Orlando Magic Officially Announce First Jersey Retirement!

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        Despite being one of ten teams that have not won a championship, the Orlando Magic have had many legends play for them. Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady, the list goes on and on. However, while the Magic have a list of Hall of Famers play for them, they have never retired a jersey number. That all changes as it was just announced that the Orlando Magic will retire Shaquille O'Neal's jersey (no. 32). 



        Shaquille was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick back in 1992. He was a once in a generation talent with his strength and dominance. He won the Rookie of the Year award and would continue to find success. In 1995 Shaq and the Orlando Magic made it all the way to the NBA Finals which was the Magic's first Finals appearance in franchise history. Sadly they would lose to the Houston Rockets in four games, Shaq would never make it back to the Finals with the Magic. 



        Shaq would leave the Orlando Magic in 1996 and had an outstanding career. He won four championships, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and one with the Miami Heat. Shaq won a regular season MVP in 2000, earned three Finals MVPs (2000, 2001, 2002), led the league in scoring twice (1995, 2000), made All-NBA fourteen times and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016. Shaq is an all-time great and is one of the most dominant, if not the most dominant, player in NBA history. Shaq has his jersey retired by two other franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers (no. 34) and the Miami HEAT (no.32), now he will have another jersey hang in the rafters for another franchise on February 13th. 



        After the Shaq era, the Orlando Magic have made the NBA Finals just one time, back in 2009. The Magic would lose the Finals series against the Lakers in five games, thus remain without a championship. The Orlando Magic currently have a solid young team that is looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Magic are currently 19-15, the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, they're looking solid.



Location: Miami, FL, USA

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