5 biggest snubs off the NBA2K18 All-Time Orlando Magic team

NBA2K18 largely gets the all-time Orlando Magic team right. But there are a few players they left off that Magic fans would have liked to see on the team.

In a simple Facebook post, NBA2K sparked a debate and some outrage among Orlando Magic fans. And probably a few other fan bases.

NBA2K18’s addition of all-time teams was bound to cause some controversy and a bit of a stir. Especially considering there were player rights involved or players who did not give permission to use their likeness.

Still, the Magic’s all-time roster got the main guys in and got most of the roster correct — or at least correct according to what I selected when the initial idea was announced. I picked a 13-man roster and got 11 of the 13 players correct. The only two I missed were Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu — more on them in a minute.

So the all-time Magic are pretty much the team everyone would want to play if they are Magic history buffs like me. This is a solid representation of the Magic’s all-time roster.

But there were definitely points of contention. The big one is Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu. They are the two guys I missed and undoubtedly should be in the game.

There are all indications they — along with the 2009 Magic — would have been included in NBA2K18 if they could. Unfortunately, it appears neither Turkoglu nor Lewis have signed the agreement with the NBRPA for inclusion in the game.

If they had, 2K would definitely include them on the all-time team. Turkoglu might even be among the starters.

Ronnie2K has at least put out a call to get Turkoglu in the game next year:

So we will just have to excuse Turkoglu and Lewis’ exclusion. At least, for now. There were still some other questionable decisions for the all-time Magic team.

Most fans asked why Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic were included on the team. It seems like every team has at least one modern player. And, in fairness to Nikola Vucevic, he is probably the third best center in Magic history. His inclusion is not so crazy.

But Aaron Gordon seems a bit aspirational. There were at least four 2K17 MyTeam cards of Gordon that rated higher than the 80 he is on the all-time team in 2K18. But it still seems a bit premature to put him on the team.

And the most egregious inclusion appears to be Brian Shaw. He started only 41 games in three seasons, averaging 6.7 points per game and 4.6 assists per game. Considering the Magic already had Anfernee Hardaway, Darrell Armstrong, Jameer Nelson and Steve Francis on the roster, it seemed adding an extra point guard was a bit . . . much.

Not that Brian Shaw was a bad player. He was a great backup point guard. But he was definitely not among the best players in Magic history. And there were plenty of other players who deserved to be on the team who ended up getting snubbed.

Although there are some debates about Steve Francis’ inclusion (I have no problem with it) or Grant Hill getting the nod at starting small forward (I believe he should be on the team).

While fans argue about who should be included in the team, there comes the next argument: Who would you add in?

Lewis and Turkoglu are the obvious answers. But they are not in the game. So there is no point arguing for them. What other players that have been in previous versions of NBA2K deserve a nod on the all-time Orlando Magic?

Glad you asked. Here are at least some suggestions on who should make the team.