ORLANDO MAGIC HISTORY 

Orlando Magic, professional basketball team and one of seven teams in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Magic play in TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando, Florida, and wear jerseys of blue, white, and silver. The team takes its name from the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World, which is also located in Orlando.

The Magic fared well in the NBA draft during the franchise’s first five years, selecting guard-forward Nick Anderson (1989), forward Dennis Scott (1990), center Shaquille O’Neal (1992), and guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway (1993). These young stars popularized the franchise and propelled the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals. O’Neal in particular was an immediate force in the NBA, ranking among the league’s top scorers in each of his four seasons with the team.

The Magic joined the NBA as part of a four-team, two-year expansion. The Miami Heat and the Charlotte Hornets began play during the 1988-89 season, and the Magic and the Minnesota Timberwolves joined the league a year later.

Orlando won only 18 games in its first season, but with rookie Dennis Scott joining Nick Anderson and veteran point guard Scott Skiles in the 1990-91 season, the team improved its win-loss record to 31-51. The Magic’s luck in drafting top players continued in 1992, when the franchise won the rights to the number-one pick in that year’s draft of college players. The club selected Shaquille O’Neal, a 7-ft 1-in (2.1-m), 301-lb (136.5-kg) center who left Louisiana State University after his junior year.

O’Neal’s impact on the club and the NBA was instant. In his fourth professional game O’Neal recorded 31 points and 21 rebounds. He also became the first player in NBA history to win player of the week honors in his first week in the league. For the season the Magic logged a 41-41 win-loss record, but the team failed to make the playoffs.

Because it had the best record among all non-playoff teams, the Magic owned only one chance out of 60 to win the top pick in the 1993 NBA draft. But the Magic’s name came up first, giving them the top pick for the second year in a row. The club selected forward Chris Webber and then traded him to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for the rights to Penny Hardaway and three future first-round draft choices.

The young, talented Magic compiled a 50-32 record in 1993-94 to finish second in the Atlantic Division. However, Orlando was upset in the first round of the playoffs by the Indiana Pacers. O’Neal finished the season ranked first in the league in field-goal percentage (.599), second in scoring (29.3 points per game), and second in rebounding (13.2 per game).

In the 1994-95 season the Magic compiled 57 wins and captured the franchise’s first Atlantic Division title. O’Neal led the NBA in scoring, with an average of 29.3 points per game. In the playoffs the Magic defeated the Boston Celtics, the Chicago Bulls, and the Pacers to advance to the NBA Finals. There the Magic played the Houston Rockets. The series was billed as a battle between O’Neal and veteran Rockets center Hakeem Olajuwon, and the more experienced Rockets swept the Magic by winning four straight games.

The Magic registered 60 wins the following year, but in the playoffs the Bulls ousted the Magic in the conference semifinals. After the season, O’Neal signed a free-agent contract to play with the Los Angeles Lakers. Scott was traded after the 1996-97 season. After the lockout-shortened 1999 season, Anderson and Hardaway were also traded, and the club entered a rebuilding phase under new coach Doc Rivers.

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