The Orlando Magic celebrated their 35th anniversary this season in perhaps the best way they could. They had their breakthrough to return to the postseason with two budding stars in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner and a young roster that seems poised for a long playoff run.
The Magic may have struggled to end the season, falling from potentially fighting for the 2-seed to scrambling to try to avoid the Play-In Tournament in the final week, but they are back playing in the intensity of the postseason once again -- even if they are struggling in this young team's debut.
No matter where they end up or how their postseason ends, it will be a valuable experience for this young team. It will be a chance for them to grow and make some new memories and moments for a young Magic team.
The Playoffs are truly where legends are made. That is what gets played on the replay boards and in the team's history videos. Those are the memories that last forever for this young franchise and have added to a surprisingly rich history.
Alas, the Magic have not won a championship yet. They have two NBA Finals appearances and four conference finals appearances to their name, but the Larry O'Brien Trophy has eluded them.
In Orlando's playoff history, there has been a lot of disappointment and frustration too. There have been a lot of teams that fell short in heartbreaking ways. And Orlando has a long list of enemies when it comes to the postseason.
None may be bigger than Chauncey Billups.
The Detroit Pistons guard will officially take his place in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame this fall -- alongside Daytona Beach native and former Magic guard Vince Carter -- and that announcement brought out all kinds of feelings for Magic fans.
Billups was not only one of the great Magic what-ifs -- quickly discarded during the team's famed Heart & Hustle season 2000 -- but also one of the great Magic tormentors in the franchise's history.
Congratulations to 5x @NBAAllStar, 2004 NBA Champion and 2004 NBA Finals MVP, #24HoopClass inductee Chauncey Billups. pic.twitter.com/q7jIIAl2JR
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) April 6, 2024
Billups averaged 16.3 points per game and 5.5 assists per game in his career against the Magic. In the 2003 Playoff series, Billups had 22.6 points per game, followed by 22.3 points per game and 7.0 assists per game in the 2007 first-round sweep, and then he had 16.3 points per game in the 2008 second-round series.
It certainly felt like Chauncey Billups, who tormented smaller guards in Darell Armstrong and Jameer Nelson, earned his "Mr. Big Shot" nickname with highlights against the Magic alone.
In all, Billups averaged 21.1 points per game and 4.9 assists per game in 14 Playoff games across three series.
The Pistons tortured the young Magic and that mid-2000s team. They were the hill that group never got over.
Billups will always be one of the great Magic killer.
There are plenty more of those playoff enemies that have been made throughout the past 35 seasons -- and now 17 playoff appearances.
Time will tell whether a new player from the Cleveland Cavaliers gets added to the following list. But legends are made in the Playoffs and so too are some deep-seated enemies and villains that make up Magic history.
With Billups already honored here with disdain, here are the five greatest Magic killers in their Playoff history.