Orlando Magic history: 1989-1992
They officially started in 1989 as an expansion franchise, with a contest engineered to come up with the best team name. The "Magic" won, and thus the name. They were one of four expansion franchises granted by the league, and the others were Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Miami Heat. The Orlando Magic was the first sports franchise as far as the Orlando area is concerned.
Spearheaded by William duPont III, he got help from two siblings in managing the operations. They got the services of Matt Guokas as the first ever coach, and they got the 12 players from the draft. On June of 1989, they got Nick Anderson via the eleventh pick. This inaugural team managed a record of 18 to 64. When the 1990 NBA Draft came, they picked Dennis Scott. In a December game, Skiles came up with a very impressive thirty assists against the Denver Nuggets. Scott made a great contribution with 125 3-point field goals just for that year. It was the strongest long-distance output coming from a rookie.
In 1991, the DeVos family bought the franchise, and Richard DeVos became the new owner. For the 1991-92 season, the team was plagued with one injury after another. Dennis Scott saw action in just eighteen games, Anderson missed more than 20 games, but that was not all. Roberts, Bison Dele, Sam Vincent, and Smith all missed 27 games apiece- at the very least.
Orlando Magic history: 1992-1996
Magic got Shaquille O'Neal who came from Lousiana State Univ. He led the squad to a 41-41 card. Notwithstanding this player's awesome skills, they missed the '93 Playoffs. They tied with Indiana Pacers for the last spot in Eastern Conference, but the Pacers clinched the tiebreak.
On the 1994-95 season, they got Horace Grant. They won the Atlantic Division crown, and in the playoffs, they crushed the Celtics, the Bulls, and the Pacers. They advanced to the Finals but the Houston Rockets crushed their dreams. The Houstons demolished the Magic in a humiliating 4 to 0 score.
During the '95 to '96 season, Orlando faced off the Chicago Bulls at the East Conference Finals- the Bulls' Rodman, Pippen, and Jordan ran roughshod over the Magic squad.
Orlando Magic history: 1996-2000
At the off-season, O'Neal said goodbye to the Orlando Magic. Due to players' wishes, coach Hill was terminated, and Richie Adubato was named as interim coach.
The management then got Chuck Daly for the 1997-98 season. The team suffered from too many injuries as Hardaway failed to see action. Still, Anderson and new member Bo Outlaw gave the team a passable card of 41 to 41.
For the 1998-99 season, they got the services of Matt Harpring and Michael Doleac. Magic tied for the best of the Eastern Conference, with a 33-17 record. They reached the playoffs and faced the 76ers who were led by Iverson. The top brass dismantled the whole team by trading the remaining superstar Hardaway to the Suns for Danny Manning, Garrity, and two draft selections. It was a team that had no superstar to speak of, but they got the nickname "Heart and Hustle."
More about the Orlando Magic
The Magic got Hill and Tracy McGrady, but then the former got injured. McGrady turned out to be a force by becoming a feared scorer in the whole league. They managed to set up a 43-39 record, and that included a 9-game winning run. At the playoffs, they faced the Milwaukee Bucks who dominated the series 3-1.
When the 2003-04 season came, the Orlando Magic acquired Drew Gooden and Gordan Giricek in return for Miller and Humphrey. Once again, McGrady was on fire. He led the whole league in terms of scoring with a 32.1 ppg. The team advanced to the playoffs, but the Pistons proved that they were the better team by coming up with a miraculous rally. Magic's fifteenth season (2003-2004) was one of the most difficult for the squad. They won the 1st game, but then the Big Streak arrived. Big in the negative sense because they lost nineteen straight games, becoming a record. Still, McGrady led the league once more in scoring. He joined the All NBA 2nd team and another AllStars.
In 2006, the Orlando Magic started the year with a 13-4 record, but they started accumulating multiple defeats. A number of players got injured, and this was aggravated by the lukewarm efforts from the younger ones. On September of 2006, Mayor Dyer and the Magic announced that they had a settlement for the Orlando Events Center. This new 18,000+ seat place was at the corner of Hughey Avenue and Church Street. Magic would be shelling out 114 million dollars in terms of cash and lease. This is in conjunction with the Triple Crown for Downtown. This was a 1B dollar plan to do a makeover on the Orlando Centroplex. The Orlando Magic is expecting completion before the 2010-11 season. When this structure is finished, officials said that their Amway arena would probably be demolished. The NBA top management said that Orlando would be hosting an All-star Weekend when the arena is finished. The commissioner himself said that this would be a good thing, in relation to the city's many tourist enticements.
On April 2007, the Orlando Magic got the first berth at the Playoffs. The experience was terminated however when they were kicked out by the Pistons.
On June 2007, Billy Donovan became the new coach of the team. Just a short time later however, he expressed his decision to go back to the Gators from which he came. (A very short time, just 2 days in fact). The Magic and Donovan concurred on a non-complete clause, forcing Donovan to stop coaching in the NBA for 5 years.
They began the 2007-08 season with a very good showing of 16-4 in the first twenty outings. However, in the succeeding months, they split the next thirty-six games. In March, they picked up the tempo, and they finished the month with ten wins. They faced the Toronto Raptors in the 1st round of playoffs. Orlando won the first round, but in the second, they faced their perennial nemesis, the Detroit Pistons, and the Orlando Magic got beaten again.
Orlando Magic history: uniforms
From 1989-90 and from 1997-98, the jerseys were colored white, with dark pinstripes. Road jerseys were black with white pinstripes and blue digits with a white trim.
In 1989-95, the Orlando Magic used a blue road jersey. The white numbers were coupled with black trims. The logo was the name of the city, and their black jerseys for road games became the alternate.
During 2002-2003, for their tenth anniversary, they came with a new design. Pinstripes said goodbye and stars were used as the backdrop. Home jerseys are colored white, with the blue logo and black trim for the numbers. Their blue road uniforms had a white logo.
Source: www.ixgames.com
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