Tracy McGrady Spills The Beans: Doc Rivers Shuts Down A Super Team in Orlando

For this story, we’re going to have to hop in the time machine and set our sights on the Summer of 2000. The NBA off-season is in full swing and it's a free-agent frenzy like we’ve never seen before. Things really kicked off for the Orlando Magic in early August, when they managed to secure Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady on the very same day.

Hill, who was a five-time all-star at the time of the trade, was traded from the Detroit Pistons for Chucky Atkins and Ben Wallace. McGrady, who was one of the flashiest youngsters in the game, was traded from the Raptors for a 2005 1st round pick. The Magic weren’t done there, though–they had their sights set on the 6’11’’ Center in San Antonio, Tim Duncan.

Duncan was allegedly down for the move too–but everything all fell apart thanks to Doc Rivers. According to McGrady, who was talking on Barstool Sports’ “Red Line Radio” podcast, Duncan was all set on coming to the Magic–as long as his family was allowed to travel with the team. This was not okay with Doc, who turned down the eventual 15x All-Star’s request. Duncan then returned to San Antonio, where he went on to win 4 more championships.

So Duncan definitely doesn’t lose sleep over this one–he’s one of the most accomplished players in NBA history. However, the Magic seemingly have never recovered–this was just years after losing Shaq to the Lakers, and Tim Duncan would have been a perfect replacement. But, they were left with an injured Grant Hill, and a T-Mac that could never secure the deal.

Had Duncan gone to the Magic, it’s fair to say they’d have a couple of Finals trophies in their trophy case by now. However, since things have fallen through, they have only made it past the first playoff round twice since 2000.

This year’s NBA Finals are set to kick-off on Thursday, June 2nd at 9:00 PM EST. It’s set out to be a great series between the Celtics and the Warriors, and if you want to bet on either team you can do so on any of the online casinos in Michigan.