The announcement of the NBA retiring Bill Russell’s No. 6 jersey league-wide has once again sparked some discussion among Orlando Magic fans about how the team honors its history.
There is a strong argument — beyond the “everyone else is doing it” one — that Orlando should start hanging banners to commemorate their greatest players. The Magic are coming up to their 35th Anniversary season, so perhaps there will be a shift by then.
For now, the Magic are sticking with their Hall of Fame. And the team’s game of catch-up with its history is slowly revving back up after taking a bit of a hiatus for COVID. Part of the game is bringing the honorees back to the Amway Center. So the team has gone a bit simple with their honorees.
The Orlando Magic are continuing their Orlando Magic Hall of Fame program. As they look to catch up to their history, we break down who is in and who has an argument for inclusion in the Hall.
Last year, the team resumed its Hall of Fame program after taking a break for the pandemic-filled 2021 season. They added former general manager John Gabriel and coach Brian Hill to their collection of honorees. Both are more than deserving of their placement.
Orlando will likely resume trying to complete their additions to the Hall of Fame.
At this point, entering the team’s 34th year in the league and the 10th season with the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame — the program was started for the team’s 25th anniversary — the Magic have hit the biggest names already. But there are still obvious players who need their day in the sun.
Certainly, the Magic will continue going one at a time so that they can keep a healthy stream of players entering the Hall of Fame and give everyone their special day in the sun.
At this point, the question for the Magic as they try to construct their Hall of Fame is not about who should go in, but rather what order. And that order too is likely more about availability. The team surely has an internal list already.
This exercise is about building that internal list and sussing through who is on deck for this high honor from the Magic.
Filling out the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame
The Current Hall
The place to start then it would seem is to establish who is in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame already.
The choices the Magic have made and even the order in which the team has endeavored to put them has had some significance.
With 25 years of history already written, the Magic were due for a formal honoring of their history. Again, most teams would reserve that for retiring a jersey. But to that point, Orlando opened itself up to honor a wide variety of players who played an important role in Magic history.
If the idea of retiring jerseys should only go to the elite of the elite in franchise history, then having an intermediate step is vital too. That is a place to make sure all the major players get their shine, even if they do not get that highest honor in the arena bowl.
It is still not clear if the Magic will ever bestow that honor or if they are truly waiting to give it to the player who helps deliver their first championship.
Nick Anderson (Inducted: 2014)
The first player to go into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame was the obvious one. As would be the first jersey retired when the Magic do retire jerseys. Anderson is considered the original Magic player since he was the team’s first draft pick.
He played 10 years with the team and was key to their first Finals run in 1995. But then came back to the team as a community ambassador. There is no player who embodies this team like Anderson.
Pat Williams (Inducted: 2014)
Like Nick Anderson, there was no other choice for the first class for the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. Quite simply, there is no Magic franchise without the belief and hard work Pat Williams put into selling the team to the city and selling the city to the NBA.
It really was a miracle that Williams worked to bring the NBA to Orlando and create this franchise. The fact that he continued on as an executive for the first several seasons and made Orlando a permanent home only adds to the story.
Shaquille O’Neal (Inducted: 2015)
No player probably defines the entire Orlando Magic franchise like Shaquille O’Neal. The team is still probably escaping from his considerable shadow.
O’Neal was a dominant force, propelling the Magic into the playoff picture for the first time immediately upon his arrival and into the NBA Finals by his third year in the league.
Rich DeVos (Inducted: 2016)
No one could completely fault ownership for looking to honor itself. But the organization knew that its longtime patriarch needed the honor while he could still be there — DeVos would die in Sept. 2018.
There is plenty to say about DeVos’ ownership on many levels. But he and his family have now owned the team for 30 years. He brought stable ownership to a young franchise. And while there were rocky moments, his “change of heart” is ultimately the reason the team is still in Orlando.
Anfernee Hardaway (Inducted: 2017)
There is no run to the NBA Finals in 1995 without the acquisition and arrival of Anfernee Hardaway. He was on pace to redefine the point guard position as a 6-foot-7 lead guard who could weave through traffic and finish at the rim with explosion and force.
Anfernee Hardaway was the perfect partner for a young Shaquille O’Neal as the quiet but confident playmaker. If not for injuries, we would probably be talking about Hardaway entering the Basketball Hall of Fame and not just the Orlando Magic one.
Jimmy Hewitt (Inducted: 2017)
Like Pat Williams, there is no Orlando Magic without the belief of Jimmy Hewitt. Hewitt was the Orlando businessman who convinced Williams to check out Orlando and take on the challenge of bringing major professional sports to The City Beautiful. He ended up not being part of that original ownership group, but he is the spiritual founder of the franchise.
