The Orlando Magic have had a celebrated history with fantastic players. The Orlando Magic Daily staff got together to vote the top 25. Here is part four.
The Orlando Magic’s 27-year history has been full of many, many highs. Some of the best players the league has seen at various times have worn a Magic uniform.
It has not delivered a championship yet, but the Magic have a history they can be proud of. The team has reached the Playoffs 14 times in its history with a gap no longer than four years. The franchise has had 22 All-Star selections in its short history.
The Magic are entering a season that has a lot riding on it. They are hungering to return to the Playoffs. And there is a lot of uncertainty about the roster.
The Magic’s history though is still one to celebrate. There are some truly great players that have walked through the hallways of the old Orlando Arena and the new Amway Center wearing Magic jerseys.
Magic history is full of some truly great players. And some memorable role players. Magic fans have a good selection of players to pick from when looking back at history.
The Orlando Magic have recently finished their offseason fan poll to name the top 25 players in franchise history. They selected 25 players and had fans vote for one, the winner would advance to the next vote.
Shaquille O’Neal won the day, coming in at No. 1 with Anfernee Hardaway at No. 2 and Dwight Howard at No. 3.
https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/768941900850204672
As you can see in the video from FanSided above, they picked a different trio. There seems to be a bunch of different ways to go — so long as the top four are set as Howard, O’Neal, Hardaway and Tracy McGrady.
The list though was a little bit unsatisfactory. Vince Carter cracked the top 10, beating Dennis Scott, Scott Skiles and Darrell Armstrong among his six straight wins, before the team stopped him from advancing any further.
It was certainly part of the risk of having a fan vote.
It inspired us at Orlando Magic Daily to come up with our own list. Orlando Magic Daily contributors Philip Rossman-Reich, Zach Palmer, David Iwanowski, Ryan Doyle, Carson Ingle, Dar-Wei Chen, Vincent McMillan and Spencer Henderson submitted their list of the top-25 players of all time. We put our lists together and came up with this ranking of the top 25 players in Magic history.
This is part four with Nos. 6-10 of our Top 25 list. You can read part one of our list with Nos. 21-25, part two of our list with Nos. 16-20 and part three of our with Nos. 11-15.
10. Darrell Armstrong (1995-2003)
High/Low: 6/UR
By Zach Palmer
The core piece of Orlando’s fondly remembered “Heart and Hustle” squad, Darrell Armstrong ranks in as the 10th best player in Orlando Magic history.
In 1999, Armstrong won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award along with the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award. Armstrong posted 13.8 points, 6.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game that season and was probably Orlando’s best player as Penny Hardaway’s descent due to injury continued.
Armstrong, the poster child of the cult popular “Heart and Hustle” Magic led the feisty squad to a 41-41 record through his physical defensive play and relentless motor. Offensively, Armstrong posted a career-high 16.7 points per game and was Orlando’s main option on offense with a season high of 33 against the Mavericks.
Armstrong very well could be the best perimeter defender in Magic history. Armstrong is second all-time on Orlando’s steals list and second on Orlando’s steals per game list.
While his exploits mostly happened during a down era of Magic basketball, Armstrong never threw in the towel and made fans believe that Magic team could win a game against any team in the league through sheer effort.
In all of Armstrong’s seasons with Orlando, the Magic never posted a losing record. And he remains one of the franchise’s all-time fan favorites.
9. Dennis Scott (1991-97)
High/Low: 7/UR
By Vincent McMillan
Dennis Scott may have been the third most critical piece to the up-and-coming Orlando Magic squad in the 1990’s and ranks 9th on our list of best players in the team’s history.
Scott might not have been one of the most well-rounded players on the team, but his skill set definitely made him an important piece.
In a time where the 3-point shot was not emphasized, Scott pioneered its use as a deadly weapon. Earning the nickname “3-D,” Scott set a couple of records for shooting the three at the time –most 3-pointers in a game (11) and most 3-pointers in a season (267). Both have since been broken with the increase on the importance of the long range shot.
Scott’s ability to hit the three made opposing defenses play honest or what we now call “stretching the floor.” He had to be accounted for on a nightly basis or he could set the nets on fire. Opponents had to pick their poison with the Magic’s numerous scoring options.
While Dennis Scott might get forgotten by many NBA fans for his greatness behind the line, Magic fans certainly remember his role in putting this team and this city on the map.
During his seven years with Orlando, Dennis Scott averaged 15.3 points per game with his best year coming in at 19.9 points per game in 1992. He still holds the franchise record for 3-point field goals made (981), a mark that may never be broken.
After seven seasons with the Magic, the Magic traded Scott as the team looked to move in a new direction after Shaquille O’Neal’s departure.
