NBA: Orlando Magic’s star players
Orlando Magic is quite a successful franchise in the National Basketball Association. They have won many draft lotteries, procured 5 distinct players and reached to the finals twice. Even though it may seem like they have done it all but it is not quite like that; the team has yet to work their magic and obtain the National Championship.
Regardless of their title win, the team is considered to be quite memorable having had players like Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Penny Hardaway and Dwight Howard on the roster has made the team quite brilliant.
The black and blue jersey and shorts with pinstripes are quite endearing to the eye. The franchise has had its high and low times, making it to the playoff finals for the first time but sadly loosing it to the Houston Rockets, followed by Shaquille’s departure from the team and Penny getting injured. After five years of suffering, the team finally got its hand on an upcoming star Tracy McGrady, and drafting Dwight Howard as the first pick in the 2004 drafting season.
In the past decade a lot has changed for the team, veteran players like Grant Hill have made an appearance in the team and served for ten-years before moving onto the Phoenix Suns. Despite all the tragedies that the striving franchise has faced, it still has an avid fan following and great dynamic players like J.J Redick, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard.
Here is a list of one of the most vibrant players that have made an appearance in the Orlando Magic:
Nick Anderson was a true patriot of the Orland Magic’s; since day one he started performing and remained consistent over an 11 year period without any major glitches in his career. Before Penny and Shaquille showed up he was the centre of attention for the team which he certainly deserved. He is the only player ever to cross the 10,000 point boundary in the Magic’s history, making him the leader in points, steals, field goals made, minutes played and field goals attempted.
Anfernee Hardaway came to the Magic from Memphis Grizzlies and was being compared to Magic Johnson and due to his ever growing aura for a while people thought he might just be the next Michael Jordan. His newly formed duo with Shaquille O’ Neal was being compared to that of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s. Although they did not stay in the team long enough to claim that title but did dominate through their relentless efforts to overshadow other duos.
Shaquille O’Neal was another 1st draft pick of 2002 Orlando were fortunate enough to pick. Shaquille is unquestionably till date the most feared center of all time, arguably the best ever. His high scoring average and duo with Penny led many to believe they might over run the Chicago Bulls which was led by the legendary Michael Jordan. Though they could not manage to take over NBA but were able to instil fear in every opponent’s heart.
Tracy McGrady is undoubtedly the best all rounder that came to the Magic’s. He was declared as the face of the franchise after being signed on in 2000. After the departure of O’Neal and Hardaway from the team caused a lot of turmoil, the fans and team did not know what to do. Subsequently after five years of suffering Orlando finally got hold of a young star player like Tracy, which was a highlight for the team after a long time. Tracy averaged 28.1 points per game overshadowing the problems the team faced in the last five years.
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