AUBURNDALE - The economy has taken a turn for the worse, but Tracy McGrady's What Does It Take To Be #1 indoor street-ball event hasn't been hit too hard by it.

Johnnie Lawson, president and CEO of the Tracy McGrady Foundation, said there are about the same amount of teams playing and the payout is the same.

"I don't think Tracy has been effected by it too much," Lawson said. "He's still doing camps and people come out here to forget about everything else and see some people they haven't seen in a year."

Each team pays $750 to enter the tournament. There are 13 teams playing and the top prize is $10,000.

Lawson said McGrady covers the cost of everything that's not covered by the team's entrance fees.

Many of the teams come to play for the top prize, but there is also the chance that they could take the court with an NBA player.

There haven't been any NBA players in this year's tournament, but Lawson said there are several players who play professionally in Europe.

Even if they don't play, many celebrities make their way to Tracy McGrady Gymnasium.

This year, aside from McGrady, professional boxer and WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, of Winter Haven, and Atlanta Falcons' Chauncey Davis, of Auburndale, have attended this year's event.

In this its eighth year, Lawson said the McGrady Foundation has higher hopes for the tournament. At some point, he would like to see it go national.

chad.bullock@newschief.com
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AUBURNDALE - Tracy McGrady's annual street-ball tournament started Friday in the gym that bears his name, and the tournament's host made an appearance to watch the action.

"I just love the game of basketball and there's not much going on in my hometown. It's just a good event for some nice friendly wagers," McGrady said. "I always look forward to coming back home at watching."

The What Does It Take To Be #1 tournament is held every summer at Auburndale High School, and has featured several professional athletes, including the Phoenix Suns' Amare Stoudmire, Drew Gooden of the San Antonio Spurs and Pro Bowl quarterback Daunte Culpepper, as we as McGrady himself, though injuries have kept him from returning to the court at Auburndale.

"I don't want to take the chance now that I'm getting deeper into my career and a little older," McGrady said. "But I've told my friends that when I'm done in the NBA, I'll come back and play here."

After having arthroscopic surgery last year, McGrady was sidelined again this season with a knee injury and had microfracture surgery in February.

McGrady will likely miss the first half of next year, but he said the rehab is going well.

"I already feel better now than I did last year," McGrady said. "It's hard to tell (how far along the recovery is) until I get out and start playing, but I'm not too far off."

McGrady's team, the Houston Rockets also will be without center Yao Ming, whose season and career are considered threatened with an ailing foot.

"He's 7-foot-6 and those big guys always have foot problems," McGrady said. "I talked to him and he was pretty down. It's heartbreaking. Some of us have neighborhoods or cities on our back, and he's got the whole continent, so he's got a lot of pressure because he doesn't want to let his country down."

Despite the injuries, the Rockets advanced to the Western Conference finals, deeper than any other season since McGrady joined the team in 1997, before losing in seven games to the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.

McGrady would not talk about the additional loss of Ron Artest, who signed with the Lakers earlier this week, but said it was great to see the team perform at that level even if he couldn't participate.

"Our guys showed a lot of heart and a lot of character with me going out and showed how tough they were," McGrady said. "We took the Lakers to a crucial Game 7. I wanted to be out there playing, but I enjoyed watching them."

The tournament continues through Sunday with games being played all day today and Sunday until the championship at 4 p.m.

brian.tynes@newschief.com

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