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The timing was right. And it was also wrong. Tracy McGrady’s SLAM 64 cover shoot went down in July of ’02. He had just averaged 25-plus points per game for the second consecutive season. Smooth movements, you know? Mac made it all look type easy. His distinct hesi-pull out of the left hand from anywhere. His sky-high poster dunks. His extremely underrated passing vision. Number 1 was the exception. But sometimes it looked like he was barely trying and still dominating.
SLAM 64 dropped right before he snatched the title of best scorer in the NBA. The 2002-03 season wrapped up with Mac averaging 32 points a game, which ranked him highest in the A. That’s the perfect justification for putting him front and center. For some, the progression from high school draftee to top of the top came as a shock. Not to the Magic man.
“Man, I'm telling you, I had this game in Toronto, man,” McGrady said in the SLAM 64 cover story. “I was just in a different system, and it wasn't my time to really shine. I wasn't the guy, the go-to guy. I was probably a third or fourth option there. But I've always had this game, it's just all about opportunities. I got the opportunity to do what I wanted to do here, just go out and lead my team. Just have the green light, don't have to look over my shoulder when I make mistakes, just play freely.”
Free enough to score 40 or more points in ten different contests and free enough to go off for 52 against the Bulls. That was his career high up to that moment. He would eclipse it the very next season when he destroyed the Wizards with a 62-point effort.
Mac was one of those rare players capable of giving a glimpse of what’s coming next in the game. There have been others that were ahead of their time, too. Mac was well ahead of the 2000s’ style of play and that’s what made it all wrong. His genius was undercut by a lack of understanding of his advanced skillset, some serious injuries and an inability for his teams to have postseason success. He went under appreciated in the moment because of circumstances out of his control.
But SLAM always knew about T-Mac the Magic man.
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