5 best Shaquille O'Neal moments with the Orlando Magic
On Feb. 13, Shaquille O'Neal will become the first player in Orlando Magic history to have his jersey retired.
It is a move that was a long time coming for one of the franchise's all-time greatest players and the player who put the franchise on the map.
In a short but success-filled stint with the team from 1992-95, O'Neal led the team to an NBA Finals appearance just six years after the team's expansion in 1989 before unceremoniously leaving the team in free agency to join the Los Angeles Lakers, forming his own dynasty there in a career that would ultimately garner four titles.
Hard feelings aside, O'Neal was and is the best player in team history, for now. Anfernee Hardaway may have been more loved post-Diesel, but there is no denying that Orlando housed one of the top 15 players in NBA history.
And his time with the Magic was not some incubator either. O'Neal finished second in MVP voting in 1995 and he was a legitimate force from teh moment he stepped onto an NBA court.
O'Neal was an All-Star all four years in Orlando, even earning an invite to the showcase game as a rookie in a very rare feat for NBA All-Star history. The Magic only missed the playoffs in his rookie year on the fourth tiebreaker. Even then, their 41-41 record in the 1993 season was the first time the Magic even finished at .500.
Respect earned. He took a bumbling new team in a city only known for Disney World and turned it upside down into Diesel World. The Magic were one of the hottest young teams and a true dynasty in the making. Even if it was only a few years.
As we prepare to immortalize No. 32 in the Kia Center rafters and celebrate O'Neal's legacy with the franchise, here are the five best Shaquille O'Neal moments during his Magic tenure.