Orlando Magic Shooting Month: Top 20 shooters in Orlando Magic history

Top 20 Shooters in Orlando Magic History

1. Rashard Lewis

By Coby Leibowitz

Rashard Lewis coming in number one is only right if you watched the Orlando Magic’s Playoff runs from 2008-10.

At the time, in order for the Magic to succeed, he needed to hit a lot of threes at a high rate. And he did just that.

In fact, he is sixth in 3-pointers made for the Magic and sixth in three-point percentage. He truly transformed the way the Magic played, taking them from a team that made a confusing signing into a championship contender that influenced how the rest of the league would develop and play.

He shot 39.3 percent, made 658 threes and made 2.6 threes per game in a little more than three seasons.

Lewis’ favorite spot was the corner. He shot 42.9-percent from the corner in his time with the Magic, as he seemed automatic from the corners.

As analytics proliferated throughout the league, Rashard Lewis was the picture of this efficiency and seemingly the ideal player for the nascent numbers age — even as he did plenty of things that did not show up in a box score like provide some gravity and great entry passing to the post to Dwight Howard.

His outstanding shooting translated in the win column too.

In his three full seasons in Orlando, the Magic never won fewer than 52 games, and he led the team in three-pointers made per game, total three-pointers made and was top 5 in three-point percentage every year.

His best season was his first season with the Magic. He made 2.8 threes per game, shot 40.9-percent from three and he made 226 threes which is second in a single season in Magic history.

The following season in 2009, where he was an all-star and made 2.8 threes per game, he shot 39.7-percent and made 220 threes which is third in a single season in Magic history.

That year he led the league in three pointers made and three-pointers attempted. Lewis became the Magic’s super 3-point specialist and teams often paid for leaving him open as they tried to deal with the Magic’s other shooting threats.

During his career, Lewis had 68 games with four or more three-pointers and 24 games with five or more including one game where he made seven.

His three full seasons with the Magic gave them three of their top five records in franchise history In his three full years, they also made it to at least the Eastern Conference Semifinals including one NBA Finals appearance.

The playoffs did not stop him from his high-volume shooting, he was always ready in the big moment.

In his nine playoff series with the Magic, he shot 36.9-percent from three including three series where he shot better than 46 percent and made 101 threes which is the most total threes in the playoffs in Magic history.

Lewis’ three-point shooting was crucial for the Magic to make big playoff runs and he has the stats to back it up.

He did it all as a 6-foot-10 power forward in a time where big men hitting threes, especially that efficiently, was very rare. I think he is right where he deserves to be in the number one spot.