A Shaq-sized debate is settled (we think)
The Magic made Shaquille O'Neal the first player in team history to see his jersey retired, deciding it was time to celebrate the four seasons they had him (and finally move past their messy divorce)
This is my 31st consecutive season covering the NBA. Which means I've covered 30 free agency summers in #thisleague.
And no July relocation, in all that time, can compare to what happened after just my third season on the beat:
Shaquille O'Neal abruptly fled Orlando to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers in the summer of 1996. It was as seismic as free agency gets.
You might want to scream at me with the counter that LeBron James' exit from Cleveland to Miami in the summer of 2010 shook the league even harder, since LeBron's defection to South Beach came via the televised debacle known as The Decision and is widely regarded as the launch point of the NBA's Player Empowerment Era.
Doesn't matter.
On this scorecard, Shaq bolting Central Florida for Tinseltown stands out with even more sparkle — and left longer-lasting scars — because LeBron not only rejoined the Cavaliers four seasons later but led the woebegone Cavs to a championship in 2016 in a long-suffering city that had waited more than 50 years to celebrate one.
In the 27 full seasons since Shaq's abrupt departure, Orlando has missed the playoffs 15 times. It won a total of six playoff series across a three-season span at Dwight Howard's peak from 2007-08 through 2009-10 ... but Orlando hasn't won a single playoff series outside of that three-year window.
We present all of the above as a buildup to the following question: Should Orlando have retired O'Neal's No. 32 on Tuesday night?
Should O'Neal, to highlight of Orlando's 35th anniversary season, have been the first player in franchise history to be so honored?
The case for: As Magic officials are prone to say, Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal put the franchise on the map in his fleeting four-season stay. Orlando was 70-176 in its first three seasons of NBA existence pre-O'Neal. They went 41-41 in Shaq's rookie season and had reached the NBA Finals by Year 3. O'Neal was an instant All-Star in Year 1.
The case against: Shaq left for Lakerland in the most contentious circumstances possible, stunningly breaking up what was once regarded as a dream partnership alongside Penny Hardaway. Who can forget in the infamous phone-in poll conducted by The Orlando Sentinel in which more than 90 percent of the 5,000-ish respondents said O'Neal was not worth the seven-year, $115 million deal that the Magic were said to be offering him? O'Neal went on to win three championships as a Laker in tandem with Kobe Bryant and another in Miami as co-star to an emerging Dwayne Wade, while it can be argued that the Magic — despite the best efforts of Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, Grant Hill, Howard, Vince Carter, etc. — are still recovering from O'Neal's exit.
By making him the first player in Magic history to have his number hoisted to the rafters of the Kia Center, O'Neal becomes just the third player in league history to have his jersey retired by three different franchises, joining Wilt Chamberlain (whose No. 13 is retired by the 76ers, Warriors and Lakers) and Pete Maravich (Pistol Pete's No. 7 was retired by the Jazz and Pelicans and his No. 44 was retired by the Hawks). Bill Russell's No. 6, of course, was retired leaguewide by the NBA in August 2022 shortly after Russell’s death.
"I would have went with Nick Anderson first," O'Neal said Tuesday night on the TNT pregame show, confirming his own surprise that the Magic decided to bury the unsavory elements of the past.
May will mark a poetic 32 years since the Magic won the 1992 draft lottery and the right to make O'Neal their new No. 32 with the No. 1 overall pick out of LSU.
This, though, is a tricky one.
I would love to hear from you in the comments … Magic fans especially since this is your team. How do you feel about Tuesday's proceedings?
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Numbers Game
🏀 7
The Pistons waived former No. 7 overall pick Killian Hayes last week. Hayes was selected ahead of No. 12 overall pick Tyrese Haliburton and No. 21 Tyrese Maxey in 2020.
🏀 31
Hayes started 31 games for Detroit this season .... including his final game as a Piston on Feb. 7 in a victory at Sacramento. The Pistons, though, couldn't even generate a future second-round pick in return for Hayes and had to release him in the roster crunch created by Detroit's many trades last week.
🏀 3
How many? The Pistons made four trades last week before Thursday's 3 PM ET trade deadline, bringing in eight new players. Six of the eight were on Detroit’s roster as of Tuesday: Troy Brown Jr., Malachi Flynn, Simone Fontecchio, Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes and Shake Milton.
🏀 2
Detroit ended up releasing two of the newcomers — Ryan Arcidiacono and Danuel House Jr. — in addition to Danilo Gallinari, Joe Harris and Hayes.
🏀 21
Trivia Question: Now in his 21st NBA season, how many active coaches has the Lakers' LeBron James played against?
🏀 36
In one month and one day, Golden State's Stephen Curry turns 36 on March 14. I'm guessing you saw what he did Saturday night against Phoenix.
🏀 17-1
The Cavaliers were in the midst of a 17-1 stretch for the fourth time in franchise history before Monday’s unexpected home loss to short-handed Philadelphia. It's the first time Cleveland has had such a dominant 18-game run without LeBron James on the roster.
🏀 17
With 17 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists on Friday night in a lopsided win over Denver, Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis seized the league lead in triple-doubles (16) over the Nuggets' Nikola Jokić (who has 15). Sabonis has since increased that lead to 17-15. Dallas’ Luka Dončić is third in the league with 10 triple-doubles.
🏀 7
Trivia answer: LeBron has played against eight current NBA coaches. They are: Portland's Chauncey Billups, New Orleans' Willie Green, his own Lakers coach Darvin Ham, Dallas' Jason Kidd, Tyronn Lue of the LA Clippers, Houston's Ime Udoka and Brooklyn's Jacque Vaughn.
🏀 8
The number was eight until Adrian Griffin was fired and replaced in Milwaukee in late January by Doc Rivers.
🏀 3
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama totaled 27 points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in Monday night’s victory at Toronto, making him the first NBA player in more than three years to record a triple-double with fewer than 10 assists. Atlanta’s Clint Capela, per Basketball Reference, was the last to do so in January 2021.
🏀 2
For those of who share my love of restaurants and like to hear what I have planned on my NBA travels: I have secured two reservations at St. Elmo Steakhouse in Indianapolis as part of my fast-approaching trip to All-Star Weekend and (with a bit of fortune) might find a way to sneak in there a third time. Question for my Indy readers: Where else is must-eat while I'm in town?
🏀 97.1
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Felt like the Magic did it because they have no one else. Retiring a number after 4 seasons and your franchise was a footnote in his career? Just odd to me.
It was only a messy divorce in that the Magic thought they were smarter than they were and that they had more leverage than they really did. It was a mistake they almost instantly regretted. It should not have taken this long for them to retire his jersey. No single player has had the impact on Orlando and the Magic as Shaq did. TMac and Dwight came close but fell short for different reasons.