56 Fun Facts About Orlando Magic

Which other expansion team joined the NBA alongside the Magic for the 1989–90 season?

The Minnesota Timberwolves debuted with Orlando because the NBA, planning to add three teams, liked the bids enough to add four and started two of them a year earlier.

Which Turkish forward won the NBA's Most Improved Player award in 2008 and helped the Magic reach the 2009 Finals?

Hedo Türkoğlu left for Toronto in a sign-and-trade weeks after those Finals, but Orlando traded to get him back in December 2010.

Which former 76ers general manager fronted the investment group that brought the NBA to Orlando?

Pat Williams doubted Orlando at first, saying the NBA might work in Miami or Tampa, yet he left the 76ers in 1986 to front businessman Jim Hewitt's bid and became the Magic's first general manager.

The 'Magic' name is a nod to which local institution?

Walt Disney World and its Magic Kingdom inspired the name, and the general manager's seven-year-old daughter helped tip the choice by saying Orlando was like magic.

Whose late turnover, forced by a Magic steal, decided Game 1 of the 1995 playoff series against Chicago?

Michael Jordan, then wearing No. 45, was stripped near midcourt in the final seconds, and he switched back to No. 23 for Game 2.

Who was the Magic's first head coach?

Matt Guokas coached the Magic through their first four seasons, stepping down in 1993 and handing the job to his assistant Brian Hill.

Which Illinois guard was the Magic's first-ever draft pick?

Nick Anderson, taken 11th overall in the Magic's first draft, played ten seasons in Orlando and is remembered for missing four straight free throws late in Game 1 of the team's first NBA Finals.

Which Magic point guard set the NBA single-game record with 30 assists against Denver in December 1990?

Scott Skiles handed out 30 assists against Denver on 30 December 1990, a record still standing in 2026; he won Most Improved Player that season and returned as the Magic's head coach in 2015.

The family that founded which company bought the Magic in 1991 for $85 million?

Amway co-founder Rich DeVos turned to basketball after failing to land a baseball expansion team for Orlando, paying a reported $85 million for the Magic in 1991.

Whom did the Magic select first overall after winning the 1992 draft lottery?

Shaquille O'Neal was voted an All-Star starter as a rookie and lifted the Magic from 21 wins to 41 in his debut season.

How many of the 66 lottery balls belonged to the Magic when they won the 1993 NBA draft lottery?

One ball in 66 was Orlando's share because it had missed the playoffs only on a tiebreaker, yet that 1.5 percent shot came up a year after the Magic had won the top pick.

Whom did the Magic draft first overall in 1993, then trade to Golden State that night?

Chris Webber was swapped to Golden State on draft night for the third overall pick plus three future Warriors first-round selections.

Which All-Star forward left the Chicago Bulls to sign with the Magic before the 1994–95 season?

Horace Grant, a three-time champion with Chicago, signed in 1994; Orlando went 57–25 and beat his old Bulls in the East semifinals on its run to the Finals.

Which team swept the Magic in their first NBA Finals appearance?

The Houston Rockets were only a sixth seed, yet they swept after stealing Game 1 in overtime when Orlando missed four straight late free throws.

The Magic's superstar centre left as a free agent in 1996 to join which team?

He won three straight titles there from 2000 to 2002.

Which two-time NBA champion coach with the Pistons was hired by the Magic for the 1997–98 season?

Chuck Daly returned to the bench in 1997 after three seasons away, but his star point guard played only 19 games and the Magic finished 41–41.

Which rookie head coach won Coach of the Year for the 1999–2000 'Heart and Hustle' Magic team?

Doc Rivers, in his first season as a head coach, took a roster rebuilt after the front office traded away its last star to 41–41 and was named Coach of the Year.

Which former Pistons star joined the Magic in 2000 but played only four games that season on an injured ankle?

Grant Hill had been an All-Star in five of his six Detroit seasons, but the ankle then cost him the entire 2003–04 season before he returned as an All-Star in 2005.

Which Magic star won back-to-back NBA scoring titles in 2003 and 2004, once scoring 62 points in a game?

Tracy McGrady averaged 32.1 points in 2002–03 and 28.0 the next season, when he scored 62 against Washington even as the Magic sank to a league-worst 21–61.