Tracy McGrady (Inducted: 2018)
There is no greater scorer in Orlando Magic history than Tracy McGrady. He was a force for his four seasons in Orlando and was one of the very best players in the NBA. McGrady could do everything on the floor.
His only career detraction is that he was never able to get out of the first round of the playoffs (not until he latched onto the San Antonio Spurs late in his career). That was never his fault. Part of his brilliance was how he carried some suspect supporting casts consistently into the playoffs. But that is just how good he was.
David Steele (Inducted: 2019)
The Orlando Magic have had one consistent voice on their air through their entire 33-year history. David Steele started with the team as its radio play-by-play broadcaster before moving to TV.
It is hard to imagine Magic games without Steele’s voice narrating it. His mix of humor, knowledge and balance makes him one of the very best local broadcasters in the entire league. Magic fans have been spoiled with one of the best broadcasts in the league.
Darrell Armstrong (Inducted: 2020)
Darrell Armstrong’s story is one of the most incredible stories in the NBA. He was a little-known player at Fayetteville State who played basketball overseas and then in the CBA when Orlando Magic scouts caught wind of him. They brought him in and it was impossible not to like him.
When he started playing for the Magic, fans simply fell in love with him. He was all hustle and energy and that helped spread throughout the team. He was the defining player of the beloved Heart and Hustle team of the 2000 season and just the heartbeat of the team for the seasons he played here.
John Gabriel (Inducted: 2022)
John Gabriel has worn many hats in his time with the Orlando Magic. He actually started as an assistant coach. But he is probably most known for his time in the front office, taking over in the late 1990s and guiding the team through its first rebuild after Shaquille O’Neal left.
Gabriel was one of the true innovators in using cap space, doing maneuvers to create the space to sign Horace Grant in 1995 and then gutting the team to open cap space to chase Grant Hill and Tracy McGrady in 2000. He has been a presence throughout the NBA even after initially leaving the Magic and now serves as a special advisor for Jeff Weltman.
Brian Hill (Inducted: 2022)
Briant Hill too was an early arrival for the Orlando Magic, eventually becoming the team’s second head coach and guiding the team to its first playoff berth and the NBA Finals in 1995. He was a tough, no-nonsense guy but softened enough to expand the Magic’s offense and become one of the first teams to use 3-point shooting in a significant way.
His second stint with the team did not go as well. Still, his early coaching and staff laid the foundations for the 2009 Finals run when Stan Van Gundy took over for him following a 2007 return to the Playoffs.
Filling out the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame
Shoo-Ins
The Orlando Magic did not start its Hall of Fame until the 25th season of its existence. So there is some catching up to do. Not that Orlando wants to go too fast and use up all the players. Then again as time goes by, the Magic hope to be adding more names to this list.
Still, the list of players who will be entering the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame is fairly self-evident. It should not take a whole lot to decide.
And this next group of players is a shoo-in to go in. It is just figuring out what order to put them in, when they are available to come to Orlando and when they want to get the flowers they so clearly deserve.
Dennis Scott (1991-97)
Not that anyone that is in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame so far is undeserving — they all are — but it still seems odd that one of these early Magic players has not gotten his spot in the Hall of Fame yet. Dennis Scott was a fan favorite player and a truly revolutionary player in league history. Let’s hope it is a scheduling issue with Scott’s busy work on NBATV.
If I had to take someone to enter the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame next, it is Dennis Scott. He redefined how the 3-pointer is used in basketball as a whole, making 40.3-percent of his 3-pointers and still marking as the franchise leader in 3-pointers made at 981.
Jameer Nelson (2005-14)
It is a rare thing for any player to be with the same team for a decade. It is rare for a player to be key parts of two phases of a franchise’s history. There is nothing but love from Orlando Magic fans for Jameer Nelson, a player who had a lot of doubts after a stellar college career because of his size and worked his way up from pesky player and spark plug off the bench to All-Star on a title-contending team.
Nelson then became a great leader not only for the Magic’s Finals-contending teams in 2009 and 2010 (his run against the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2010 first round is one of the best individual series in Magic history) but also as a stabilizer in the early chaotic days after Dwight Howard left.
Rashard Lewis (2008-11)
Rashard Lewis’ time with the Orlando Magic was surprisingly short. But his impact was abundantly clear. Quite simply, Lewis transformed the NBA and turned the stretch-4 into a workable and winning position.
The fact this all started with a piece of selflessness from Lewis, who signed with the Magic hoping not to play power forward anymore, only adds to the story. And, quite frankly, adds to the mystique and fun of the Magic’s 2009 Finals run.
