Drafted first overall straight out of high school, Dwight Howard was hyped as the next dominant big man. And for a while, he lived up to the expectations. But things didn’t start smoothly in Orlando. When Howard joined the Magic, the one-star player wanted no part of teaming up with a high school rookie and left. It hit Howard hard. “Oh my god. It really hurt me that,” he once admitted.That player? None other than 7-time NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady. Reflecting on that moment, Howard didn’t hold back. “Well, when it happened, I was, I was highly upset… not upset, but highly disappointed,” he shared. What stung even more was the reason.“T-Mac, you came from high school just like me. And you’re saying that you don’t want to play with another high schooler? So I’m like, well, dang, you just carried me out already.” Surprisingly though, Howard doesn’t hold a grudge. In fact, he credits McGrady for shaping his career. That rejection lit a fire in Howard. “That just made me go harder,” he said. “If I would have played with T-Mac, I probably wouldn’t have been able to grow like I was able to and become the Dwight Howard because it would have been the T-Mac show.” For Howard, everything worked out the way it was supposed to.Still, there’s one thing he wishes had been different. “I would have loved to play with T-Mac,” Howard confessed on Podcast P with Paul George. But, interestingly, Howard gets why McGrady bailed. “Now that I’m older, I understand. You wanna play with an older person because of the mindset,” he told Shannon Sharpe.Feb 20, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard (12) during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center. The Magic defeated the Bucks 93-90. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY SportsBut here’s the twist—there’s no bad blood. In fact, T-Mac has nothing but love for Howard.Tracy McGrady defends Dwight Howard’s legacyWhen people talk about the most dominant big men in NBA history, Dwight Howard’s name doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. Maybe it’s because fans remember his lighthearted personality or how he embraced a reserve role later in his career. But according to Tracy McGrady, that perception needs to change.“Maybe some of the younger fans don’t really understand how dominant this guy was, yo,” McGrady said on a viral Instagram clip. “Dwight Howard, for his first 8 years, Dwight Howard was a problem. 7 foot, had all the athleticism, defensively, wasn’t anybody better. Although y’all may not think he was serious, just go back and watch him. Look at the numbers he was putting up. As a basketball player, when he was in Orlando, he was that dude.”The video quickly gained traction, with Howard himself showing gratitude for McGrady’s words. Even Matt Barnes chimed in, saying, “Facts!! on both sides of the ball.” Fans in the comments also echoed the same sentiment, calling Howard one of the most disrespected players of his era.Unlike legends like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant, who played with an intense fire, Howard always brought a smile to the game. His energy was infectious, but for some, it came across as a lack of killer instinct. That criticism followed him for years. But for McGrady, none of that changes Howard’s legacy.The post Abandoned in Orlando, Dwight Howard Credits 7x NBA All-Star for Career Turnaround appeared first on EssentiallySports.