Orlando Magic 35th Anniversary: Orlando Magic's greatest teams by tiers

The Orlando Magic could not ask for a better start to celebrate their 35th anniversary season.

The throwback jerseys look fresh. The In-Season Tournament court looks fantastic and their City Edition jerseys have been met with solid reviews.

Not to mention the team has hit Thanksgiving on a five-game win streak, a 10-5 record overall (the team's best 15-game start since 2011) and a win over the defending champion Denver Nuggets with a huge In-Season Tournament game against the Boston Celtics waiting for them in a Black Friday matinee.

Things are going very well for the Magic right now as this young 2024 team tries to make its mark in the history of this franchise. It very much feels like this is the start of something for the team and the start of a stretch of solid years.

The Orlando Magic's 35th anniversary season is well underway and there is plenty to celebrate as we sort through the best teams in franchise history.

Fans are certainly feeling that excitement too. Everyone seems bought in with some energetic atmospheres at the Amway Center (and sellouts in four out of five games after the Nuggets game Wednesday was not somehow labeled a sell out).

The Magic have done their part to make this season feel special in addition to the great play on the court. The team has made it a point to celebrate its past, honoring Rashard Lewis and Darrell Armstrong on the court already this season and giving recognition to other Magic alumni who have rolled through.

It is not just about the remixed version of the Orlando Magic Theme Song and the "hit the music" button they push to launch it after every home win. The vibes for the Magic have been excellent and it is truly a year to celebrate (after several anniversary seasons that felt a bit empty with the on-court production).

We do not yet know where the 2024 season will rank among the great seasons in Magic history. It is far too early to come up with that analysis. There is still a lot of season left to play.

But we are overdue to rank the best teams in Magic history. We have not come up with that list since 2017 (and it looks like that list may have been partially eaten up in our server migration this week). We may have to revisit that again this summer.

So we cannot let our 35th anniversary season go by without at least putting together some list of the best teams in Magic history.

This is not a strict ranking of the teams though. As a site, we will leave that to a more robust review and process. And you will notice teams are sorted by year rather than in rank order. But what will do today is rank the teams by tier -- sorting teams both by record and where they fit in the larger Magic history.