Blessed with young, athletic, immensely-talented players i.e, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, Shaquille “Diesel” O’Neal, Nick Anderson, etc. the early 1990’s Orlando Magic were widely regarded by N.B.A. experts as one of the teams of the future (alongside the Charlotte Hornets with Larry “Grandmama” Johnson, Alonzo “Zo” Mourning, Dell Curry, etc.). Albeit the Magic always had to contend with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and the physical, no-nonsense New York Knicks (Patrick Ewing, Anthony Mason, Charles Oakley, etc.) in the N.B.A. Eastern Conference, the Magic seemingly had the right balance of a dominant inside game, reliable outside game and decent team defense to be able to win an N.B.A. Championship title. The Hardaway-O’Neal duo drew comparisons to the Lakers “Showtime” era Magic Johnson-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar combination, especially with regards to “Penny” Hardaway. Case in point; the Magic notched three consecutive 50+ win N.B.A. seasons including a 60-game winning N.B.A. season as illustrated below:
- 1993–94 Orlando Magic N.B.A. regular season record – 50–32 (.610 winning percentage)
- 1994–95 Orlando Magic N.B.A. regular season record – 57–25 (.695 winning percentage)
- 1995–96 Orlando Magic N.B.A. regular season record – 60–22 (.732 winning percentage).
Although the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston Rockets eventually won the 1995 N.B.A. Championship title, many a basketball fan had anticipated the series favorites Orlando Magic winning instead. I felt bad for then-Magic head coach Brian Hill, “Penny” Hardaway (dealing with nagging injuries), Shaq “Diesel”, veterans Horace Grant and Scott Skiles and the rest as they worked so hard to win 60 games during the regular season only to lose to the 6th-seeded Rockets in the N.B.A. Finals. Regardless of the 1995 N.B.A. Finals loss, the early 1990’s Orlando Magic were a force to be reckoned with that struck fear in the hearts of opponents nightly. (By the way, whatever happened to Donald Royal?)
Shaquille O’Neal – 24 points, 28 rebounds and 15 blocks – Orlando Magic vs New Jersey Nets – 1993-94 N.B.A. season (November 20, 1993)
Hakeem Olajuwon vs Shaquille O’Neal – Game 4 Duel Highlights – 1995 N.B.A. Finals
Shaquille O’Neal’s Top 10 Orlando Magic Plays
Penny Hardaway Top 40 Best Plays With The Magic
N.B.A. Greatest Duos: Penny Hardaway & Shaquille O’Neal vs Rockets (1994)
Published on: September 11, 2021
Sources: Wikipedia–https://www.en.wikipedia.org, E.S.P.N.–https://www.espn.com, N.B.A.–https://www.nba.com, YouTube–https://www.youtube.com
