Final Position Retrospective: The All-Time Orlando Magic Roster
Center: Shaquille O’Neal / Dwight Howard
Shaquille O’Neal only spent four of his 19 NBA seasons in Orlando, but he is indisputably the best talent to come through the organization. One can only wonder what would have happened had O’Neal and Hardaway spent a longer time with one another.
He is the original Superman, and it was Shaq’s dunks that led to the string of Superman logos representing each of his dunks.
Shaq was the first franchise talent in Orlando, and to some his departure still stings to this day. Even so, overall, he is more fondly thought of than Dwight Howard at this point.
O’Neal also went on to win four championship. Howard is in the running to win his first this postseason having led the Houston Rockets to the Western Conference Finals.
Dwight Howard usurped Shaq’s nickname some 15 years later, and O’Neal rightfully wore him out for it on Inside the NBA (although Howard was the only one actually to get DC’s permission to use the Superman imagery).
While Howard has all the tools of a Hall of Fame center, only now is he approaching his former level of play after two-plus years of looking like a shadow of his Orlando-self. The Rockets have a top-tier defense, and Howard’s effect is largely why.
In Orlando, he rendered the Magic a top-three defensive team even with mediocre defenders on the perimeter. Howard would not be caught covering as much with Hardaway, McGrady, Nick Anderson and Oladipo cutting off penetration. Howard would avoid foul trouble.
The center spot is so rich that it would be pretty insulting to put Nikola Vucevic on this roster and expect him to contend for minutes. Vucevic is the third best center in Magic history, but he lingers far behind O’Neal and Howard in terms of talent and impact. Vucevic has likely maxed out his potential, and he is one of the better centers in the league, but a Hall of Famer he is not.