How the Orlando Magic Lost Orlando

The Orlando Magic is in the past.



My past. And in Orlando’s past.



We are going on a personal level before branching out and explaining the issue currently plaguing this team. I have been broken-hearted many times while following this franchise. I have survived them all. Shaq leaving, Penny leaving, Brian Hill losing his job (twice), Tracy McGrady quitting, Steve Francis quitting, Nick Anderson’s free throw fiasco, our 2009 Finals Game 4 meltdown against the Lakers, the stupid trade of Mobley, Doug Christie not even trying are among the low points in the franchises’ history. And the less we talk about Grant Hill, the better. And I do this because there are plenty of wonderful moments in our history, like defeating the 95 Bulls, making the 1995 NBA Finals, having the incredible 95-96 team that won 60 games, Howard winning the Dunk Contest, defeating LeBron James, beating the Celtics in Game 7 IN Boston, and of course we have our 2009 NBA Finals appearance. Let’s also throw in defeating Shaq in Orlando on his first return trip after leaving the team.

Yet, right now I feel more separated from the Magic than ever before. And it’s not just the losing, it’s just the lack of light at the end of the tunnel. It’s the lack of good news. It’s the lack of faith that I have in the franchise. After the tanking (Which I am extremely against), after the dumb firings, I just don’t have anything invested in this team anymore. There’s nothing left to salvage from the falling out with Dwight Howard. Even the players that show some sign of potential comes with the side effect of potentially losing them in the near future.

I used to memorize the schedule of the Orlando Magic when I was growing up. I used to know the entire roster front and back. I had the t-shirts, I went to the games. I was there, 100% invested. And the investment remained long after Shaq was gone (As did the city of Orlando, and I have this clip as evidence), when we had the Heart and Hustle period, when McGrady infused some life to the team, and even during the this-eventually-will-fade Steve Francis days.

But after the free agency parade of will he/won’t he rumors and Dwight’s eventual departure, we are left with a team that did not have any sort of backup plan. And to this day, it still feels like there isn’t a backup plan. We have one of the best basketball arenas in the entire country but no team with a personality to prove it. There is no image the Magic portrays. There is no style, no gimmick, no leader, nothing. The Orlando Magic are just a handful of guys playing together. There is no pulse. We are 22-52, yet still feel like dozens of years away from being a contending team-----and we are in the pisspoor eastern conference.

We are instead inches away from becoming a soccer-only town, and this never would have been predicted five years ago. Attendance in the Amway Center is down over 2,000 people a game this season, and I am not including the season ticket holders that stopped showing up. We have slipped from 9th in attendance to 22nd in attendance---and this is with a city that has a metropolitan population of over 2 million and receive 50+ million visitors a year. Orlando and the Magic are no longer connected like before, the fanbase is tired of the losing and incoherent decisions, and is jumping ship at an alarming rate. Do we even have a true face of the franchise right now?

It is going to take a lot more than just winning to win the fans back. Orlando City drew 50,000+ on a night that the Magic were playing. This is a very ugly sign. We need assurance that there is a future. We need assurance that there is going to be a plan. And overall, we need assurance that we will reach into the free agency and try to draw in some good talent. Or, at the very least pull off the Atlanta Hawks strategy and build a system that allows everyone to play a part and contribute to a daily win. With that we need a new coach, we need a new GM, and we need to shake things up in the Magic organization.

The Orlando Magic may someday rise to its previous years of success and excitement. I just don’t see it now, nor do I see it in the near future. Right now, we are witnessing a mediocre team run by a mediocre franchise playing in a beautiful arena half-full of fans wanting at least some hope--in a city that is too vibrant and too alive to not sell-out a building that houses 18,000.

And that’s a terrible shame............