The Orlando Magic is an American professional basketball team, based in Orlando, Florida. The Wonder plays as a member of the Eastern Conference in the league's Southeast Division of the National Basketball Association. The franchise was established in 1989 as an expansion franchise, and such notable NBA stars as Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, Dwight Howard, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Dominique Wilkins, and Hedo Türkoğlu played for the club in their early history. The franchise spent almost half of its history in the NBA playoffs as of 2019, and went twice, in 1995 and 2009, to the NBA Finals. Orlando was the second most successful of the four expansion teams brought into the league in 1988 and 1989 behind only the Miami Heat in terms of winning percentage. Orlando businessman Jim L. Hewitt told Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams in September 1985, when they met in Texas about his vision of bringing an NBA team to Orlando. Intrigued by the prospect of an NBA team located in Orlando, Williams was the front man of the investment company one year later, after he left the 76ers. On 19 June 1986 the two scheduled a press conference to announce their intention to seek an NBA franchise. In its first year, the Wonder went on to select Nick Anderson in the first round of the 1989 NBA Draft, who had just won both the Mr. Basketball and the College Player of the Year awards. He was the squad's first Franchise star and highest scorer as a 10th selection for a decade. The very first game The Magic played on October 13, 1989 was an exhibition game against the then-reigning Detroit Pistons, won by the Magic. Anderson was quoted as saying that the atmosphere was like NBA Finals Game 7. In 1998–99, with the drafting of Michael Doleac and Matt Harpring in the 1998 draft with the 12th and 15th picks, and a healthy Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson, the Magic tied to the Miami Heat in the lockout-shortened season, 33–17, for the best record in the Eastern League. Armstrong once again led the team effectively, winning NBA's Sixth-Man and Most Valuable Player honours. Orlando, along with Gerald's brother, had acquired great Dominique Wilkins from the NBA who had gone through their benefits but were still in use as NBA teams. The Penny Hardaway-led Magic was ranked number 3 in the playoffs thanks to tiebreakers, and played the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, led in the first round by Allen Iverson, have upset the Magic 3–1. The players changed their uniforms for the first time ever too, switching from pinstripes to stars. During off-season weisbrod dissolved the squad completely. Although Davis stayed as a coach he shook the roster of players, keeping just a few players from last season. The most notable trade was in Tracy McGrady. Unhappy with the Magic, McGrady wanted to move on; Weisbrod accused McGrady of being "slacked off" and not attending classes. The Strong traded McGrady along with Reece Gaines, Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard to the Houston Rockets for Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley. The Magic has received Cleveland Cavaliers 'Tony Battie center and two second-round draft picks in exchange for the draft rights of Drew Gooden, Steven Hunter and Anderson Varejão. Afterwards the Strong signed free agent Hedo Türkoğlu. With the number one draft selection, the Magic selected high school phenomenon and future All-Star and franchise champion Dwight Howard, and a draft day trade with the Denver Nuggets took point guard Jameer Nelson to them. The new tv announcing team for the Orlando Magic is play-by-play announcer David Steele and color analyst Jeff Turner. Turner played with the Magic from the 1989 inaugural season until 1996. Paul Kennedy and Dante Marchetelli serve as court commentators while Marchetelli, former coach Brian Hill and former magic player Nick Anderson present pre-game, half-time and post-game shows. In 2007–08, TV broadcasts were broken up between Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports. Broadcasts were transmitted in the intervening 18 years by Sun Sports and local TV stations, first WKCF and, later, WRBW.
About the Creator
MB
I am a bird aficionado and really enjoy spotting them them on hikes. I greatly appreciate the variety of birds cross North America and the world. They are amazing and intelligent creatures, each so unique and with a wonderful life.
