The Orlando Magic just inducted Darrell Armstrong into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. So who has next for the Hall? We sift through the candidates.
To anyone outside of Orlando Magic fans, Darrell Armstrong might have seemed like an odd choice to honor for the Hall of Fame.
He is truly a player that belongs solely to the Magic. Fortunately, his Dallas Mavericks team — Darrell Armstrong is an assistant coach for Dallas — seemed to recognize how special and passionate he was too. They celebrated his induction into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame with a team get-together before Friday’s game. As Armstrong walked away from center court after getting recognized by the Amway Center crowd, the Mavericks mobbed him in celebration.
Armstrong truly was a special player. The drumbeat of the famed Heart and Hustle team. Someone Magic fans still show all kinds of appreciation for at every moment he gets brought up.
Armstrong’s induction into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame was an emotional one. Armstrong was never supposed to make it to the NBA. He thanked every coach that guided him along the way, pausing to collect his thoughts and compose himself when he finally reached Doc Rivers and that Heart and Hustle team.
As things stand, Armstrong is third in franchise history in total assists (seventh in assists per game), second in steals (and second in steals per game, tops in steal percent) and sixth in value over replacement player according to Basketball-Reference.
Armstrong is not on the Mt. Rushmore of Magic basketball, but he is certainly in that next tier. His inclusion in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame was always expected.
The question now is who has next? Which player or figure will join the Magic’s Hall of Fame next?
The list of players who surely qualify for the Hall of Fame is fairly set in stone. The question for the team with it playing some catch up after forming the honor in 2014 is the order in which franchise luminaries enter the hall.
The first batch were obvious. Nick Anderson and Pat Williams were the founding members of the team and easy choices for the first group in the hall. Rich DeVos and Jimmy Hewitt were pretty much the team’s only owners. Shaquille O’Neal and Tracy McGrady are Basketball Hall of Fame players who had significant time with the Magic. Anfernee Hardaway would have been there.
The team will have to wait until Dwight Howard retires before they admit the final member of the franchise’s Mt. Rushmore into the team’s hall of fame.
There are still a lot of players and figures to get to from the team’s early years. And now players from the 2009 Finals run are starting to retire and are becoming eligible for the honor. And there are always the fan favorites who should get in for their contributions and adoration as much as their statistics.
The Magic will eventually get to everyone on that list — I will probably mention everyone who I think should be in through the course of this post. The order in which players go in has some importance. It states who is important in the franchise’s history. There is some ranking to go with that.
Practically, it is also about who is available to make the trip to Orlando for all the pomp and circumstance (sorry, Scott Skiles).
Here are our best guesses at who has next (in order for drama’s sake).