Magic have discussed retiring Tracy McGrady’s No. 1, but there is no date yet

Nov. 14, 2026 — The Orlando Magic have talked about retiring Tracy McGrady’s No. 1, but nobody should circle a date yet. McGrady said in an interview with Daniel Roberts released on Friday, Nov. 13, that the team reached out to him about the honor. A Magic spokesperson confirmed the talks in a statement and added that there is no timeline for any announcement. If it happens, McGrady would be only the second Magic player with a retired number, after Shaquille O’Neal.

“I had conversations with personnel about — right when Shaq had his retired, they reached out to me,” McGrady said. “I don’t know when it’s going to happen, if it’s going to happen, but they did reach out.”

The team’s statement: “We have discussed future jersey retirements, including Tracy’s, but we currently do not have a timeline for any announcements.”

Tracy McGrady told @readDanwrite that the Magic have reached out about possibly retiring his jersey.

The Magic confirmed to @FOS that there have been talks.

McGrady played four years in Orlando, winning two scoring titles and Most Improved Player. ⬇️https://t.co/xgbozAFBAX https://t.co/qKMlOqkQcT

— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) November 13, 2026

McGrady’s comments, shared on X by Colin Salao.

What we know so far

Detail	Status
Number	No. 1, worn by McGrady from 2000 to 2004
Who confirmed it	McGrady, and a Magic spokesperson
Ceremony date	None. The team says there is no timeline for any announcement
When talks began	Around Shaq’s No. 32 ceremony in February 2024, according to McGrady
Numbers retired in Orlando now	No. 32 (O’Neal) and No. 6 (for the fans, also retired leaguewide for Bill Russell in 2022)
Already in the Magic Hall of Fame	Yes, inducted March 20, 2018

The only other player: Shaq in 2024

The Magic joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1989 and went 34 years without retiring a player’s number. That changed on Feb. 13, 2024, during the franchise’s 35th anniversary season, when O’Neal’s No. 32 went up after a home game against Oklahoma City. The team announced that ceremony about six weeks ahead of time. McGrady’s account suggests the club was already thinking past Shaq that same season, but more than two and a half years later there is still no date.

Why McGrady is the obvious next name

McGrady grew up in Auburndale, about an hour’s drive from Orlando, and joined the Magic as a free agent in the summer of 2000 after three seasons in Toronto, where the Raptors had taken him ninth overall out of high school in 1997. In four seasons and 295 games in Orlando, he averaged 28.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 steals. He was the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2000-01, won scoring titles at 32.1 points a game in 2002-03 and 28.0 in 2003-04, made four All-Star teams and two All-NBA first teams as a Magic player, and still holds the franchise single-game record with 62 points against Washington on March 10, 2004.

The case against him is the playoffs. Orlando never won a series in his four years, and the 2003 team lost to Detroit in the first round after leading the series 3-1. The Magic traded McGrady to the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2004. He entered the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Magic Hall of Fame the following spring, honored that night at a home game against the Raptors.

There is also a question of who else wore No. 1. Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway wore it in Orlando from 1993 to 1999 and played in the 1995 NBA Finals next to O’Neal, and he is also in the Magic Hall of Fame. Some fans online have argued since Friday that any No. 1 ceremony should honor both players. The team has said nothing about that.

Jersey retirements already set for 2026-27

Three retirement nights are already on the calendar this season, all with tip-offs that fall in the early hours in Egypt:

Date	Game	Tip (local)	Cairo time	Honor
Sun., Jan. 10	76ers at Raptors	6 p.m. ET	Mon 1:00 a.m.	Kyle Lowry’s No. 7, after the game
Sun., Feb. 7	Knicks at Thunder	8:30 p.m. CT	Mon 4:30 a.m.	Russell Westbrook’s No. 0
Sun., Feb. 28	Celtics at Timberwolves	6 p.m. CT	Mon 2:00 a.m.	Kevin Garnett’s No. 21, after the game

What to watch for

Teams usually announce these nights weeks or months in advance and attach them to a specific home game, often against a former team of the honoree. Shaq’s date was announced about six weeks out, while the Raptors and Timberwolves set Lowry’s and Garnett’s nights in August. Anything for McGrady this season would therefore need an announcement by early 2027, and the team’s wording leaves open that it could come later. We will add the date, the opponent and ticket details to this story if the Magic name one.