGrady said.

"I'm really coming in with an attitude I feel we can really win, can go deep into the playoffs. We have a lot of talent on this team. I'm excited about what we have.

"(I've been) just maturing over the years. No worries, no gripes. Just growing up going through this league. You have to grow up."

That comes in the final act.

So as McGrady completes the first decade of his career, as eventful, even memorable as it has been, he searched for his big finish.

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

 

I am late this time

THis article has been posted on Chron.com for half an hour

I feel it's my duty to do this

PS There's a video clip of Rocket players on this article (right side of page). Bob Sura is on it too, but I don't think I can post a link for it. If somebody knows how to do it feel free to post it.

 

Very well said. Even though KG is more talented than Duncan, Duncan is heralded as the best PF of all time. Why? Because he has won. We are a culture that puts a lot of emphasis and premium on winning.

That's why Yao maybe the best center in the league and Tracy might be the best swingman, but it doesn't matter if they don't win. They will be perceived as underachievers.

The Lebron hype machine will go on until the point where he is not winning championships. The same people who are part of the hype, will turn on him and label him different unsubstantiated things. That's what happened with Tracy.


Jordan would be Dominique Wilkins if he didn't have Pippen.


WINNING IS ALL THAT MATTERS.