Which future four-time Defensive Player of the Year did the Magic send to Detroit in a 2000 sign-and-trade?

Ben Wallace, an undrafted centre, went to Detroit with Chucky Atkins in the deal that brought an All-Star forward to Orlando, then anchored the Pistons' 2004 title team.

Which guard headlined the package the Magic received from Houston for their disgruntled superstar in 2004?

Steve Francis arrived with Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato in the June 2004 trade and lasted less than two seasons in Orlando before being dealt to the Knicks in February 2006.

Which high-school phenom did the Magic take first overall in the 2004 draft?

Dwight Howard came straight from Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, started all 82 games as a rookie and five years later carried the Magic to the NBA Finals.

Which 2005 first-round pick stunned the Magic by staying in Spain, reportedly at his girlfriend's urging?

Fran Vázquez, taken 11th overall in 2005, chose to keep playing in Spain's ACB league and never played an NBA game.

Which college coach signed a five-year Magic deal in June 2007, then asked out the very next day?

Billy Donovan awoke with a change of heart the morning after his Orlando press conference, and the Magic released him to return to Florida on reported terms barring him from NBA jobs for five years.

Which forward did the Magic sign from Seattle in 2007 to a six-year maximum deal worth over $110 million?

Rashard Lewis cost Orlando only a second-round pick in the sign-and-trade, and two years later he was an All-Star on the team that reached the NBA Finals.

Which Hall of Fame centre, then a Magic assistant coach, guaranteed a Game 7 win over Boston in the 2009 East semifinals?

Patrick Ewing made the guarantee, and Orlando won Game 7 by 19 points on the defending champions' floor.

Whom did the Magic beat in the Eastern Conference finals to reach their second NBA Finals?

The Cleveland Cavaliers had the NBA's best record at 66–16 and the league MVP in LeBron James, yet Orlando won in six games before losing the Finals in five.

Which eight-time All-Star did the Magic acquire from New Jersey in the 2009 off-season?

Vince Carter, a Daytona Beach native, cost Orlando three players from its Finals roster and was himself traded to Phoenix 18 months later.

Which nickname was given to the 2011–12 saga surrounding the Magic centre's trade demands?

The 'Dwightmare' saw him request a trade, opt back in, reportedly push for the coach to be replaced, then undergo back surgery, all within the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season.

Which guard did the Magic get from Denver in the 2012 four-team deal that moved their centre?

Arron Afflalo came to Orlando from Denver together with Al Harrington, while the Nuggets took Andre Iguodala from Philadelphia in the same four-team deal.

Which coach led the Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals and the playoffs in all five of his seasons?

Stan Van Gundy went 259–135 in Orlando, the best winning percentage of any Magic coach through 2026, yet the team let him go in May 2012.

Which Indiana guard did the Magic draft second overall in 2013?

Victor Oladipo, the Indiana guard taken second in 2013, was traded with Domantas Sabonis to Oklahoma City for Serge Ibaka in June 2016.

Which centre from the 2012 four-team blockbuster set the Magic single-game record with 29 rebounds?

Nikola Vučević pulled down 29 rebounds against Miami in his first season in Orlando, became the team's first All-Star in seven years in 2019, and was traded to Chicago in March 2021.

Which Magic guard won both Most Improved Player and Sixth Man of the Year in 1999?

Darrell Armstrong went undrafted out of Fayetteville State and did not reach the NBA until he was 26, then won both awards in the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season.

Whom did the Magic select first overall in the 2022 draft?

Paolo Banchero averaged 20 points a game as a rookie, won Rookie of the Year and helped lift the Magic from 22 wins to 34.

Which coach, hired in 2021 from the Mavericks' staff, led the Magic back to the playoffs in 2024?

Jamahl Mosley, a former Mavericks assistant, won only 22 games in his first season, then more than doubled that total by his third to end a three-year playoff drought.

Which German forward did the Magic select eighth overall in 2021 with a pick acquired from Chicago?

Franz Wagner, a Berlin-born forward out of Michigan, went eighth in 2021 with a Chicago pick acquired that March, joining his older brother Moritz, who had signed with Orlando three months earlier.

What name did the Magic's home arena, opened in 2010, take in December 2023?

Kia Center gave the carmaker arena names on both coasts, pairing Orlando with the Kia Forum in California; the building had opened in 2010 under another sponsor's name.

