Basketball Hall of Fame: The footsteps the Orlando Magic’s best follow
Hall of Fame Footsteps for Orlando Magic to follow
Wendell Carter
Hall of Fame Follow: Daryl Dawkins
Orlando Magic Follow: Horace Grant
Wendell Carter is not likely to be headed to the Hall of Fame any time soon. His play is noted for how solid he is at every level. He defends well, he scores when it is called for and he plays his role perfectly. Carter is often the fulcrum around which the offense turns.
That will not be confused for someone who can become an All-Star but every team needs a player like him. He is essential to making a great team work.
It is hard to find Hall of Fame players who do not put up elite-level stats. But it is easy to find important players who just made everything work.
Everyone made the comparison between Wendell Carter and Horace Grant the moment Carter donned the glasses after he got repeatedly poked in the eye during the 2022 season. But the comparison actually felt pretty apt.
Carter averaged 15.2 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game while providing solid paint defense for the team. Grant averaged 11.3 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game in seven seasons with the Magic, topping off at 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds per game during the 1996 season.
Grant was as essential as any player to the Magic’s success in the mid-1990s though. He was a tough defender next to Shaquille O’Neal, helping fill in gaps in the young O’Neal’s game while still spreading the floor out to the free throw line extended inside the 3-point line (bigs were not shooting threes yet).
Carter can step out to the 3-point line, but his game is noted for its versatility. He can step out and hit jumpers just as easily as he can roll to the basket and finish around the rim. That is part of what makes Carter a special player.
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Grant probably will not get into the Hall of Fame — although he is still getting some consideration for it — but his impact on three title-contending teams in the Chicago Bulls (where he won three titles in 1991, 1992 and 1993), Orlando Magic (where he went to the 1995 NBA Finals) and Los Angeles Lakers (where he won a title in 2001) were critical to the puzzle.
Similarly, Carter is essential to the Magic’s puzzle for now.