On Tuesday night, Shaquille O’Neal became the first player in the Orlando Magic history to have his jersey retired. In a ceremony that was attended from several Orlando Magic stars and former O’Neal’s teammates, the NBA Hall of Famer deemed the retiring of his no.32 as the most impressive one.
Shaquille O’Neal was the no.1 pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and spent the first four seasons of his illustrious career with the Magic. The Orlando Magic was newly inducted franchise in the league back in 1992 having three seasons as a franchise when O’Neal joined the team in 1992.
The Hall of Famer pushed Orlando out of mediocrity and brought the team to its first NBA Finals appearance in 1995 – in just his third season playing alongside Penny Hardaway, who attended Tuesday’s ceremony and celebrate his former teammate. Both players entered the league almost simultaneously and put the Magic on the map.
“I want to say thank you, brother,” O’Neal said to Hardaway, via The Athletic. “I know I always get celebrated a lot, but I’ve never been selfish. A lot of my success comes from you. You took care of me, you made me look good. So, I never got to tell you this but I always wanted to tell you thank you.”
Shaquille O’Neal calls jersey retirement in Orlando the most impressive of his career
Shaquille O’Neal became the latest NBA player to have his jersey retired from three NBA teams joining NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. O’Neal showed immediately why he was the first selection in the 1992 draft as he was named an NBA All-Star four times as a member of the Magic, named to the All-NBA Second Team once (1994-95) and All-NBA Third Team twice (1993-94, 1995-96).
Shaq averaged 27.2 ppg., 12.5 rpg., 2.4 apg. and 2.79 bpg. in 37.8 mpg., while shooting .581 from the floor. In his speech after the ceremony, Shaquille O’Neal appeared stunned by the way that people in Orlando greeted him and called his jersey retirement the most impressive one of all.
“This, truthfully speaking, will probably be the most impressive one,” said Shaquille O’Neal. “LSU, I knew. Lakers, I kind of knew. This one, I didn’t know. To start here, to put in the work, and to play here four years and be honored this way — this will probably be the most special one.”
He still ranks among the franchise’s all-time leaders in several categories, including blocked shots (second, 824), rebounding (third, 3,691), free throws made (third, 1,602), field goals made (fourth, 3,208) and points scored (sixth, 8,019).
