Retrospective: The Top-10 Power Forwards in Orlando Magic History
Terry “The Catman” Catledge was the first big scorer for the Orlando Magic in the early days following the expansion.
Catledge came from the Washington Bullets, and he had proven himself to be capable as a starting power forward in the 1989 season when he averaged 10.4 points and 7.2 rebounds for the Bullets.
With Orlando, he was given a starting role immediately and he became the primary threat down low for those Magic teams.
He started 72 games in the 1990 season and appeared in 74, while averaging 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
Catledge’s field goal percentage was low (46.2 percent), but a lot of that was due to getting his shot blocked, recollecting, and going back up.
Catledge had his shot blocked the most in the league that season. He would play two more seasons in Orlando before the Magic finally had Shaquille O’Neal to dump it into down low.
Catledge averaged 14.7 points per game in those latter two seasons, but would have served mostly as an obstacle to developing Shaquille O’Neal‘s post game.
Catledge retired at age 29 after playing just 21 games during O’Neal’s rookie year.
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