The Orlando Magic announced earlier this week that the team intends to retire Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32 jersey. O’Neal will become the first player ever to have his jersey retired in franchise history.

The jersey retirement ceremony will take place on February 13 during a post-game ceremony. It comes as part of the celebration of Magic’s 35th anniversary as an NBA franchise.

Orlando Magic drafted O’Neal as the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. O’Neal spent four years with the franchise, winning NBA Rookie of the Year, making three All-Star teams, and becoming an NBA scoring champion during that time. He also led the Magic to its first NBA Finals appearance during the 1994-95 season.

“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 Magic’s Chief Executive Alex Martins in a statement. “He took this franchise to new heights, both on and off the court, and his legacy is still felt within our organization today.”

Shaquille O’Neal will become only the second player in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain to have his jersey retired by the three different franchises he played for. O’Neal previously received the same honor from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat.

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The Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks once he undergoes surgery to repair a fractured finger, the team confirmed on Saturday. This is because Carter’s recovery status will only be reassessed in three weeks’ time.

Carter fell on his left hand during Orlando’s 113-115 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night when he attempted to go for a rebound during the final few seconds of the game. He injured his third metacarpal as a result.

With six seasons of NBA action under his belt, Carter is averaging 9.4 points and 8.6 rebounds this season. He was replaced by Goga Bitadze in the starting lineup for Saturday’s 120-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from Carter, Magic will also wait for the returns of Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris, who are harboring knee and groin injuries respectively.

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11 players were handed suspensions of varying lengths by NBA officials after becoming involved in a midgame scuffle during the Detroit Pistons’ 121-101 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Little Caesars Arena.

It all started when Magic center Moritz Wagner hip-checked Pistons point guard Killian Hayes into the Detroit bench. Hayes responded by hitting Wagner in the back of the head, appearing to knock Wagner out momentarily when Magic players rushed off the bench out of concern for the center.

Hayes will be given a three-week suspension without pay for the act of hitting Wagner in the back of the head. While Wagner will be suspended for two games, Hamidou Diallo of the Pistons will also serve a one-game ban for playing a part in the scuffle that followed.

Because the fallout was so large, the suspensions that have been handed to players on the Orlando Magic roster will have to be staggered in order for the team to have enough available players to participate in their upcoming games.

Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris, Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield, Franz Wagner, Mo Bamba, and Wendell Carter Jr. were all handed one-game suspensions.

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The Orlando Magic have won Tuesday night’s NBA lottery and will have the first overall pick in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft. This will be the fourth time in franchise history that the Magic selects at No. 1 and the first since 2004.

Magic entered the lottery with a 14 percent chance to land the opportunity to select first after finishing the regular season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 22-60 record. The Houston Rockets, who had the league’s worst record of 20-62, will select third. The Detroit Pistons, who also had a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick alongside the Magic and the Rockets, fell out of the top 3 and will select at No. 5.

The lottery was favorable for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who landed the second overall pick and will select in the top three for the first time since the 2009 Draft. That year, the Thunder also had the No. 2 selection and picked superstar James Harden. Oklahoma City will have two lottery picks in 2022, owning the No. 12 selection from the LA Clippers as part of the Paul George trade.  

The Sacramento Kings managed to leap into the top five as well and will get to pick at No. 4. The Indiana Pacers have the sixth overall pick, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Pelicans (via the Los Angeles Lakers), the San Antonio Spurs, and the Washington Wizards. Check out the full 2022 NBA Draft lottery order below.

There is no consensus favorite for the No. 1 selection in 2022 like in some previous years. The top contenders to go first overall include Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, and Paolo Banchero of Duke.

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It seems as if Orlando Magic star Aaron Gordon is officially done for the season.

The star forward has already missed all four games of the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, according to reports, he has officially left the bubble in which the NBA teams have been playing since the season reconvened after a break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gordon is a big part of the team, which has been clear in the playoffs. The Magic took Game 1 from the Bucks by a score of 122-110, but have been unable to win since.

Overall, Orlando has a record of 4 wins and 9 losses when Gordon is not in the lineup. The Game 1 victory over Milwaukee was the only game without Gordan in which Orlando was able to defeat a team with a winning record.

Gordon’s athleticism in the frontcourt makes the entire team better and helps to get the team’s star scorers Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier more open chances and shots. This season, Gordon was averaging 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

The Bucks currently lead the series 3-1 and can wrap it up and move on to Round 2 with a Game 5 win.

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For the first time since the 2003 playoffs, both the Eastern and Western Conference No. 1 seeds lost their first games of the NBA playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks were stunned by the Orlando Magic, losing 122-110, and the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Portland Trail Blazers by a score of 100-93.

