We celebrated Orlando Magic history with our #MagicMadness tournament. It has forced us to reconsider some key parts of Magic history.
To help us pass the time during the season’s hiatus, I decided to hold an impromptu fan vote of the best players in Orlando Magic history. Taking off the since-canceled NCAA Tournament, I bracketed everyone in that style, splitting everyone by regions.
This was completely unscientific. I opened polling on Twitter for 24 hours with the simple question “Who ya got?” I was not looking for any specific criteria. This is completely unscientific. The only opinion injected into it was my decisions on where I seeded players (there was some thought given to this, but not a ton of statistical analysis).
This was meant to give a rough picture of the best players in Magic history. But mostly it was meant to be fun.
We all know who the top four players in Magic history are — although, I rigged it so the final four would not involve those four players. We know there is a second tier of players just below them. The debates are usually among those players and within these tiers.
Ultimately Shaquille O’Neal was the winner, defeating Tracy McGrady in the final Dwight Howard‘s unpopularity was not enough to keep him out of the Final Four. And there were a lot of blowouts and easy decisions after we got past the first and second round.
While this was an unscientific examination of Magic history, it was still very interesting to see how things developed and how fans voted. It was at least a small examination of how fans view their team’s history.
Again, this is not a scientific ranking of Magic players — I will provide a rough ranking of the 64 players coming up at the end of this post. But it did reveal some interesting new debate lines for the Magic and their history.
Some of the things that I learned about Magic history and how we view Magic history after the completion of this mini-project follows.
Shaq is (almost) forgiven
One thing that has become clear as anyone begins to study Orlando Magic history is that Shaquille O’Neal casts a shadow over the entire organization.
O’Neal is arguably a top-10 player of all time. The fact he was the Magic’s first true star and captained perhaps the best team in Magic history still resonates.
The fact his departure was jarring and so earth-shattering in a way the franchise still is trying to recover from. Yes, the Magic went to the Finals again since Shaquille O’Neal left, but Dwight Howard played very much in O’Neal’s shadow. So much so that the messiness of his departure was done to avoid the messiness of O’Neal’s departure.
O’Neal may not be the best player in team history — this poll suggests he is and the weight of the debate is likely leaning toward O’Neal — but he is undoubtedly the most critical player.
Talking about any of the Magic’s great players still presents some saltiness. Nobody left the Magic on good terms.
O’Neal bolted in free agency as the franchise floundered to catch up to both market realities and the new economics of the league. Anfernee Hardaway bolted as fans soured on him and demanded more from his deteriorating body. Tracy McGrady forced his way out frustrated with management. Howard did what Howard did.
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All were booed in their first returns to Orlando. Anfernee Hardaway said he was unsure he would be welcomed back when he returned fo the team’s 25th Anniversary season. Hardaway was indeed cheered.
McGrady has been welcomed back and might be the most popular player among the Magic’s former players along with Hardaway. Fans have forgotten the circumstances of their departure — or understood it was not their fault they left. McGrady was the runner-up in our tournament.
But O’Neal’s exit was much higher profile. He left a title-contending team and left the franchise trying to fill those giant shoes for the next decade. They never truly filled them — although Howard got close.
It still stung, especially with O’Neal’s penchant for creating media-driven storylines. O’Neal was still a persona non grata in Orlando. Even after he retired as he needled the Magic’s new center as he eclipsed many of O’Neal’s marks.
It is impossible not to put O’Neal in the top two of Magic history. Just like it is impossible, even with how unpopular he is, to keep Howard out of the top four. Like with O’Neal, Howard will be forgiven someday too.
O’Neal has clearly hit that point where his departure is no longer what defines his tenure with the team. His play and his legacy define them now.
O’Neal has always been the top of the mountain in Magic history. Even in a popularity contest, O’Neal is the clear standard-bearer for Magic history.
Jameer Nelson is near the top of the second tier
The one thing I did not expect in this tournament was how lopsided everything would be. I thought I had created matchups and a bracket that would create some intriguing matchups. But after the first round was completed, there were really no tight matchups until we got to the serious debates.
Popularity within Magic circles is pretty well defined and the top guys are also pretty well defined. The results of this thing were fairly well determined.