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New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, or more simply as the Knicks, are a professional American basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks play within the National Basketball Association as part of the Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. The squad plays its home games at Madison Square Park, an arena that they share with the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. They are one of two New York City-based NBA teams; the other the Brooklyn Nets. Besides the Boston Celtics, the Knicks are one of two original NBA teams left at their original venue. The team, formed in 1946 by Ned Irish, was one of the founding members of the American Basketball Association, which became the NBA after integrating with the current National Basketball League in 1949. The Knicks had been successful in their early years and were perennial playoff competitors under the franchise's first head coach, Joe Lapchick. Beginning in 1950 the Knicks made three consecutive appearances in the NBA Finals, all of them missed commitment. Lapchick left in 1956 and the team went on to falter afterwards. It wasn't until the late 1960s that the Knicks started to regain their old dominance, after Red Holzman was the head coach. Holzman successfully led the Knicks to two NBA championships, in 1970 and 1973. The Knicks of the 1980s had mixed success which included six playoff appearances; however, they did not compete in the NBA Finals. The Patrick Ewing Future Hall of Fame center led the 1990s playoff-level Knicks; this time was characterized by violent rivalries with the Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat. During this time they were known for playing strong defense under the head coaches Pat Riley and Jeff Van Gundy, making two appearances at the 1994 and 1999 NBA Finals. They were, however, unable to win an NBA championship during this time. Since 2000 the Knicks have struggled to reclaim their previous victories but they won their first division title in 19 years in 2012–13, led by a nucleus of forward Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. In the Eastern Conference semifinals they were eventually defeated by the Indiana Pacers, and have failed to reach the playoffs ever since. In 1946, basketball, especially college basketball, became a growing, highly lucrative sport in New York City. At the time, hockey was another popular sport and generated considerable profits; however, the stadiums were not commonly used. The 1930s, after meeting Boston Garden owner Walter A. Brown, the sports editor at the Boston American was Max Kase, a New York sportswriter. Kase invented the idea of an amateur football league to highlight college talent after graduation, and felt it would become profitable if properly arranged. Brown, intrigued by the opportunity to collect additional cash when the hockey teams were either not playing or on the road, contacted some arena owners. On 6 June 1946, Kase and Brown, along with a group of seventeen others, met at the Commodore Hotel in New York City as the Basketball Association of America, where charter franchises were granted to major cities around the country. In 1964, franchise fortunes started to take a gradual turn. Willis Reed, who made an immediate impact on the floor with his efforts and was named NBA Rookie of the Year, has been drafted by The Knicks. Nevertheless the members of the team were still in action. In an attempt to reorganize the Knicks named former star Harry Gallatin as head coach, thus reassigning Donovan to the position of general manager. After a bad start in 1965, another retired Knick, Dick McGuire, replaced his retired Gallatin teammate at halfway through the season. The organization broke it into five new contracts in preparation for the 2019–20 season as a result of having a projected $74 million in cap space following the Porziis contract. The Knicks agreed terms with Wayne Ellington and Taj Gibson, former position players, and also signed forward Bobby Portis. The Squad then signed former lottery picks Elfrid Payton and Julius Randle. The Knicks fired Steve Mills on 4 February 2020 after seven seasons as tyrant with Scott Perry taking over on an temporary basis. On March 2nd Leon Rose was named Team Chief.
By MB6 years ago in Unbalanced
Wild Card Weekend Recap: What Happens Now?
I think I figured out why I love Wild Card Weekend so much. It's because it's the first playoff anything of the calendar year. The NFL season starts in the fall, and once upon a time, the champion was crowned either on or slightly before New Year's. The evolution of the NFL schedule has resulted in the playoffs starting just into the New Year, and currently, the final week of the season falls on the first weekend of the New Year, with Wild Card Weekend coming a week after that. So yes, chronologically, the NFL's Wild Card Weekend serves as the first playoff anything of the calendar year.
By Clyde E. Dawkins2 days ago in Unbalanced
The Worst MLB City Connect Jerseys
Greetings, baseball nerds! Spring Training will be here before you know it. In my previous story, I've selected some of my favorite City Connect jerseys that stood out to me. I'll have a link to that story down below. With the good comes the bad, so I'll be highlighting six of the worst City Connect jerseys that didn't vibe well with me. We can all agree to disagree with the following selections, but if you didn't see a jersey that made the list, please comment down below. Just like my previous story, I'm only going to focus on the jerseys themselves, not the hats. A list of the best and worst City Connect hats will be featured on here in a later story.
By Mark Wesley Pritchard 6 days ago in Unbalanced
The Dryads are Calling
They say the forest by Phoenix River sings. Perhaps it is just the wind howling through the leaves, or a particular birdsong. But Percy Fisher knows better; he knows what lies in those woods, and he knows that the forest sings of his demise.
By Leigh Hooperabout 20 hours ago in Fiction
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