The Magic were led by Nikola Vucevic, who had 14 rebounds and scored 35 points, which is a playoff career-high for him. Two other big contributors for the eighth-seed Orlando team were Terrence Ross and Gary Clark, who scored 18 and 15 points respectively.

While Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put up big numbers, finishing the game with 31 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, he failed to show up when it mattered most. The “Greek Freak” didn’t score a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the season, the Bucks were the favorites to win a title this year. Since the restart of the season in the bubble, they have been sluggish and inconsistent, which continued to be the case on Tuesday.

In the Western Conference, Portland’s Damian Lillard continued his dominant play, spoiling Lebron James’ playoff debut with Los Angeles by leading the Trail Blazers to victory over the top-seeded Lakers with 34 points.

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For the second season in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks have clinched the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after defeating the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday by a score of 130-116.

The Bucks are now ahead of the reigning-champion Toronto Raptors by five games. Since the Raptors have only five games left and the Bucks have four, 4.5 is the most Toronto could mathematically gain, which obviously isn’t enough to take over the first seed.

The Bucks won 59 games this year with a shortened schedule due to the temporary break in the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the team finished the regular season with 60 wins, so their winning percentage is actually better this year.

The last team to repeat as the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference was the Chicago Bulls back in 2011-2012.

As far as who they will face in the first round of the playoffs, it’s going to either by the Brooklyn Nets or the Orlando Magic, who will play each other in a very important game for both teams next week.

Of course, with this year’s playoffs happening in the bubble, the Bucks will not enjoy the home-court advantage they had coming into the playoffs last year.

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Injuries continue to pile up for Orlando Magic since the 2019/20 NBA season resume. The latest Magic player heading to the sidelines is Aaron Gordon, who suffered a strained hamstring in Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors.

The 24-year-old starting forward got injured early in the third quarter following a foul by Raptors’ guard Kyle Lowry. Gordon cut to the basket and was about to dunk when Lowry jumped into his knees in an attempt to stop him.

Gordon had to exit the game and didn’t get back, while Lowry was handed a flagrant 1 foul.

Luckily for Magic, Aaron Gordon might not be out of action for too long. The MRI showed no structural damage, and he might even be back on the court this week. Gordon’s official status is “day-to-day” according to the team’s recent announcement. 

Gordon was one of Magic’s best players in recent years, and he quietly had a solid season in 2019/20. So far, he was averaging 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

Orlando Magic currently finds themselves as the No.8 seed in the East with a 32-37 record. However, they have a chance to advance to No.7 and avoid first round against Milwaukee Bucks, as they are just half a game behind Brooklyn Nets on No.7.

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A rising young player for the Orlando Magic, Jonathan Issac, suffered a torn ACL on Sunday during a game in which the Magic defeated the Sacramento Kings 132-116.

The Orlando power forward appeared to land awkwardly while planting his foot to get by two defenders.

The injury was confirmed to be a torn ACL after an MRI was performed after the game. A significant loss for a young team that’s just starting to build chemistry, Isaac has proven to be a real difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball.

He has shown steady improvement on offense as well this year. In just his third season in the league, the power forward is averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game, all career highs, despite being hampered by injuries all season.

Isaac missed 31 games before the season was shut down temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The injury that he was dealing with earlier was related to the same knee that he injured on Sunday.

Considering the seriousness of the ACL injury, there’s a good chance that the 22-year-old forward could also miss a majority of the 2020-2021 season, which is set to kick off in December.

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DeMar DeRozan’s time with San Antonio Spurs might be coming to an end. According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Conner, Spurs are considering trading DeRozan if he doesn’t sign an extension before the trade deadline with Orlando Magic emerging as a possible partner.

DeRozan can become a free agent next summer if he declines a $27.7 million player option, which he is expected to do if he doesn’t sign a long term deal with San Antonio. This isn’t a likely option at the moment, as The Athletic’s Sam Amick recently reported that the two sides were far away in terms during the negotiations in the offseason.

Spurs will not risk losing DeRozan on the free market, so they will make him available before the All-Star weekend. If that happens, Magic will make an offer according to multiple sources close to the organization. Orlando is reportedly looking to get more scoring and see the 30-year-old as a viable option.

DeRozan hasn’t opened the season in great fashion, as he is averaging 19.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. This is a notable drop from the previous season when he had 21.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.

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The Orlando Magic announced earlier this week that the team intends to retire Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32 jersey. O’Neal will become the first player ever to have his jersey retired in franchise history.

The jersey retirement ceremony will take place on February 13 during a post-game ceremony. It comes as part of the celebration of Magic’s 35th anniversary as an NBA franchise.