There was one major upset in the tournament that gave me some pause and had me rethinking some things about some players’ places in history.
I set up the tournament by bracketing players by the era of the franchise. Naming regions after players should have been a clue to who I thought would win. The only one that did not have a name was the Expansion/Rebuild Era — the 1990-92 season and 2013-Present. That is where a lot of the interesting debates and action happened.
Surprisingly, the 2-seed Jameer Nelson beat out 1-seed Nick Anderson. There was probably some recency bias — that plus the replay of Game 1 of the 1995 series against the Chicago Bulls inspired me to write about how underappreciated Anderson is.
But it did make me rethink Jameer Nelson’s place in Magic history.
Orlando Magic
Back in 2016, we rated Nelson eighth in our list of the best players in Magic history. That seemed to be a fair ranking for him. But he obviously has sentimental value to the franchise — much like Nick Anderson.
He averaged 12.6 points per game and 5.4 assists per game in his career. He topped off at 16.7 points and 5.4 assists per game during the 2009 season. He showed grit and determination throughout his career with the Magic, hitting several big shots and carrying the team to force a Game 5 and 6 in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.
Like Anderson, his good moments far outweigh a single mistake in the 2009 Finals (something that he probably should never have been put in the position to be in to begin with).
Jameer Nelson is certainly in the second tier of Magic greats alongside Nick Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Dennis Scott and Darrell Armstrong. But he might truly rank second among that group. The top three seemingly are Nick Anderson, Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson.
Nelson may not have the numbers to be included among the elite. But he is clearly an important part of Magic history. And one of the bigger figures within Magic history.
That probably did not take much thought to consider. But he remains extremely popular within Magic circles. He is in the exclusive list of All-Stars in Magic history — something both Anderson and Turkoglu cannot say.
Nelson probably has situated himself as the sixth-best player in Magic history. Maybe that is not saying a ton, but Nelson has a place near the top of Magic history.
Sorting the Magic’s Second Tier
The debate about Jameer Nelson’s debate had me thinking about the whole second and third tier of Magic players.
As I said throughout the tournament, the ordering of where players are is pretty set. Shaquille O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, Dwight Howard and Anfernee Hardaway are the top four. The next group and the group after that is where things are interesting.
I just described how Nelson surprisingly fit higher in the second tier than I initially believed. I also noted how weak the bubble in the second tier is.
We are talking about Nick Anderson, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu and Darrell Armstrong. Dennis Scott is probably in this group too. Nikola Vucevic is in this group too. But asking Magic Twitter to vote on Nikola Vucevic is not advisable — he is extremely unpopular in some online circles to the point that he is vastly underrated in his Magic history (really the first time the fan base has turned its back on a star player rather than the other way around).
Those are all very nice role players with a few All-Star and All-Star-caliber players thrown in there. It is a good group full of players that are beloved in Magic history.
Daily Knicks
But after that? There is an extreme drop off. And that might be why the tournament felt so lopsided.
Evan Fournier is probably knocking on the door to enter the second unit. He is in the top-10 in scoring average and has quietly put together a very consistent long stint with the Magic. Like Vucevic, fans have not come around to him for whatever reason.
Fan favorites like Bo Outlaw, J.J. Redick and Scott Skiles fit into this third tier. As do short-term stars like Rony Seikaly, Vince Carter and Steve Francis. These players had solid seasons or made a cultural impact on the team but did not do a whole lot else. And many of them are lost to history.
This is the biggest group, but even this group struggled to separate itself in our tournament.
Maybe it is just how I spread the players out that they did not face each other. Maybe the players who did meet were a battle of popular players against unpopular players (Dennis Scott defeated Evan Fournier by 3-to-1).
There can be objective arguments that some players were better than others. But subjective elements like impact and popularity play a role here too in separating and placing these players within history.
The second and third tier are really messy. There are players who should be in the second tier clearly who are not because their impact was muted or short-lived. And for fans, the decisions are fairly easy.
Jonathan Isaac is the Magic’s future
I was personally really interested to see where the current Orlando Magic players would place in the run of this tournament. I knew the very best players would struggle in this tournament. They are immensely unpopular among Magic twitter — for both fair and unfair reasons.
