Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are a 1989 NBA expansion franchise. They have reached the NBA Finals twice (1995 and 2009) and lost both. They have never won an NBA championship. The franchise’s identity is dominated by three first-overall draft picks: Shaquille O’Neal (1992), Chris Webber (1993), and Dwight Howard (2004). The 1992 Shaq draft and the 2004 Howard draft were the anchor events of two distinct seven-year windows; neither produced a championship, and both centers left Orlando acrimoniously. The 2022 first-overall selection of Paolo Banchero has opened the current competitive window. The DeVos family, founders of Amway, has owned the franchise continuously since 1991.
The 1989 expansion
The NBA awarded Orlando an expansion franchise in 1987 to begin play for the 1989–90 season, the second of the 1988–89 expansion class (Miami, Charlotte, Minnesota, Orlando). The original ownership group was led by William duPont III. The first head coach was Matt Guokas. The 1989–90 Magic went 18–64. The team’s first three seasons (1989–92) produced a combined record of 70–176.
Richard DeVos Sr., the co-founder of Amway, purchased the franchise from duPont in 1991 for $85 million. The DeVos family has retained majority ownership since.
The Shaq era (1992–1996) and the 1995 Finals
The 1992 NBA Draft produced Shaquille O’Neal with the first overall pick. The full Shaq story is here. In July 1993, the Magic won the draft lottery and the first overall pick. They drafted Chris Webber and traded him to Golden State for Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and three first-round picks.
The 1994–95 Magic, with Shaq-Penny and head coach Brian Hill, went 57–25 and beat Boston, Chicago, and Indiana in the playoffs to reach the NBA Finals. Houston swept them 4–0. The sweep was the third four-game Finals sweep by a Western Conference team in five years (1989 Pistons-Lakers, 1991 Bulls-Lakers, 1995 Rockets-Magic).
Shaq left in July 1996 for Los Angeles as a free agent. Horace Grant had been acquired via free agency in the summer of 1994; he, Penny Hardaway, and Dennis Scott were the post-Shaq core. The 1996–97 Magic went 45–37 and were swept in the first round by Miami.
The Grant Hill injury years (2000–2004)
Orlando signed Grant Hill to a max contract in the summer of 2000. Hill had averaged 25.8 points for Detroit in 1999–2000. He played four Magic games before tearing the left ankle ligaments that would become the defining injury of his career. Across four Magic seasons (2000–01 through 2003–04), Hill played in just 47 of 328 games. The Magic went 43–39, 44–38, and 42–40 without a healthy Hill.
Tracy McGrady was acquired from Toronto in August 2000 and became the primary star of the post-Shaq era. His full story is here. McGrady won scoring titles in 2002 and 2003 with the Magic and made three All-Star teams before being traded to Houston in June 2004.
The Dwight Howard era (2004–2012)
The 2004 NBA Draft Lottery produced the first overall pick. The Magic selected Dwight Howard, a straight-from-high-school center out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. His full Magic story is here. Howard was 2008, 2009, and 2010 Defensive Player of the Year, the only back-to-back-to-back DPOY in NBA history.
The 2008–09 Magic went 59–23, coached by Stan Van Gundy, with Howard at center, Hedo Türkoğlu at forward, Rashard Lewis at stretch four, Rafer Alston at point guard, and Courtney Lee at shooting guard. They beat Philadelphia, Boston, and Cleveland in the playoffs to reach the NBA Finals, losing to the Lakers 4–1. Howard averaged 15.4 points and 15.2 rebounds across the Finals.
The “Dwightmare,” the 2011–12 protracted trade demand and public back-and-forth between Howard, Van Gundy, general manager Otis Smith, and the DeVos family, ran from December 2011 through the August 10, 2012 trade to the Lakers. Howard was moved for Arron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vučević, Moe Harkless, Christian Eyenga, and two first-round picks, a four-team deal that also involved Philadelphia and Denver. The Dwightmare remains the most-written-about trade-request saga in franchise history.
The post-Dwight rebuild (2012–2022)
The 2012–13 through 2021–22 Magic missed the playoffs in nine of ten seasons. They made the playoffs only in the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons as a lower seed. High draft picks included Victor Oladipo (2nd overall, 2013), Aaron Gordon (4th, 2014), Jonathan Isaac (6th, 2017), and Mo Bamba (6th, 2018). None produced a deep playoff run in Orlando.
Jeff Weltman was hired as general manager in 2017 from the Toronto staff. Jamahl Mosley was hired as head coach in July 2021 from Dallas.
The Paolo Banchero era (2022–present)
The 2022 NBA Draft produced Paolo Banchero with the first overall pick, out of Duke. Banchero was 2022–23 Rookie of the Year. He was an All-Star in 2024. The 2023–24 Magic went 47–35, the best regular-season record since 2011, and reached the first round of the playoffs. The 2024–25 Magic, with Banchero, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs, and Jonathan Isaac, are competing for a six-seed in the Eastern Conference.
The franchise’s longer-term ambition, per Weltman’s public comments, is to make the conference finals by the 2026–27 season. No Orlando Magic team has reached the conference finals since 2010.
Ownership
Richard DeVos purchased the franchise in 1991 for $85 million. DeVos died on September 6, 2018. His widow Helen DeVos had died in October 2017. Majority ownership passed to the DeVos Family Trust, managed by Dan DeVos. The family’s collective net worth, per Forbes 2024, is approximately $15 billion. The franchise’s 2025 Forbes valuation was approximately $3.4 billion.
Retired numbers
Two jersey numbers have been retired:
- Shaquille O’Neal (32), formally retired February 22, 2024 (ceremonial recognition had been in place since 2011)
- Penny Hardaway (1), retired March 10, 2024
Dwight Howard’s 12 is presumed future retirement once the relationship has been publicly reconciled.
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Sources
- Basketball-Reference, Orlando Magic franchise page
- Orlando Sentinel, Magic beat coverage, 1989–present
- Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo Sports series on the 2011–12 Dwightmare
- 1992, 1993, 2004, 2022 NBA Draft Lottery and draft records
- 1995 and 2009 NBA Finals box scores (Basketball-Reference)
- DeVos family ownership records, 1991–present
- Forbes NBA Team Valuations, 2025
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