Orlando Magic drafted O’Neal as the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. O’Neal spent four years with the franchise, winning NBA Rookie of the Year, making three All-Star teams, and becoming an NBA scoring champion during that time. He also led the Magic to its first NBA Finals appearance during the 1994-95 season.

“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 Magic’s Chief Executive Alex Martins in a statement. “He took this franchise to new heights, both on and off the court, and his legacy is still felt within our organization today.”

Shaquille O’Neal will become only the second player in NBA history after Wilt Chamberlain to have his jersey retired by the three different franchises he played for. O’Neal previously received the same honor from the Los Angeles Lakers and the Miami Heat.

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The Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. is expected to be out of action for at least three weeks once he undergoes surgery to repair a fractured finger, the team confirmed on Saturday. This is because Carter’s recovery status will only be reassessed in three weeks’ time.

Carter fell on his left hand during Orlando’s 113-115 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night when he attempted to go for a rebound during the final few seconds of the game. He injured his third metacarpal as a result.

With six seasons of NBA action under his belt, Carter is averaging 9.4 points and 8.6 rebounds this season. He was replaced by Goga Bitadze in the starting lineup for Saturday’s 120-101 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Aside from Carter, Magic will also wait for the returns of Markelle Fultz and Gary Harris, who are harboring knee and groin injuries respectively.

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11 players were handed suspensions of varying lengths by NBA officials after becoming involved in a midgame scuffle during the Detroit Pistons’ 121-101 victory over the Orlando Magic at the Little Caesars Arena.

It all started when Magic center Moritz Wagner hip-checked Pistons point guard Killian Hayes into the Detroit bench. Hayes responded by hitting Wagner in the back of the head, appearing to knock Wagner out momentarily when Magic players rushed off the bench out of concern for the center.

Hayes will be given a three-week suspension without pay for the act of hitting Wagner in the back of the head. While Wagner will be suspended for two games, Hamidou Diallo of the Pistons will also serve a one-game ban for playing a part in the scuffle that followed.

Because the fallout was so large, the suspensions that have been handed to players on the Orlando Magic roster will have to be staggered in order for the team to have enough available players to participate in their upcoming games.

Cole Anthony, R.J. Hampton, Gary Harris, Kevon Harris, Admiral Schofield, Franz Wagner, Mo Bamba, and Wendell Carter Jr. were all handed one-game suspensions.

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The Orlando Magic have won Tuesday night’s NBA lottery and will have the first overall pick in the upcoming 2022 NBA Draft. This will be the fourth time in franchise history that the Magic selects at No. 1 and the first since 2004.

Magic entered the lottery with a 14 percent chance to land the opportunity to select first after finishing the regular season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 22-60 record. The Houston Rockets, who had the league’s worst record of 20-62, will select third. The Detroit Pistons, who also had a 14 percent chance at the No. 1 pick alongside the Magic and the Rockets, fell out of the top 3 and will select at No. 5.

The lottery was favorable for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who landed the second overall pick and will select in the top three for the first time since the 2009 Draft. That year, the Thunder also had the No. 2 selection and picked superstar James Harden. Oklahoma City will have two lottery picks in 2022, owning the No. 12 selection from the LA Clippers as part of the Paul George trade.  

The Sacramento Kings managed to leap into the top five as well and will get to pick at No. 4. The Indiana Pacers have the sixth overall pick, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers, the New Orleans Pelicans (via the Los Angeles Lakers), the San Antonio Spurs, and the Washington Wizards. Check out the full 2022 NBA Draft lottery order below.

There is no consensus favorite for the No. 1 selection in 2022 like in some previous years. The top contenders to go first overall include Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, and Paolo Banchero of Duke.

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It seems as if Orlando Magic star Aaron Gordon is officially done for the season.

The star forward has already missed all four games of the Magic’s first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks. Now, according to reports, he has officially left the bubble in which the NBA teams have been playing since the season reconvened after a break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gordon is a big part of the team, which has been clear in the playoffs. The Magic took Game 1 from the Bucks by a score of 122-110, but have been unable to win since.

Overall, Orlando has a record of 4 wins and 9 losses when Gordon is not in the lineup. The Game 1 victory over Milwaukee was the only game without Gordan in which Orlando was able to defeat a team with a winning record.

Gordon’s athleticism in the frontcourt makes the entire team better and helps to get the team’s star scorers Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier more open chances and shots. This season, Gordon was averaging 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

The Bucks currently lead the series 3-1 and can wrap it up and move on to Round 2 with a Game 5 win.

