Orlando Magic Top 30: The Most Under-Appreciated Player in Orlando Magic History
27. Jason Richardson (2011-12)
Jason Richardson was in a bad position.
The Orlando Magic were crumbling and desperate to make something happen. Their relationship with Vince Carter had seemingly deteriorated. The relationship with Dwight Howard was starting to fray and unravel.
Worst of all, the Magic still wanted to win the title. They traded away about everything of value they had to reshape their team in one day. They brought back Hedo Turkoglu and acquired Gilbert Arenas.
They also got Jason Richardson.
His biggest claim to fame in his career to that point were a few appearances at the Slam Dunk Contest and some dunks in-game to raise eyebrows. Richardson was a solid player who could shoot from the outside and fly through the air. But he was far too often miscast as the lead scorer.
Outside of his contributions to the We Believe Golden State Warriors, he hardly made a dent. And he would not make a dent in the Magic’s ultimate fall as they tried to catch up to the LeBron James-led Miami Heat and maintain their star player.
That was not Richardson’s fault at all. He was dropped onto a sinking ship and asked to keep it afloat.
He certainly did his best. Richardson averaged 12.8 points per game in a Magic uniform. He was not the replacement for Carter the Magic really needed. Neither was Turkoglu.
But Richardson provided plenty of great moments. There was the game he dropped in nine 3-pointers in a come-from-behind win over the Milwaukee Bucks on the road. Or the 17 points he scored, including the game-winning basket, in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers in the 2012 Playoffs.
I choose Jason Richardson because of his impressive, although short, stint with the Magic as a shooting guard. Jason's stunning performance occurred during the beginning of the end of the Magic's recent era as a contender (the public eye starting to lose on the team).
— Ricardo J. Ortiz (@rjortiz26) August 17, 2019
Richardson created plenty of moments and had plenty of highlights that will likely go forgotten throughout Magic history.
Richardson was someone who the Magic asked a lot to keep their team afloat. He was never the one to do it. But he still put an imprint on the franchise.