The recent public feud between TNT analysts Shaquille O’Neal and Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard has been highly publicized. But while most of the public see two very different people, Magic fans are starting to see them as very much the same.
The Orlando Magic won the NBA draft lottery in 1992 and with the first pick in that draft, selected Shaquille O’Neal out of LSU. Over the next four years, along with Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway who they traded Chris Webber for during the 1993 NBA draft, the Magic became one of the dominant teams in the NBA. In 1995 the Magic won the first Eastern Conference championship in franchise history before being swept by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. The next year the Magic won 60 games and lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Michael Jordan led Chicago Bulls that won an NBA record 72 regular season games. In the summer of 1996, with no prior warning, Shaquille O’Neal signed a $120 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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