Face to Face with T-Mac

ORLANDO, Florida – Sa nakapanghihinang lamig dito, napakahirap kumilos. Subalit dahil bihira ang pagkakataong makapanayam ang pinakamahusay na manlalaro sa NBA ngayon, isang grupo ng mga mamamahayag mula sa Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea at Pilipinas ay nakipagsapalaran. Kahapon, nagantimpalaan kami. Nakilala namin ang topscorer at pinakasikat na liga sa basketbol sa mundo.

Si Tracy McGrady. T-Mac. Sa huling dalawang taon, pumirma ng panghabang-buhay na kontrata si McGrady sa Adidas (na nag-organisa sa biyaheng ito), at ang kanyang T-Mac na sapatos ay bumenta na ng mahigit isang milyong pares sa buong mundo. Alin sa kanyang mga biyaya ang pinakamasarap namnamin?

"Oh, that's tough," halakhak niya. "I just feel so blessed, and thankful that I have the opportunity to bless other people with what I have."Ano naman ang pinakamahirap sa buhay basketbol?

"That's a great question," ngiti ng dating Toronto Raptor. "I've never really thought about it. I think it's dealing with people, knowing who to trust, who's there to leach off of you. I talk to my family, and my old friends, and people who've been there. You know, Kobe (Bryant), Kevin Garnett, guys who've gone straight from high school to the NBA, asking them for advice. It's also hard to know who to take care of and who not to take care of. I guess that would be the toughest part."Ano pa ba ang maiaangat niya sa kanyang laro para maka-abot na sa kampeonato ang Orlando Magic?"It's not any one thing," paliwanag niya. "I work on every aspect of my game. And now that we know Grant (Hill) is not coming back, everybody else know they need to step up. If we make a run at the playoffs, hopefully we can take it very far."

Bakit niya naman pinili ang Adidas?

"When I talked to the Adidas family, I thought, why not? We already had a relationship. And I felt I could really help the company, and they could help me. It was a great opportunity for us to do something to help each other. And I'm very happy about the situation."

Di gaya ng ibang basketbolista, tinatanggap ng All-Star na kasama sa pagiging popular na manlalaro ang pagiging ‘role model’ para sa mga kabataan.

"I don't look at it as work at all. It comes with the territory. But oh, man, what a feeling. I thought it was crazy that anybody would want to wear my shoe. I still get a kick out of it when I walk by kids at airports and they don't know who I am. Then I tap them on the shoulder and say ‘Nice shoes.’ And their eyes suddenly light up. It's crazy."

Ano naman ang tingin niya kay Yao Ming, na biglang sumikat sa NBA?

"He's going to be something really special. I didn't think he could pass that well. But I saw him make some really good plays. In another year or two, he's going to get stronger and better and become a really dominant center in the NBA. You can see that he's really capable of playing at this level. He's the reason why Houston's doing so well; they're setting up a lot of plays for him."