Tracy McGrady recreates classic All-Star highlight, shows his age

The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game is typically the silliest event of All-Star Weekend, a chance for youngish celebrities, WNBA players, and retired NBA greats to run around for 40 minutes while Kevin Hart tries his best to make everyone laugh. It’s not the worst way to kill two hours of TV time, if only because there’s something enjoyable in seeing celebrities prove (or not prove) their athletic talent. (We see you, Jason Sudeikis.)

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However, Friday’s event in Toronto stood out for introducing some rare emotional depth into the proceedings. It started very early, when seven-time All-Star Tracy McGrady, playing for Team Canada due to his past involvement with the Toronto Raptors, attempted to recreate his legendary dunk from the 2002 All-Star Game, when he passed it to himself off the backboard. Here’s a reminder of what that looked like:

And here’s what the 36-year-old McGrady did on Friday:

Oof. I mean, yes, it was technically a successful self-oop for T-Mac. But it also looks nothing like the play he pulled off in Philadelphia 14 years ago. It’s a reminder that Father Time remains undefeated.

McGrady did help Team Canada to a fairly comfortable 74-63 win. Arcade Fire frontman Win Butler (an American, though a longtime resident of Canada) deservedly won MVP, although he earned most attention after the game when he tried to make a political statement in an interview with ESPN’s Sage Steele.

Here’s the transcript of the exchange (via For The Win):

Butler: “Thank you. I just want to say, as an election year in the U.S., the U.S. has a lot that it can learn from Canada — healthcare, taking care of people…”