8. Jameer Nelson (2005-14)
High/Low: 6/12
By Zach Palmer
“Mighty Mouse” Jameer Nelson clocks in here as Orlando’s eighth best player franchise history.
For those mid-to-late 2000s Magic teams, there was not a better barometer of how the Magic were doing than looking at how well Jameer Nelson was playing. Nelson might not have been the most talented point guard in the NBA, but one thing consistently rung true for him: He had the ability to make other players on his team better.
That is what made Jameer Nelson so special during Orlando’s prime from 2008-10.
Nelson’s lone All-Star selection came in 2009 when Nelson averaged 16.7 points per game and 5.4 assists per game, while shooting an insane 45 percent from three and 50 percent overall.
While Nelson was not nearly as effective in 2010 as he was the year prior, he turned it on in the Playoffs averaging 19 points and nearly five assists per game. The Magic eventually fell to Boston, but Nelson had clearly elevated himself to Orlando’s second-best player during that season. Nelson was widely regarded as the leader of those Conference Finals teams.
After the eventual departure of Dwight Howard, Nelson was left with a choice: stay with the Magic through a long rebuilding process or play out the remaining prime of his career with a team competing for a championship. Nelson chose to show some much-needed loyalty and stuck around with the Magic while his remaining prime passed him by.
Nelson ranks second in games played for the Magic with 651. He also ranks top five in nearly every statistical category relevant to his position in Magic history.
While overarching basketball history may not remember Jameer Nelson fondly, Magic fans will almost certainly remember him fondly for his two-year spurt that led Orlando to the upper echelon of NBA teams and another conference title.
7. Rashard Lewis (2008-11)
High/Low: 6/11
By David Iwanowski
When the Orlando Magic acquired Rashard Lewis and signed him to a six-year, $118-million deal, the league was put on notice: The Orlando Magic were ready to be contenders.
Lewis had already been an All Star in Seattle. And his unique combination of size, versatility and, most notably, shooting ability made him a special player the Magic felt would fit perfectly with the team they had. Specifically, that he would complement Dwight Howard very well.
In his three-plus seasons in Orlando, the team achieved an incredible amount of success, and revolutionized basketball in the mind of many analysts (including Sam Hinkie, who mentioned the Magic style of play in his resignation letter).
With Lewis at the 4, the Magic were able to surround their superstar center with four strong shooters. They were also able to play fast, if needed, play a versatile defensive style and create matchup nightmares for opposing defenses.
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Lewis finished his short Magic career with an overall average of 16.3 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game and a 39.9 percent field goal percentage from three while also being a high volume shooter.
He enabled the Magic to succeed from behind the arc, which created a very efficient offense. The combination of his size and mobility allowed him to defend multiple positions. And his wing skills made him a nightmare for opposing big men to defend against.
He made a lot of big shots in big games as well — a few of his shots swung win probability significantly more than most shots do, and that is another big reason his impact was very apparent.
His overall effect on the team’s play, and the culture he played a big part in creating, led to him being ranked at this spot despite only playing fewer than four seasons for the franchise.
6. Nick Anderson (1990-99)
High/Low: 5/UR
By Zach Palmer
While most of the talk regarding the early Orlando Magic teams rightfully revolves around superstars Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway, many forget just how skilled and important Nick Anderson was.
The majority of people point to Horace Grant as Orlando’s third best player on that 1995 team, but the truth is that Nick Anderson was just as important and possibly more important to that team’s success.
While many try to define Anderson’s career based on those horrifying four missed free throws against the Houston Rockets, that is not what fans should remember about Anderson’s career.
What should be remembered about Anderson was his steal against Michael Jordan that helped lead Orlando to the conference finals. What should be remembered is Nick Anderson’s 50-point game off the bench — while fighting an illness.
Before O’Neal, Anderson was actually early Orlando’s first option offensively. And while those teams were not great, Anderson posted consecutive seasons of 19.9 points per game on respectable shooting numbers.
When Orlando added more talented players, Anderson changed his role to help the team win game. Anderson became more of a secondary playmaker and spot-up shooter with the additions of O’Neal and Hardaway. It helped Orlando achieve a lot of success.
Now, while we do not want to remember Anderson for his missed free throws, it would be wrong to ignore the impact it had on his career. Before those free throws Anderson shot 69.7 percent from the free-throw line. Afterwards, Anderson shot 60.5 percent from the line and never claimed back the confidence he once had offensively, even with O’Neal’s departure and a shortage of scoring.
With all that said, Nick Anderson is one of the Magic’s all-time greatest players.
Anderson is the franchise leader in games played and it is hard to find a stat relevant to a wing player where Nick Anderson does not place top five for the franchise.
With all that in mind, Nick Anderson places a rightful sixth on Orlando’s all-time players list.
The top five of our list will be revealed Friday!