The top 10 individual Orlando Magic season performances
2. 1996 Anfernee Hardaway
| Season | Age | G | MP | FG% | 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995-96 | 24 | 82 | 36.8 | .513 | .314 | .549 | .767 | 4.3 | 7.1 | 2.0 | 21.7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/23/2020.
Fresh off the NBA Finals run in 1995, Anfernee Hardaway put together his third consecutive All-Star season. But the 1996 season would require more from Hardaway than any year before it.
Not only was he playing with the pressure of having to deliver the championship that the team fell short of the year before, but also the pressure of playing without Shaquille O’Neal.
O’Neal fractured his hand in a preseason game and missed the first 20-plus games of the season. Hardaway had to take the reigns to deliver the Magic into Playoff position. All with the Chicago Bulls setting a record pace.
Hardaway finished the season averaging 21.7 points per game and 7.1 assists per game. But in the 22 games O’Neal missed, Hardaway averaged 26.4 points per game and 6.8 assists per game while shooting 50.3-percent from the floor.
Commanding the city of Orlando on game nights he was a pure leader and point for the Magic. Orlando would finish with a 60-22 record claiming the number-2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Hardaway proved he could be the leading scorer on the team. That may have led to some of the raised tension between the two budding young stars. Especially as the pressure to win and match the previous year’s success grew.
Hardaway proved to be a scoring tour de force. His season-high came just four games into the season with 42 points and 13-for-21 shooting against the New Jersey Nets.
Although they would get swept by Michael Jordan and the Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals this season, shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and appearing in every single game, while at the same time challenging the GOAT in popularity makes this an easy selection for us here at Orlando Magic Daily.
Penny from heaven is immortalized in Central Florida.