Hall of Fame center Shaquille O’Neal will be the first player to have his jersey number retired by the Magic, the team announced in a press release. O’Neal’s No. 32 will be retired on February 13 following Orlando’s game vs. Oklahoma City.
“When someone asks who was the first player to officially put the Orlando Magic on the map, the answer is simple – Shaquille O’Neal,” said Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins. “He took this franchise to new heights, both on and off the court, and his legacy is still felt within our organization today. On behalf of the DeVos family, we are excited to honor Shaquille by raising #32 into the rafters of the Kia Center, where it will remain forever.”
O’Neal spent his first four NBA seasons with the Magic, averaging 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.8 blocks in 295 regular season games (37.8 MPG). He led Orlando to its first NBA Finals appearance in 1995, during his third season.
O’Neal was inducted into the Magic’s Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Basketball Hall of Fame the next year. Despite the brief nature of his stint with the franchise, he was absolutely dominant during his tenure with Orlando, which included a Rookie of the Year award, four All-Star appearances and three All-NBA nods.
The 51-year-old big man will be the third player to have his jersey retired by three teams, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The Lakers retired O’Neal’s No. 34 in 2013, and the Heat retired his No. 32 in 2016. He won three championships with L.A. and one with Miami.
I lived in Orlando when Shaq played for the Magic… He helped make the city excited about the Magic, and off the court was nothing short of an exceptional member of the community. He did SO much for so many kids’ charities in the city…
Well deserved, and very proper that he’s the first Magic man to have his number retired.
Ridiculous. 4 seasons.
Florida teams don’t care how long you played for the team to retire a jersey. The Heat retiring Jordan’s number is much more ridiculous. At least Shaq and Penny had a memorable era down there.
Heat retiring Jordan’s number is crazy to me haha smh
Even if he was only there for 4 years look what he did for the city.
Why wasn’t this done years ago?
I agree this is long overdue based on the impact he had on the franchise and city.
Orlando Magic retiring Shaquille O’Neal number 32 on February 13th. As they should!!
So he will have his number 32 retired by the Orlando Magic. Number 34 retired by the Los Angeles Lakers and 32 retired by the Miami Heat.
He’s the best Center I’ve ever seen. The man was completely dominant.
The three best players I’ve seen play basketball was Michael Jordan LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal.
Don’t get me wrong Shaq was great but you must’ve been a little young Hakeem and Jabbar.
Guess you didn’t get to see Hakeem.
He’s the guy that beat Shaq in the finals in ‘95
What took them so long?
I remember those days, it was a very very bad business decision from Orlando FO and ownership they should have been try something different perhaps an ownership stocks for the future or a ridiculous contract like 15 years contract or something like that. Anyway I’m agree with the O’Neal jersey retire but my question is this.. Who is next?
1- DH12
2- Penny
3- Nick
4- T Mc
5- Jameer
Dwight deserves his jersey retired more than Shaq
Pathetic
I think Orlando should retire DH12 and Jameer Nelson jerseys both at the same time in one night ceremony…. Go Magic