Who has next for the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame?
Bo Outlaw
Darrell Armstrong was taking photos with his family and other Orlando Magic Hall of Famers in attendance for his induction during Friday’s game. Nick Anderson and David Steele were flanking him when someone shouted, “Get Bo over here.”
Slowly the group grew, but everyone had to point out Bo Outlaw specifically. He had to be in these photos. He had to be a part of this moment.
If Darrell Armstrong’s heart was too big for his body and he composed the heart part of the beloved Heart & Hustle team, then Bo Outlaw was the hustle part. And it was impossible to think of Armstrong without thinking of Outlaw. They were seemingly attached at the hip and provided the basis for everything the Magic would do during that interregnum and Tracy McGrady periods.
The Magic might as well have been calling Outlaw into the Hall of Fame when they were trying to get him in photos with Armstrong.
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Armstrong certainly merits Hall of Fame induction on his own — his impact and place in Magic history are actually greater than even some of the perceptions about him. But it still felt a bit off that Outlaw did not go in with him. That is how tied together the two are.
Outlaw averaged 6.3 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game in eight seasons with the Magic. Outlaw was always much more than his statistics, however.
He has the fourth-highest on-court defensive rating in Magic history (third behind Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat among players with multiple seasons and significant roles with the Magic). He has the highest defensive box plus-minus (+2.8) in Magic history. A significant feat considering Dwight Howard and Shaquille O’Neal were franchise luminaries.
In many ways, Outlaw was a whole lot more than the hustle he provided. But that was the underpinning for a lot of his success. That is what made him so memorable.
Like Armstrong, Outlaw was never supposed to make it in the NBA. He never quite figured out how to score. But his energy, heart and hustle changed games and made him someone the Magic could not leave off the roster. Even when much of that athleticism left him, the team wanted him around.
His impact in the community speaks for itself too. He won the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award three times (1999, 2006, 2007) and is still on the Magic staff as a community ambassador. Fans still connect with him and Outlaw remains one of the faces of the Magic franchise to the community at large.
Outlaw will get his call to the Hall of Fame. It is a matter of when the Magic want to pull that card. I mean, he still works in the building, it should not be hard to find him.