Tracy McGrady, otherwise known as T-Mac, of the Houston Rockets, having recently come back after months of being out of the game due to a nasty knee injury, has found himself without a team to call home.
After being forced to sit out for game after game, battling his injury and the pain it caused, McGrady came back a few days ago, expecting it all to be business as usual. Being of the Rockets' star players, T-Mac assumed that as usual he would start and pick up the role of team leader and mentor, as he always was. However, his team had a different plan, benching him for most of the game, only allowing him to play a handful of minutes each night. Sources say that at first this seemed normal, as a team often eases a player back into the swing of things after being out for such a long time, but after a few games things and nothing changing, McGrady had enough.
After a handful of conversations that seemed to go nowhere, the Houston Rockets finally released him and granted him an indefinite leave of absence from the team and league. This ws not easy for either side to settle on as McGrady had just been out for so long, itching to get back to the action, and the Rockets already lost Yao Ming at the end of last season to a horrible foot injury, and Ron Artest to the Lakers, leaving them short two stars. However, in the end, both parties understood what needed to be done, and they parted ways. At least for until further notice.
However, the question is, what is T-Mac going to do now? The easy answer would obviously be that he will be picked up by another team and resume his career from there, but this is easier than meets the eye. First off, McGrady's salary is one of gigantic proportions, and as the league has, like many other businesses, been hit by the economy, finding a team that is willing to take on such numbers is questionable. Especially when at this point many teams have already staked their claims, or at least had their eyes on, a certain player or two from the 2010 free-agent class. Furthermore, because McGrady has not played in a while, it is hard to tell where his skill level really lies now. Of course we all know and admit he used to be a good player back in the day, even as recently back as two years ago, but because such an injury can often change a player both physically but mentally, it may be hard to find a team who is willing to take such a chance on someone. He himself has been quoted saying he is going to come back hard because he is "hungry" for a while now, but as we all know actions speak louder than words, so he may not be able to sell himself with only a motivating speech.
Personally I like the guy, those the Rockets have never been my favorite team, and wish him the best, especially because he has been out for so long due to such a painful injury, however, I hope he knew what he was doing when he requested to leave Houston because it may be a downhill journey from here for him, until he can at least prove to other teams he is worth trying to get a piece of.
Is T-Mac really back? Or is this just the beginning of the end?
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