Jonathan Abrams recently released an oral history of the 1995 Orlando Magic and their run to the Finals. Aside from nostalgia, we learned some things.
The Orlando Magic are not in the Playoffs this year. They are still rising from the bottom after losing their latest star and the climb has not been pretty or easy. It never is.
It makes fans want to think about happier times. About the times when the team was on top and the future was limitless.
That time was the mid-1990s for Magic fans, the first time the team became contenders and really the greatest time of potential in the franchise’s history. If the Thunder lucked into three top-10 picks, they were only copying the Magic’s luck in acquiring Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway through the Draft.
This was the team of the future and its window shut quicker than it opened with just one Finals appearance.
It is a group that is still talked about throughout the NBA. So much so that Jonathan Abrams of Grantland spent much of the last year putting together an oral history of the rise and fall of the Magic’s first great team. The team’s enduring legacy is still seen in the pace-and-space 3-point shooting of today’s NBA. Magic fans still feel the impact as that first team established the Magic as a franchise in the league.
The whole story is worth reading just to relive those days. In the following slides, we highlight the quotes and notes that caught our attention.
Next: Shaquille O'Neal and Los Angeles