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For the first time since the 2003 playoffs, both the Eastern and Western Conference No. 1 seeds lost their first games of the NBA playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks were stunned by the Orlando Magic, losing 122-110, and the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Portland Trail Blazers by a score of 100-93.

The Magic were led by Nikola Vucevic, who had 14 rebounds and scored 35 points, which is a playoff career-high for him. Two other big contributors for the eighth-seed Orlando team were Terrence Ross and Gary Clark, who scored 18 and 15 points respectively.

While Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo put up big numbers, finishing the game with 31 points, 17 rebounds, and seven assists, he failed to show up when it mattered most. The “Greek Freak” didn’t score a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted the season, the Bucks were the favorites to win a title this year. Since the restart of the season in the bubble, they have been sluggish and inconsistent, which continued to be the case on Tuesday.

In the Western Conference, Portland’s Damian Lillard continued his dominant play, spoiling Lebron James’ playoff debut with Los Angeles by leading the Trail Blazers to victory over the top-seeded Lakers with 34 points.

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For the second season in a row, the Milwaukee Bucks have clinched the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference after defeating the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday by a score of 130-116.

The Bucks are now ahead of the reigning-champion Toronto Raptors by five games. Since the Raptors have only five games left and the Bucks have four, 4.5 is the most Toronto could mathematically gain, which obviously isn’t enough to take over the first seed.

The Bucks won 59 games this year with a shortened schedule due to the temporary break in the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the team finished the regular season with 60 wins, so their winning percentage is actually better this year.

The last team to repeat as the no. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference was the Chicago Bulls back in 2011-2012.

As far as who they will face in the first round of the playoffs, it’s going to either by the Brooklyn Nets or the Orlando Magic, who will play each other in a very important game for both teams next week.

Of course, with this year’s playoffs happening in the bubble, the Bucks will not enjoy the home-court advantage they had coming into the playoffs last year.

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Injuries continue to pile up for Orlando Magic since the 2019/20 NBA season resume. The latest Magic player heading to the sidelines is Aaron Gordon, who suffered a strained hamstring in Wednesday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors.

The 24-year-old starting forward got injured early in the third quarter following a foul by Raptors’ guard Kyle Lowry. Gordon cut to the basket and was about to dunk when Lowry jumped into his knees in an attempt to stop him.

Gordon had to exit the game and didn’t get back, while Lowry was handed a flagrant 1 foul.

Luckily for Magic, Aaron Gordon might not be out of action for too long. The MRI showed no structural damage, and he might even be back on the court this week. Gordon’s official status is “day-to-day” according to the team’s recent announcement. 

Gordon was one of Magic’s best players in recent years, and he quietly had a solid season in 2019/20. So far, he was averaging 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game.

Orlando Magic currently finds themselves as the No.8 seed in the East with a 32-37 record. However, they have a chance to advance to No.7 and avoid first round against Milwaukee Bucks, as they are just half a game behind Brooklyn Nets on No.7.

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A rising young player for the Orlando Magic, Jonathan Issac, suffered a torn ACL on Sunday during a game in which the Magic defeated the Sacramento Kings 132-116.

The Orlando power forward appeared to land awkwardly while planting his foot to get by two defenders.

The injury was confirmed to be a torn ACL after an MRI was performed after the game. A significant loss for a young team that’s just starting to build chemistry, Isaac has proven to be a real difference-maker on the defensive side of the ball.

He has shown steady improvement on offense as well this year. In just his third season in the league, the power forward is averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game, all career highs, despite being hampered by injuries all season.

Isaac missed 31 games before the season was shut down temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The injury that he was dealing with earlier was related to the same knee that he injured on Sunday.

Considering the seriousness of the ACL injury, there’s a good chance that the 22-year-old forward could also miss a majority of the 2020-2021 season, which is set to kick off in December.

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DeMar DeRozan’s time with San Antonio Spurs might be coming to an end. According to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Conner, Spurs are considering trading DeRozan if he doesn’t sign an extension before the trade deadline with Orlando Magic emerging as a possible partner.

DeRozan can become a free agent next summer if he declines a $27.7 million player option, which he is expected to do if he doesn’t sign a long term deal with San Antonio. This isn’t a likely option at the moment, as The Athletic’s Sam Amick recently reported that the two sides were far away in terms during the negotiations in the offseason.

Spurs will not risk losing DeRozan on the free market, so they will make him available before the All-Star weekend. If that happens, Magic will make an offer according to multiple sources close to the organization. Orlando is reportedly looking to get more scoring and see the 30-year-old as a viable option.

DeRozan hasn’t opened the season in great fashion, as he is averaging 19.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. This is a notable drop from the previous season when he had 21.2 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.

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