The Orlando Magic throughout their tenure in the NBA have had some incredible talent and even Hall Of Famers. These players include Shaquille O’Neal, Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, and Dwight Howard. However, the only player that the Magic managed to keep for more than four seasons and have an impact with was Dwight Howard, who played eight seasons for the organization. Dwight was a star for the Magic as he won three defensive player of the year awards and led the Magic to their second finals appearance where they would be swept by Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers. The first final’s appearance was with Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway; however, that potential dynasty was short-lived. Shaquille O’Neal would leave Orlando and join the Los Angeles Lakers while Penny Hardaway would suffer a season-ending injury that tarnished his career. The list goes on and on about the Magic and their bad luck as they still struggle to construct a team that can contend in the Eastern Conference. Let’s discuss some of the case studies of why the Orlando Magic are one of the more unluckiest teams in NBA history.
Once the Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal dynasty came to an unexpected close, the Magic were fortunate enough to lure Tracy Mcgrady out of Toronto while doing a sign and trade where they would receive Grant Hill, who was at the time one of the best small forwards in the NBA. These signings were huge for Orlando as their rebuild was quickly over and immediately had the expectation of being a contender in the Eastern Conference. However, in just four games into the season, Grant Hill suffered a terrible ankle injury that would sideline him for the rest of the season. Meanwhile, Tracy Mcgrady would make a name for himself in the NBA and blossom into an absolute monster in his first season. With Grant Hill being sidelined for his first season with the Magic, Tracy Mcgrady led the team to the seventh seed where they would fall to the Milwaukee Bucks. The first season was a success, and a failure as Tracy Mcgrady became an absolute star while Grant Hill was starting to look like a wasteful opportunity. To make matters even worse, the Orlando Magic traded away Ben Wallace to receive Grant Hill. Although Hill is a Hall of Famer, Wallace would win four defensive player of the year awards in a span of five seasons with the Detriot Pistons and go on to win a championship while Grant Hill would barely play and make an impact on the Orlando Magic. The trade for Hill was a great deal at the time, but his injuries are what caused him to be nothing but a nightmare for the Magic’s chance in winning an NBA title. Furthermore, Tracy Mcgrady would end up wasting his prime with the Magic as he would only play four seasons while never getting past the first round.
On paper, the Magic from 2000-04 should have been a lot better than what they were. If Grant Hill were healthy, the Magic would have made the NBA finals as Hill was a 25+ point per game scorer before his injury. Even though he made one all-star appearance with the Orlando Magic in the 2004-05 season, it didn’t mean much considering that Tracy Mcgrady was on the Houston Rockets.
The Magic from 1992-2004 had a chance to become one of the greatest teams in that era however failed miserably in doing so. From failing to negotiate a fair deal with Shaquille O’Neal to bring any other possible talent for Tracy Mcgrady, the Magic could have been a juggernaut in the Eastern Conference and were instead a laughing stock in the league. Grant Hill’s injury was detrimental to the Magic’s attempted dynasty and ruined Orlando’s chance of having their first-ever championship in franchise history. However, after the downfall of the Tracy Mcgrady and Grant Hill experiment, the Magic managed to strike out again and receive the first pick in the 2004 draft, where they would select Dwight Howard.
Dwight immediately made his presence shown in the NBA. The first moment he stepped on the court, the NBA was put on notice and Dwight would be a top center only behind names such as Shaquille O’Neal, Yao Ming, and Tim Duncan. Unfortunately for Dwight, he was drafted by the Magic, a team that would again fail to construct a concrete, reliable supporting cast alongside him. The best player to play with Dwight in Orlando was a prime Jameer Nelson, which should say enough about how bad this organization is at attracting all-star calibre players. However, the Dwight experiment was far more successful than the previous experiment of Grant Hill and Tracy Mcgrady. Dwight Howard brought popularity and a new basketball culture to Orlando and even led his team to the NBA finals, but what short-lived. Dwight would form a Hall of Fame career in Orlando, yet the Magic failed to bring back their star and build a quality team for Dwight to play with.
One of the most underrated facts about Dwight Howard is that he single-handedly took down Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals! Lebron James was on pace to dethroning the Magic and grant what the fans wanted, which was a duel between him and Kobe Bryant. But Dwight Howard had an agenda of his own and, as a result, decimated the Cavs in six games and faced the Los Angeles Lakers. Dwight was easily the best big man in that series; however, the Lakers had everything else. From a reliable sixth man to a versatile second option behind Kobe Bryant in Pau Gasol, the Magic had zero to no chance in defeating the Lakers. The Magic had solid scorers such as Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Rafer Alston, and Jameer Nelson but, they weren’t as reliable as a Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom. Even though the Magic took one game away from the Lakers, Kobe Bryant prevailed and won his fourth championship. After the devastating defeat that Orlando suffered, the Magic would never make it back to the finals, which resulted in Dwight Howard getting traded in 2012 to ironically the Lakers. From 2012 till today, the Magic have struggled to not only making the Finals but also remaining relevant.
From 2012-present, the Magic have been nothing but disappointing. The Orlando Magic went from a team that signed and drafted reasonably well to being regarded as a mediocre franchise. Through-out the previous decade, the most prominent names to sign with Orlando or be drafted by the Magic were, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Victor Oladipo, Jameer Nelson, Arron Afflalo, Evan Fournier, and Aaron Gordan. Furthermore, Orlando has only made the playoffs once in the previous decade, and rather than keeping their best young pupils; they ended up trading them away for a pocket of lint and some chewing gum. This would make their rebuild even longer, and even though they do have some young potential talent in Jonathan Isaac, Mohammed Bamba, and Markelle Fultz, they are still far from being a contender. Just imagine if this team still had Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris, they would be one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference and the NBA!
When dissecting the Magic’s history from decade to decade, the result shows that this team has made good choices overall but was hit with horrible luck. Orlando knows how to draft and develop players, specifically centers considering that Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal are arguably the greatest players to ever play for this organization. Although Tracy Mcgrady was a superstar in Orlando, he could never get past the second round, unlike Dwight and Shaq, who both led the Magic to the NBA finals. The Magic had three opportunities to win a championship. However, if they didn’t try to lowball Shaq into a cheaper contract or if Grant Hill never got injured or if Dwight Howard was given a better team to play with, the Magic would have been regarded as one of the best teams in NBA history. This organization had so many what-if stories, and if they were better managed over the last three decades, who knows what this team could have accomplished. If they gave the respect that Shaq deserved, for instance, he would have most likely remained in Orlando rather than joining the Los Angeles Lakers. Although the Magic currently have a decent core to work with, only time will tell to determine who their next star will be.
