Orlando Magic induct Rich DeVos into team Hall of Fame

The Orlando Magic have inducted team chairman Rich DeVos into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. He will be honored during Tuesday’s game.

The Orlando Magic have inducted senior chairman Rich DeVos into the team’s Hall of Fame. DeVos will be honored during the Orlando Magic’s game against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.

The DeVos family purchased the team in 1991 just before the Magic’s third season, providing some stable ownership to the team. The team then took off with the drafting of Shaquille O’Neal, reaching the NBA Finals in 1995.

The Magic have been one of the most consistent teams in the Eastern Conference since then, making the Playoffs 14 times in the team’s 27-year history. Orlando reached a second peak in 2009 when the Magic returned to the NBA Finals behind Dwight Howard.

“When we purchased the team 25 years ago our goal was to not only to be the best team we could be, but to also use the team as a platform to better the community, especially being able to reach the young people through the power of this great game,” Rich DeVos said in a press release. “This journey has certainly been a family affair and I’m touched to have been elected into the Magic Hall of Fame.”

There have been plenty of ups and downs on the court in that time — star players coming and departing, wins and losses, championships and rebuilds — but the Magic have remained a strong pillar in the community consistently. That was a big part of the culture DeVos has helped build with the organization.

The Orlando Magic Youth Foundation annually donates millions of dollars to local charities and causes and shines a light on children in need in the Central Florida area.

The DeVos family has owned the Magic for almost its entire history and so he undoubtedly is worthy of his placement in the team’s hall of fame.

[He has meant] a lot,” coach and former player Scott Skiles said. “And not just on the Magic. His whole business life and everything else. His whole family has a set of principles that guide him. I have a lot of admiration for that. I know they love the team. I know Rich loves the team. You feel that when you are around him.”

That has not meant DeVos has been without controversy though. Aside from DeVos’ political views and the structure of his business that often comes under fire, he nearly sold the team in the early 2000s at a time when the Magic were struggling attendance wise.

Selling the team at that point would have likely meant the Magic would move. The push for a new arena was waged long before the city and county approved construction of the Amway Center for the 2011 season.

However, DeVos had an infamous “change of heart.” The team and the city had become important to him and his family and they took the team off the market and kept it within the family.

The DeVos family have usually been willing spenders to put a winning product on the floor. They dipped deep into the luxury tax following the 2009 Finals run to keep the team atop the Eastern Conference.

The team is now slowly coming out of the rebuild after that title push. It still says something though that this four-year stretch is tied for the longest stretch the Magic have missed the Playoffs in their 27-year history. It speaks to the success the Magic have had with DeVos as the owner, even if it has not led to much more than four years of true title contention.

“Mr. DeVos is the best owner that a fan could ever want for their team and we are honored to celebrate his induction into the Magic Hall of Fame,” Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins said in a press release. “Mr. DeVos’ vision, leadership, and enthusiasm for the organization, team and our community is unparalleled.”

Rich DeVos is the fourth inductee into the Orlando Magic’s Hall of Fame. He joins the inaugural class of Nick Anderson and Pat Williams, inducted in 2014 and Shaquille O’Neal inducted last year.

Next: Dwight Howard is poor option in rebuild

In addition to being recognized on the court, a plaque will be placed in the Nutrilite Fan Experience area of the Amway Center’s main concourse.