Where Aaron Gordon would land was interesting because projecting him is as much about potential as his present.
I took some flack for seeding Jonathan Isaac as a 14-seed in the tournament. That was an acknowledgment of what Isaac has always done with the team in his first two and a half seasons. It was not a statement about his future and what he can become.
Swarm and Sting
By simply asking “Who ya got?” in the prompt, people certainly took his future into consideration.
Jonathan Isaac was the lone double-digit seed to advance in the tournament. He defeated Nikola Vucevic in the first round (63.5-36.5) and then defeated Aaron Gordon (54.5-45.5) in the second round before losing to Jameer Nelson — and order was restored.
Isaac is immensely popular. That much is abundantly clear. To me, this was the fans making the statement that Isaac is the guy they believe is the franchise’s future star.
To be sure, Isaac is going to be a very good player. I believe Isaac is the lone player on the roster who is elite at something. He is the one player who has an elite-level skill. That is his defense and that seems like it can only continue to grow as he understands the pro game more.
His offensive ceiling is a bit more unclear. But Isaac is growing there too. Before his knee injury this year, he was averaging 12.0 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game while his effective field goal percentage peaked over 50-percent for the first time in his career.
Isaac’s growth was slow. Injuries have slowed him down too. But he is still extremely promising and only getting better.
My stance is that this was meant to be a temperature in the water today. And Isaac still has a long way to go. He is all potential.
But what I think the fans proved throughout this process is everyone has very high expectations for Isaac already.
1995 Team Reigns Supreme
The next question everyone has to ask after looking at the best players is who is the best team. That is a debate we have had on this site too. And it is a statement and list we continue to refine. We are overdue to update both our list of the best players in Magic history and the best teams in Magic history.
The way I seeded the tournament was by franchise era. I split the players by the top 16 players in each era of the franchise’s history. So it turned out all the players from the Dwight Howard/2009 era played against each other. The players from the Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee Hardaway/1995 era played against each other and so on.
This is how Hardaway did not make the final four. I did that on purpose.
While Jameer Nelson defeated Nick Anderson for his spot in the final four, the 1995 team and how it resonated most with people.
Hardwood Houdini
Dennis Scott defeated Evan Fournier in the second round. Nick Anderson defeated Tobias Harris, who quietly still ranks very highly in many all-time season averages for the Magic (another really underrated and, at least by me, underappreciated player).
And, of course, Shaquille O’Neal won the tournament.
In the comments I received about the votes and how people voted, the 1995 team stood out to most people. That team still resonates so much with people.
We looked back at the 1995 team a lot during Locked On Magic’s live restream of the Orlando Magic’s win over the Chicago Bulls in Game 1. That team still resonates so much with people beyond just the documentary and the stories. Watching them again shows both their flaws and how good they really are.
That team was very much the first love for so many Magic fans. And that still resonates with so many people.
There is a reason SB Nation named the 1995 Magic the second-best team to never win a title (or at least the best among Eastern Conference teams). This is not just a Magic thing. Fans around the work love this team and those players made their names off this historic team.
I imagine if — or when — I do a poll with the best teams in Magic history, the 1995 Magic will win the vote.
The Final List
Back in 2016, we ranked the top 25 players in Orlando Magic history, polling our staff to come up with a final list. Using that list as a base plus the results of Magic Madness this year, let’s come up with a rough list of the 64-best players in Magic history:
Top Tier — The GOATs
1. Shaquille O’Neal . . . 2. Dwight Howard . . . 3. Tracy McGrady . . . 4. Anfernee Hardaway
There is no debating the top players in Magic history.
Among these four players, they consist of all the All-NBA team appearance sin team history. Two Hall of Fame players (plus one that is a shoo-in to get in when he retires). And then another who would have gotten in if not for injury.
These are the players who define each era of Magic history. And nobody has broken anywhere near this group quite yet.
