Orlando Magic Top 30: Appreciation for the most popular role players

When I conceived of finding the most popular players in Orlando Magic history, I envisioned telling the stories of the unsung heroes in team history.

For this year’s staff ranking project, I wanted to try to capture something that would help us discuss some of the lesser-known players in Orlando Magic history.

We had already ranked the top 25 players in team history and every team in Magic history. Those are the big ones that cover the bulk of Magic history in one way or another.

But telling the team’s story is about more than those names. It is about the players that endeared themselves to fans through their hard work and effort.

Especially when it comes to Magic history, those players are the ones that are more universally beloved. Every star player had an ugly exit from Orlando.

Shaquille O’Neal seemed to abscond in the night — not that the public helped with the infamous Orlando Sentinel poll. Anfernee Hardaway vented his frustrations on the radio as he struggled with injuries before he eventually shipped out. Tracy McGrady forced his way out after a high-profile spat with the team’s general manager. And everyone lived through the Dwight-mare with Dwight Howard.

It was not pretty. So part of my thought process in trying to find the most popular player in Magic history was a way to examine these kinds of players. That is at least how I fashioned my list.

When I asked the open-ended question: Who is the most popular player in Magic history? We ended up getting a lot of the stars at the top. Time does heal a lot of wounds.

Among Orlando Magic Daily staff, Shaquille O’Neal was the runaway favorite for the most popular player. In our final list that included fan nominations saw All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady and Anfernee Hardaway made up the top three. Dwight Howard was sixth — his popularity will surely rise as time goes on.

It was interesting to see how fans took this question. Many acknowledged the overall popularity of these star players in their time. The list went a way that I did not expect.

I discussed the popularity of each player that made the list in full in the top-30 post. But I thought it was interesting to see how things played out. I put my list in and thought the other lists would skew closer to mine with a lot more fan favorites ranking higher. I did not expect the stars to win the day.

But that is why I do these things. I am interested to see what other’s opinions are. I did not just want to dominate the conversation. I wanted to pretend to be scientific about this at least and get some other voices involved to get a more complete and thorough list.

Still, part of me regrets the list coming out the way it did. I would have loved to see more of the lesser-known players get some love or be more prominent on this list.

My ballot did not cover the stars. Hardaway was my highest rated star at No. 5.

My top five on my ballot was Nick Anderson, Jameer Nelson, Darrell Armstrong, J.J. Redick and Anfernee Hardaway. Bo Outlaw was sixth and I included Kyle O’Quinn (probably overrating his popularity), Victor Oladipo (more of a regretful nostalgia play with his sudden emergence with the Indiana Pacers) and Scott Skiles in my top 15. Scott Skiles just snuck in because of his extreme popularity as a player getting dulled by his sudden exit as a head coach.

There was always something right?

My focus on my list was on guys who were unquestionably beloved by Magic fans. To me, that meant Nick Anderson had to be number one.

When I asked for fan nominations, no player got more nominations than Anderson. There is definitely still a resonance among fans for him.

Anderson was rarely the star on the team. Even in his lone 50-point game, O’Neal stole the headlines with a dunk that tore the basket down.

When the Magic eventually parted ways with Anderson after 10 years, he was the team’s all-time leading scorer and leader in games played (obviously). Both have since been surpassed.

When Magic fans talk about retiring a player’s jersey, Anderson’s name comes up first. There is a legitimate debate for hanging No. 25 in the rafters — and possibly first — for a guy who averaged only 15.4 points per game in a Magic uniform and made zero All-Star appearances. And nationally is known for his worst moment rather than his best moment.

As the memory of Anderson’s play has receded into history, I have often thought of how the Magic can best memorialize his importance to the franchise as the team’s first draft pick and someone who has made his mark for the franchise for three decades.

If the Magic begin to retire jerseys, I think Anderson has to have his jersey up there. It is the best way to keep this memory of him alive and recognize his importance to the organization.

I was happy to see that he was the lone non-star player to break the top four. I kind of wish he was higher, but I understand why others voted for more-known players.

I placed Jameer Nelson second because of his intense loyalty to the team. He was a centerpiece of the Magic’s best run — even if he controversially played in the 2009 Finals (better than people remembered, but not the level that made him an All-Star that season).

Nelson became popular because he was the underdog. He was committed to his team and always remained professional. Even through the storms of the Howard will-he-won’t-he leave, Nelson seemed to be the rock that kept everything together.

His longevity with the team helped for sure.

And finally, Darrell Armstrong to me is the most universally beloved Magic player. But he is such a deep cut that it is hard to explain why Magic fans love him so much to non-Magic fans. I did a project of “Four jerseys Magic fans have to have” and Darrell Armstrong was my deep cut. The editor of the project had to question me about Armstrong and his bona fides.

Armstrong in a big way defined the Magic for several years. His energy along with Hardaway’s greatness made the 1997 Playoffs series with the Miami Heat more competitive than it should have been.

He then sparked the most beloved team in Magic history in the 1999-2000 season (along with the ever-popular Bo Outlaw). He was then perhaps the most consistent player in the McGrady era outside of McGrady. His departure directly preceded that team’s collapse.

I was all for favoring these players. My list included Hedo Turkoglu (No. 8), Dennis Scott (No. 9) and Victor Oladipo (No. 10) over Shaquille O’Neal (No. 11). J.J. Redick is another guy who quickly became beloved by Magic fans for his popularity/infamy with the Duke Blue Devils but how he found his way in the NBA and became such a reliable and consistently play.

I focused on these players because I felt this list belonged to the unsung heroes of Magic history. I was the only person in any ballot to have O’Neal outside the top 5.

But like all things, this list is fluid. Popularity changes and shifts as memories change and new fans come up. Newer fans likely will not remember Armstrong or Nick Anderson, except form the stories we tell. Players like O’Neal and McGrady will be forgiven — if that has not happened already. And, as this list shows, their popularity in nostalgia will rise.

Some of those scrappy workhorses that made the team fun and supported the great players in franchise history will get somewhat forgotten by history.

The fun stories that made up those great seasons involving guys like Dennis Scott or even Ryan Anderson (No. 13 on my ballot, No. 24 overall) or Marcin Gortat (a regrettable omission from my ballot on my part, see I am subject to overthinking these things!) may get forgotten to history.

That is what I hoped to capture with this list of the most popular players. There will be a time to revisit this list — like all our lists — to see how things have changed. New players will capture our hearts and endear themselves to us within this organization.

Have any more thoughts about our list of the most popular players in Orlando Magic history? Connect with us in the comments below or online @omagicdaily on Twitter.