July 18, 1996: Shaquille O'Neal signs as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. This ends his 4-season tenure with the Orlando Magic, and also ends what could have been a golden era for the Magic.
Founded in 1989, the Magic struggled in their 1st 3 seasons, as expansion teams tend to do in sports, including in the NBA. But they got to .500 in their 4th season, which was O'Neal's rookie season. And it was an epic season: The enormous "Shaq" was blasting through opponents, and even destroying backboards with his dunks. Not only did he shatter 2, but he actually brought down a reinforced backboard against the New Jersey Nets at the Meadowlands.
They finished 41-41, but didn't make the Playoffs. They drafted guard Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway, and he formed a terrific rotating backcourt with original '89 Magic player Nick Anderson, Scott Skiles and Dennis Scott. They made the Playoffs in 1994.
General manager Pat Williams and head coach Brian Hill kept working. Hill moved Scott to small forward, and Williams traded for Chicago Bulls power forward Horace Grant. In 1995, the Magic went 50-32, eliminated the Boston Celtics from the Playoffs, beat the Bulls in spite of the return of Michael Jordan, and beat the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In the franchise's 6th season, its 3rd with Shaq, and its 2nd with Penny, they were in the NBA Finals. They were swept in 4 straight by the defending Champions, the Houston Rockets, but they extended Game 1 in Orlando to overtime, and only lost Game 3 in Houston by 3 points. They were not far from making it a good series.
In 1995-96, they went 60-22, winning the NBA's Atlantic Division. Only the Bulls, with Jordan fully back, at a record 72-10, and the Western Conference-leading Seattle SuperSonics, at 64-18, had a better record. And when the Magic swept the Detroit Pistons in 3 straight, and then beat theAtlanta Hawks 4 games to 1, nobody expected the Eastern Conference Finals between Da Bulls and the Magic to be easy for either side.
But the Bulls blew the Magic out in Game 1 in Chicago, 121-83. There was hope in Game 2, as the Magic led 64-46, But the Bulls came back, and won, 93-88. Game 3 in Orlando was a wipeout, an 86-67 Bulls win, and the sweep was completed, 106-101.
Still, there was lots of reason to hope. Shaq was 24. Penny was about to turn 25. They were 2 of the 10 best players in basketball. The Magic had as much chance as Patrick Ewing's New York Knicks or Reggie Miller's Pacers to dethrone the Bulls in the East.
But Shaq was a free agent. He said the team "just didn't respect (Hill)." He also compared his lack of privacy in Orlando to "feeling like a big fish in a dried-up pond." He also learned that Penny considered himself the leader of the team, and didn't want Shaq making more money than him.
So, on July 18, 1996, Shaq signed a 7-year, $121 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers. He said the money wasn't the issue: "I'm tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok." Sounds like it was about the money to me.
With Shaq gone, and Penny missing one-quarter of the games due to injury, the Magic went 45-37 in 1997, and lost in the 1st Round to their cross-State rivals, the Miami Heat. Penny missed all but 19 games in 1997-98, and they went 41-41 and missed the Playoffs. He played all 50 games in the strike-shortened 1998-99 season, and the Magic went 33-17, but, again, they lost in the 1st Round, to the Philadelphia 76ers. In mid-season, Hill was fired. After that season, Penny was traded to the Phoenix Suns, and the Magic went into rebuilding mode. What could have been a Golden Age fell well short, and was now over.
Shaq and Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to 3 straight NBA Championships, 2000, '01 and '02. The Magic didn't get back to the Finals until 2009, losing to the Lakers, now led by Kobe without Shaq.
UPDATE: The Magic have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1995 Eastern Conference Champions, they have honored center Shaquille O'Neal, guards Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and Nick Anderson, forward Dennis Scott, head coach Brian Hill, founding owner Richard DeVos, founding general manager Pat Williams, founding executive Jim Hewitt, and original broadcaster David Steele.
From their 2009 Eastern Conference Champions, they have honored center Dwight Howard. From in between those Finals berths, they have honored guards Darrell Armstrong and Tracy McGrady, and general manager John Gabriel.
Williams, Anderson and McGrady have also been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame.
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July 18, 1996 was a Thursday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 16-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Scott Karl outpitched Dwight Gooden. Fernando Viña went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Rookie Derek Jeter went 0-for-2 before being replaced. Rubén Sierra went 3-for-4 with an RBI.
* The New York Mets lost to the Montreal Expos, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. Pedro Martínez outpitched Pete Harnisch. Henry Rodríguez and Cliff Floyd homered for the Expos, Todd Hundley for the Mets.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 6-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. David Wells outpitched Aaron Sele. Cal Ripken went 1-for-5.
* The Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-0 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Kevin Brown pitched a 3-hit shutout.
* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 5-4 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Rafael Bournigal singled Terry Steinbach home with the winning run in the top of the 11th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 3-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 9-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. John Flaherty, Steve Finley and Ken Caminiti hit home runs. Rickey Henderson went 2-for-5. Tony Gwynn did not play, but his brother Chris Gwynn went 1-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBIs.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the California Angels, 15-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Ken Griffey Jr. went 2-for-4 with a walk and 4 RBIs. Alex Rodriguez went 4-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs. Jay Buhner went 2-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs.
* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 8-3 at 3Com Park (as Candlestick Park in San Francisco was known at the time). Hideo Nomo outpitched Shawn Estes. Eric Karros and Mike Busch homered; in Busch's case, a grand slam. For the Giants, Matt Williams homered, while Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk.
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