What goes in the Orlando Magic time capsule?
Dwight Howard’s cape
The moment that truly launched Dwight Howard into superstardom.
Howard took over the Superman persona and announced himself as one of the most gifted athletes in the game when he soared from the foul line and threw the ball into the basket to win the Slam Dunk Contest in New Orleans.
Throw in Kenny Smith’s over the top commentary and that was that. Howard had an indelible moment to add to his name and his reputation as a growing star int he league.
Of course, a year later he came close to winning a championship with the Magic and got a taste of true greatness that was not just the hype machine and everything else that feels good.
Of the men Dwight Howard seemed to leave in his wake in practice, none were more famous than Courtney Lee. Howard gave an inadvertent elbow to Lee and knocked him out of almost the entire first round of the Playoffs. Lee made it back to help dispatch the Celtics and then the Cavaliers before he had a moment he wish he could have back in Game Two of the 2009 NBA Finals.
But, Lee’s donning of that mask was symbolic of the innate toughness of that team. Here was a rookie playing well above his head, it seemed, and playing extraordinarily well.
Magic fans today still regret the team letting him go even though it brought in Ryan Anderson and Vince Carter. There was lament that the Finals team got broken up, even if the salary cap made it necessary.
Courtney Lee? I asked him the following year if he missed that old mask. Not one bit, he said.