Which Oklahoma City star was named MVP of the 2012 NBA All-Star Game, played on the Magic's home court?

Kevin Durant scored 36 points as the West held on 152–149, upstaging the Magic's own centre, who had drawn the most fan votes of any player.

Why were the Magic's first uniforms made of durene, not the usual NBA fabric?

Mesh could not hold pinstripes and the coaches disliked the scratchy stretch knit, so the designer found durene, cotton inside with polyester bonded outside, among old uniforms at a MacGregor plant.

Which former No. 1 overall pick did the Magic acquire from Philadelphia in a February 2019 trade?

Markelle Fultz had played only 33 games in two seasons because of a shoulder condition, and Orlando gave up Jonathon Simmons and two draft picks to gamble on him.

In Orlando's original 'Magic' wordmark, a star replaced which letter?

The A became a star in the original wordmark, and the 2025 rebrand brought that star back in both 'Orlando' and 'Magic'.

Which Magic forward leapt over the team's mascot in the 2016 Slam Dunk Contest but lost to Zach LaVine?

Aaron Gordon passed the ball under both legs while clearing the mascot, and it took two tie-breakers before LaVine edged him for the trophy.

The Magic's 2019–20 'City' uniform paid homage to which Florida industry?

Orange growing put Central Florida on the map, so the uniform set bright orange lettering on a dark grey base, a nod as well to Orange County, the team's home.

What is the name of the Magic's dragon mascot?

Stuff the Magic Dragon takes his name from a pun on 'Puff the Magic Dragon' and on stuffing a dunk, and the green mascot was drawing crowds months before the team played a game.

The Magic's first playoff series win, in 1995, included the last NBA game ever played in which famous arena?

Boston Garden staged its last NBA game on 5 May 1995, when Orlando closed out the Celtics there, and the young Magic went on to beat Chicago and Indiana to reach the Finals.

Whose 1962 NBA regular-season record did the Magic's centre break in 2012 by attempting 39 free throws in a game?

Wilt Chamberlain had attempted 34 in a 1962 game; Golden State fouled the Magic's centre on purpose all night, and he made 21 of his 39 as Orlando won anyway.

What name is given to the Magic's rivalry with Florida's other NBA team?

The Sunshine State rivalry borrows Florida's nickname, yet for all their regular-season meetings the two teams had met in just one playoff series through 2026, a first-round tie in 1997.

The Magic donated $50,000 in 2023 to a super PAC supporting which politician's presidential campaign?

Ron DeSantis was the beneficiary: the $50,000 went to Never Back Down, a super PAC backing the Florida governor, and the team said the gift predated his formal candidacy.

Which Saint Joseph's point guard ran the Magic offense for ten seasons from 2004?

Jameer Nelson, drafted 20th overall in 2004 and traded to Orlando on draft night, played ten seasons for the Magic and made the All-Star team in the franchise's second Finals season.

Which Magic guard answered an 0–2 deficit against Miami in 1997 with consecutive 40-point playoff games?

Anfernee Hardaway scored 42 and 41 points in Games 3 and 4 to level the series, but Orlando lost the deciding Game 5 in Miami.

Which Michigan player did the Magic take 32nd overall in the 2022 draft?

Caleb Houstan had been a five-star recruit at Florida's Montverde Academy, yet after one season at Michigan he slid to the 32nd pick, the second of the second round.

Which health system sponsors the Magic's practice facility unveiled in August 2022?

AdventHealth, a Magic partner for more than 30 years, put its name on the AdventHealth Training Center, where its medical hub is built for youth athletes and weekend warriors as well as the pros.

Who was promoted to general manager of the Magic in July 2023?

Anthony Parker, a former NBA guard, worked up from Magic scout to running its G League team, then replaced John Hammond, who moved to senior adviser.

Which Magic guard, the fifth pick in 2021, made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2024?

Jalen Suggs, who had managed only 48 and 53 games in his first two seasons, anchored the defence of a 47-win team that ended a three-year playoff drought.

Which injury sidelined both of the Magic's two leading scorers during the 2024–25 season?

Torn oblique muscles, both on the right side, cost each star more than a month, yet Orlando still won its division and reached the playoffs through the play-in.