Hedo Turkoglu (2005-09, 2011-13)
Only adding to that mystique is Hedo Turkoglu. It might be the right idea to induct Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis together since the combination of those two forwards made the Orlando Magic so deadly.
Turkoglu gets a lot more publicity because he hit so many big shots (not that Lewis did not either) and had a carefree personality that connected well with fans. The Magic were the ones to unlock Turkoglu’s playmaking ability and forwards in the league had no clue how to handle a big forward like him who could pass and work pick and rolls so effectively.
Bo Outlaw (1998-02, 2006-08)
The Orlando Magic probably should have inducted Bo Outlaw alongside Darrell Armstrong a few years ago. Those two players defined the Heart & Hustle team that is still the darling for longtime Magic fans. They were never the most talented or skilled players, but they made up for any deficiencies with just sheer heart and will.
Outlaw is still involved with the Magic as a community ambassador. And his smile is something that still warms Magic fans’ hearts inside the Amway Center. That is a Hall of Fame statement in and of itself.
Jeff Turner (1990-96 player; 1996-2005, 2011-Present broadcaster)
The running joke on the Orlando Magic’s broadcast is that Jeff Turner was not much of a player — 6.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in seven seasons with the Magic. The joke is to show Turner’s stat line whenever they talk about a historic game he played in (there are usually a lot of fouls). But that is also a statement that very few people have been involved in more Magic games than Turner.
Spanning from his time as a player to sitting in on the radio broadcast and now as the TV color analyst, Turner has been involved with the Magic for almost their entire history. Turner brings the positivity you would expect in a team’s broadcast, but he does not give into bombast or cheering. He stays balanced and does a good job breaking down what is going on. Adding to the joys of being a Magic fan and giving a constant drumbeat for the franchise.
Filling out the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame
Should be in . . . but
Not every player or person leaves the franchise on good terms. That is just reality and the Orlando Magic have had a lot of messy breakups — Anfernee Hardaway said when he was brought back to celebrate the team’s 25th anniversary that he was hesitant to return because he thought fans might boo him as they did when he first left.
The Magic have had to do some work to repair some relationships with legendary players. And it is impossible to tell the franchise’s story without the players on this slide. Yet, there are some current circumstances that might delay their rightful place.
Dwight Howard (2005-12)
Look, Dwight Howard will be in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. Failing to put him in there would mean the whole project is meaningless. He is one of the most important and impactful players in franchise history and a member of its Mt. Rushmore having led the team to the Finals in 2009 and been the anchor to its most sustained run of success.
The question with Howard’s admission is timing and acceptance. How long after he retires does he go in? The Magic may not want to wait until the Hall of Fame sort of forces their hands like it did with Tracy McGrady (he went into the Magic Hall of Fame the same year). Then again, there are probably still some hard feelings about how he departed.
And that does not even get into the fans. While in the last decade attitudes have softened, there are still fans who react negatively to anything involving Howard. And the last ting anybody would want is for Howard to be booed in his return to his basketball home.
Scott Skiles (1990-94 player, 2016 coach)
As a player, Scott Skiles was one of the most popular players in team history. He was tough and hard-nosed, unafraid to back down from anyone (including his own teammate in Shaquille O’Neal) and kept everything serious. He set the league record with 30 assists, an accomplishment Skiles is still not thrilled about.
As a coach, he brought a purpose and seriousness a young team needed and helped them to a mini-breakthrough. . . before everything fell apart. That was partly his own doing as he clashed with management and essentially gave up on the young team and the direction the franchise wanted to go.
Still, Skiles deserves a spot in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. The challenge would be convincing him to return to Orlando to receive the honor. And that is an honor he probably ultimately does not care too much about.
Stan Van Gundy (2008-12)
The Orlando Magic fell into their greatest coach in franchise history by mistake. They had originally hired Billy Donovan only for the former Florida coach to go back on his deal. Stan Van Gundy was in Sacramento preparing to take the job with the Sacramento Kings when the Orlando Magic faxed him their contract offer at a local Kinkos. The rest is history.
Van Gundy as the Magic’s head coach completely revolutionized the league. He leveraged and maximized Dwight Howard’s skills to their fullest extent and pushed the league into a completely new era. Van Gundy was a revolutionary coach and pushed the Magic to heights they have really not experienced.
The breakup with the coach was just as bad as the breakup with his defining star. Van Gundy still lives in the Orlando area though. And if the bridges have been mended, Van Gundy deserves a place in the team’s Hall of Fame.
Alex Martins (1990-98, 2006-Present)
Orlando Magic fans probably hate the idea of Alex Martins going into the team’s Hall of Fame. His relationship with fans has not always been seen as a strong one. His taking over the team and mismanaging the first rebuild after Dwight Howard is considered a disaster and laid squarely on his shoulders. Perhaps he has learned his lesson with how he has taken a back seat to Jeff Weltman.
