Orlando Magic · History

The Orlando Magic are a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded in 1989 as an expansion team and joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) as part of the league's expansion into the southern United States.

Early years (1989-1994)

The Orlando Magic is one of the NBA's newest teams. With only 31 years of history, the Florida Magic came into the competition in the 1989 expansion alongside the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets. Jimmy Hewitt and Pat Williams (former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers) were the first to put together the Magic's first roster, with players such as Reggie Theus, Scott Skiles, Terry Catledge, Sam Vincent, Otis Smith and Jerry Reynolds, who were led by Matt Guokas, the franchise's first coach. That same year, the Magic selected Nick Anderson 11th overall in the draft.

The official debut of the Magic in the NBA was on November 4, 1989 against the New Jersey Nets, where they ended up losing 106-111. Although the first victory would not be long in coming, and it would be two days later against the New York Knicks by 118-110.

The second year was somewhat more promising with the selection of Dennis Scott in the fourth position of the 1990 draft and Scott Skilles' Most Improved Player award, leading the Magic to 31 wins and 51 losses.

The following years continued to have little hope until the 1992 draft.

The Reign of Shaq (1992-1996)

In the 1992 draft, the Magic selected Louisiana State center Shaquille O`Neal in the first position, who would change the course of the franchise reaching in his first season a record of 41 wins and 41 losses, being their best record to date, but which also did not help them to reach the playoffs. But this helped them to get again the first place in the next year's draft and that would serve for the franchise to take a step forward.

The 1993 season began with several changes in the front office, with Pat Williams being replaced by John Gabriel and Brian Hill replacing Guokas on the bench. But the real quality move was the trade of number one draft pick Chris Webber to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and three draft picks coming to Florida. The Shaq-Penny connection was spectacular and helped the Magic reach the playoffs for the first time, although they were eliminated in the first round by the Indiana Pacers.

In 1994 the Magic signed Horace Grant in free agency, who along with O`Neal and Hardaway, the Orlando Magic managed to dominate the East in the regular season with 57 wins and after eliminating Indiana, Chicago and Boston, they reached their first finals, but were swept by Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets.

The following season would be very similar to the previous one, but the dream would end in the conference finals at the hands of the Chicago Bulls. This elimination would put an end to the season and Shaq's reign in Orlando.

Life after Shaq (1996-2000)

After Shaq's departure to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Magic managed to survive thanks to the leadership of Hardaway, Darrell Armstrong or Rony Seikaly, but things were not going as well as in previous years. There were continuous changes in the bench, the mid-season firing of Brian Hill, being replaced by Richie Adubato who at the end of the season would be replaced by Chuk Daly.

The best post-Shaq season was 98/99, where a veteran team managed to reach the playoffs but could not get past the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 1999 hiring of Doc Rivers was the first foundation for the new Magic to come in the next few years.

The Magic of McGrady (2000-2004)

The 2000-01 season began with many exciting signings for the franchise. The arrival of Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill made Magic fans once again see their team as a serious contender. It should also be noted that the Magic were disappointed when they were unable to sign Tim Duncan that same season. Despite this, the Magic returned to the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.

The following year things continued the same, McGrady led the team with Armstrong, Miller and Garrity, while Hill continued his ordeal with injuries and could not help the team. Again they returned to the playoffs, and fell again in the first round, this time to the Charlotte Hornets.

After this new elimination, the Magic sought a trade for the following season and sent Mike Miller and Ryan Humphrey to Memphis in exchange for Gordan Giricek and Drew Gooden. This move helped them reach the playoffs again for the third consecutive year, although they were again eliminated in the first round despite going 3-1 against the Detroit Pistons.

After another dunk, the disaster carried over into the following season, making it the franchise's worst season after finishing with a record of 21 wins and 61 losses. This prompted John Weisbrod to take over as Magic manager and rebuild the team from scratch.

This rebuild sent Tracy McGrady to Houston in exchange for Steve Francis. This trade marked the end of an era, but the beginning of a new one, the Superman Howard era.

The "Superman" Howard Era (2004-2012)

The selection of Dwight Howard in the first place of the NBA draft, meant a new beginning for the Magic, who saw in Superman the new reference of the team and for that they had to surround him with players that complemented him. The arrival of Steve Francis was the main bet of the management to pair him with Howard, but the result was not as expected, since Francis' attitude was not as expected either on or off the court.

Howard's first years were complicated because together with a recovered Grant Hill, the arrival of Hedo Turkoglu or the consolidation of Jameer Nelson as point guard, the Magic could not make that leap in quality that would take them back to the postseason.

After the 2005 season, the Magic named Otis Smith as the new general manager, who got J.J. Redick in the draft and together with the rest of the roster the Magic returned to the playoffs again in the 2006/07 season with a negative record of 40/42. In this new postseason appearance the Magic were again eliminated in the first round by the Pistons.

This elimination was a turning point and the following season the Magic again got a ticket to the playoffs and this time they made it past the first round after eliminating the Toronto Raptors. Despite the victory, the journey would end in the conference semifinals when they were eliminated again by the Pistons.

The 2008/09 season was the best season for the Magic in many years, where they made the playoffs again and this time they made it to the conference finals after eliminating great teams like the Boston Celtics or the Cleveland Cavaliers. But in the finals the Magic found themselves up against the Los Angeles Lakers, who gave the Florida team no margin of victory and lost by a resounding 4-1.

The 2010 season was again very good for the Magic, who managed to return to the conference finals but this time they were eliminated by the Boston Celtics and put an end to the best era of the new Magic.

The following years were somewhat stormy for the Magic due to Howard's injuries and the lack of talent surrounding the center, caused Howard to consider an exit in search of new challenges outside of Orlando. After two consecutive years of falling in the first round of the playoffs and the ongoing tensions between Stan Van Gundy and Howard. It caused Superman to leave for the Lakers in the summer of 2012 and thus putting an end to an era.

Post-Howard rebuilding

Howard's farewell brought the worst years in franchise history. After several wrong choices or players who have not come to explode in the franchise as is the case of Victor Oladipo, have led the Magic to be wandering around the league looking for a team that would return them to the playoffs, which have been without stepping on for six years. Until 2018 when the Magic returned to postseason play led by a Nikola Vucevic, accompanied by players like Aaron Gordon or Evan Fournier.