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Led by Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, the Orlando Magic had the ingredients for a dynasty, or at least an extended stronghold of the Eastern Conference.
When this partnership blossomed, the team went to the 1995 NBA Finals. The following year, they won 60 games. If not for Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon, who knows what heights the Magic franchise could have reached back in the 90s.
O’Neal and Hardaway were both head and shoulders above everyone at their position. They had youth, talent, and a solid supporting cast. But the promise fell short when the dominant center decided to leave Orlando for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now long-retired, Shaquille O’Neal admitted in his own Hall of Fame press conference that he still thinks about the “what-ifs” for his Magic team, per Jay King's article for MassLive.com.
“I think about it all the time. I think about it all the time. But everything is predicated on winning. So if we would have won that first Finals in Houston then it definitely would have been different.”
O’Neal believes that Hardaway could have been his Kobe Bryant in Orlando and attain similar success with what they had in Los Angeles.
“The outcome probably would have been similar, because I would have stayed with Penny and he would have had less stress on his body, which would have prolonged his career. And we probably would have had two or three (titles). Easily.”
It’s hard to dispute. In their final season together, Penny Hardaway was an All-NBA First Team member, and Shaquille O’Neal was “pretty dominant” himself. They also had very solid veterans completing their starting lineup in Nick Anderson, Dennis Scott, and Horace Grant.
But had the Magic been that strong, would they have been seen by Michael Jordan as another serious challenge that the competitor in him would have prevented Jordan from retiring? That would have been a major monkey wrench for Orlando, but also a treat to every NBA fan during that time.