But there is still no denying his impact. And if ownership wants to be self-congratulatory, Martins is deserving a spot. Timing would be everything.
Martins has been with the team almost uninterrupted since the beginning. He worked in public relations during the early years and Shaquille O’Neal’s time before leaving and returning to work in business. As controversial as he was in this process, he was instrumental in getting the Amway Center built and getting that and the Dr. Philips Center for the Performing Arts and Citrus Bowl renovation passed.
He is also currently a member of the board of trustees for UCF and was on the board for One Pulse Foundation in the wake of the Pulse shooting.
Fans may not be in love with Martins, but he is deserving of recognition.
I would add that former executive Bob Vander Weide probably also deserves this spot in the Hall of Fame as the representation of ownership in Orlando for much of the 1990s and 2000s. But that just will not happen while the DeVos family is in charge and a new ownership group probably would not give that honor to him.
Nikola Vucevic (2013-21)
Nikola Vucevic will be in the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. Becoming an All-Star will almost be an automatic induction into the Hall of Fame. It is just truly a rare thing. And Vucevic was a class act through a lot of bad years before finding his breakthrough, making the All-Star team and getting the team back to the playoffs.
The only thing missing from Vucevic’s resume is winning. The Magic only snuck into the playoffs with Vucevic as the main star. And Orlando ultimately decided that the team was not going very far if he was its best player, selling him at his peak value.
Evan Fournier (2015-21)
Evan Fournier was an often underappreciated player with the Orlando Magic who still performed very well. He was a solid player who just was asked to do more than he was capable of performing. Like Nikola Vucevic, he was on the team during its lowest point where there was not much hope for the future.
Fournier should get the longevity bump. He was with the team for a long time and played admirably and well. He deserves at least a look in a down year for candidates.
Filling out the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame
Borderline Cases
Otis Smith (1990-92 player; 2006-12 executive)
As a player, Otis Smith was an undersized forward with great athleticism. He once participated in the Slam Dunk Contest. He also holds game-winning shots over both the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls during the team’s inaugural year. His playing career was cut short by an ACL injury.
As an executive, Smith was key in influencing Jon Weisbrod to draft Dwight Howard over Emeka Okafor and he put together the team that would reach the NBA Finals in 2009. He ushered in the best run in Magic history before it all fell apart.
There are plenty of things to argue about his time as a general manager — the misstep with Billy Donovan, his inability to get a second star for Dwight Howard and his handling of the whole Dwight-mare. But the success speaks for itself.
J.J. Redick (2007-13)
J.J. Redick is a sentimental favorite for sure among Orlando Magic fans. He was a hard worker who found his niche and had good timing as the NBA became 3-point happy very suddenly. Redick is just one of the good guys throughout the NBA. And his best years came in Orlando as he became a championship hunter (but never won one) after leaving the Magic.
Redick certainly has a strong case to make the Hall of Fame because of his longevity and popularity. But as a role player, you do have to rise above. Redick probably gets there. But there has to be a cutoff line somewhere and it might be with Redick.
Horace Grant (1995-99, 2002-03)
Horace Grant is one of the most consequential free agent signing in team history. Grabbing a championship-level player in free agency, suddenly the team had gravitas and prestige behind them to lift themselves to a championship level. That was a huge boost.
Grant was solid in his seasons for the Magic. But not stellar. His presence and experience were the most valuable things he provided. He probably should be in for the stories everyone tells about him and his impact on the team. But there is a good argument his play did not rise to that level.
Grant Hill (2001-07)
Grant Hill’s tenure with the Orlando Magic was disappointing, to say the least. In seven seasons with the Magic, he played in only 200 games (28.6 games per season!). Ankle injuries and failed rehabs just dogged Grant Hill and kept him from realizing the partnership with Tracy McGrady everyone envisioned. It hurt the Magic for a decade.
Hill will likely be the only Orlando Magic All-Star not to get into the Hall of Fame. He did some great work in the community, but his inability to play defined his tenure. And fans were as frustrated as Hill was, even if fans misplaced their blame on Hill for something that was incredibly random and unfortunate.
Terrence Ross (2017-Present)
As Terrence Ross’ tenure with the Orlando Magic gets closer to coming to an end — his desire to be playing elsewhere is still hanging a bit over the franchise — it is time to start thinking a bit about his legacy with the team.
He has obviously been with the team for a long time. And he is extremely popular for it as one of the catalysts to the team’s brief rebirth in 2019. Ross is just a fun guy. He deserves some consideration for the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame. But it is obviously a bit of an outside case.