Second Tier — The Legends
5. Nick Anderson . . . 6. Jameer Nelson . . . 7. Hedo Turkoglu . . . 8. Darrell Armstrong . . . 9. Rashard Lewis . . . 10. Bo Outlaw
Even though Jameer Nelson beat Nick Anderson in our poll, I still go with Anderson over him in the final ranking. Pretty much every ranking that exists would place Anderson on top of Nelson. Nelson is a strong player no doubt and has the All-Star bid in his back pocket. But Anderson was so good and was really the team’s first star with his 1992 and 1993 seasons.
The other players are also so key to the franchise’s history. From Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis leading the team through the 2009 Playoffs and revolutionizing the NBA to Darrell Armstrong and Bo Outlaw’s Heart and Hustle season.
These are the players who are legendary in Magic history and always have a home here. They should be in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame although for most, their jerseys would fall short of retirement.
Third Tier — The Stalwarts
11. Horace Grant . . . 12. Dennis Scott. . . 13. Vince Carter . . . 14. Scott Skiles . . . 15. Grant Hill . . . 16. Nikola Vucevic . . . 17. Steve Francis
These players were the elite role players in Magic history. Horace Grant was the ultimate role player, giving the Magic strong defense and veteran presence. He was instrumental in the Magic getting to the Finals.
Then Dennis Scott helped revolutionize 3-point shooting in the 1990s. He was the best floor spacer for those 1990s team. Just as Scott Skiles delivered toughness throughout the early part of the Magic’s franchise.
The other players in this era are guys who did not live up to expectations or just could not click with fans. Nikola Vucevic should be among the best 10 players in Magic history. And part of his low ranking is because I based this list off the 2016 list. He has gotten better since then. Although he remains extremely unpopular among a certain section of Magic fans.
Fourth Tier — The Promised
18. Mike Miller . . . 19. Aaron Gordon . . . 20. J.J. Redick . . . 21. Evan Fournier . . . 22. Victor Oaldipo . . . 23. Tobias Harris
These players all had — or still have a ton of promise — that was not quite lived up to. The Orlando Magic traded Mike Miller too soon before he really established himself as a solid player. Victor Oladipo and Tobias Harris both failed to live up to their potential — in Orlando at least.
Evan Fournier and J.J. Redick have both developed into solid players in a Magic uniform. They both played vital roles for playoff teams. And they both probably had to do a bit more than their talents would allow at certain points in their Magic careers.
Fifth Tier — The Best Role Players
24. Mickael Pietrus . . . 25. Cuttino Mobley . . . 26. Terry Catledge . . . 27. Rony Seikaly . . . 28. Pat Garrity . . . 29. Ryan Anderson . . . 30. Reggie Theus
The best role players are guys who understand their role and do it to perfection. A lot of these players fit that bill.
Mickael Pietrus, Cuttino Mobley, Pat Garrity and Ryan Anderson were some of the best 3-point shooters in Magic history. They all hit huge shots throughout their careers in Orlando. They remain some of the best shooters in team history.
Terry Catledge was a great post player and rebounder in the first years of the franchise. Reggie Theus was one of the great early players for the team. And Rony Seikaly had a solid 1997 season with Orlando.
Sixth Tier — The Rest
31. Jeff Turner . . . 32. Drew Gooden . . . 33. Sam Vincent . . . 34. Juwan Howard . . . 35. Terrence Ross
36. Jason Richardson . . . 37. D.J. Augustin . . . 38. Arron Afflalo . . . 39. Jonathan Isaac . . . 40. Donald Royal
41. Glen Davis . . . 42. Ron Mercer . . . 43. Anthony Bowie . . . 44. Jerry Reynolds . . . 45. Matt Barnes
46. DeShawn Stevenson . . . 47. Rafer Alston . . . 48. Brian Shaw . . . 49. Markelle Fultz . . . 50. Monty Williams
51. John Amaechi . . . 52. Serge Ibaka . . . 53. Elfrid Payton . . . 54. Otis Smith . . . 55. Courtney Lee
56. Keyon Dooling . . . 57. Keith Bogans . . . 58. Chris Gatling . . . 59. Matt Harpring . . . 60. Gordan Giricek
61. Sidney Green . . . 62. Maurice Evans . . . 63. Corey Maggette . . . 64. Stanley Roberts
That is our unscientific list for now. I hope everyone enjoyed our Magic Madness diversion!