1996–97 Orlando Magic season

The 1996–97 Orlando Magic season was the eighth season for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association.^[1] After losing All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers during the off-season, the Magic acquired Felton Spencer from the Utah Jazz,^[2][3][4] and signed free agents Gerald Wilkins,^[5][6][7] Derek Strong,^[8][9] and Danny Schayes.^[10] However, after only playing just one game for the team, Spencer was then traded along with Donald Royal, and Jon Koncak to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Rony Seikaly.^[11][12][13]

Early into the regular season, the Magic traveled overseas to Tokyo, Japan to play two games against the New Jersey Nets at the Tokyo Dome. In the first game on November 7, 1996, the Magic were the road team and defeated the Nets by a score of 108–85; Penny Hardaway led the team with 23 points, while Wilkins scored 18 points off the bench.^[14][15][16] In the second game on November 8, the Magic were the home team and defeated the Nets by a score of 86–82; Hardaway led the team with 29 points, while Horace Grant finished with a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds.^[17][18][19] Each game recorded an attendance of 38,639 at the Tokyo Dome.^[16][19]

With the addition of Seikaly, Wilkins and Strong, the Magic got off to an 8–4 start to the regular season in November, but then struggled losing ten of their twelve games in December, falling below .500 in winning percentage with a 10–16 record at the end of the month. However, the team won 11 of their 15 games in January, and later on held a 24–20 record at the All-Star break.^[20] The team posted a five-game losing streak after the All-Star break, as head coach Brian Hill was fired 49 games into the season, and Hardaway was generally blamed for leading a player revolt that resulted in his dismissal; Hill was replaced with assistant coach Richie Adubato as an interim coach for the remainder of the season.^[21][22][23] Under Adubato, the Magic posted a six-game winning streak in February, and finished in third place in the Atlantic Division with a 45–37 record, earning the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.^[24]

Hardaway averaged 20.5 points, 5.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, despite only playing 59 games due to knee injuries,^[25][26][27] while Seikaly averaged 17.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and Grant provided the team with 12.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. In addition, three-point specialist Dennis Scott contributed 12.5 points per game, and led the Magic with 147 three-point field goals, and Nick Anderson provided with 12.0 points and 1.9 steals per game, along with 143 three-point field goals, but struggled shooting just .404 in free-throw percentage. Off the bench, Wilkins contributed 10.6 points per game, while Strong averaged 8.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, Brian Shaw provided with 7.2 points and 4.1 assists per game, and Darrell Armstrong contributed 6.1 points and 2.6 assists per game.^[28]

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Hardaway was selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Hardaway scored 19 points along with 2 steals, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 132–120.^[29][30][31] Seikaly finished tied in twelfth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Grant finished tied in sixth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting.^[32]

In the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1997 NBA playoffs, the Magic faced off against their in-state rivals, the 2nd–seeded and Atlantic Division champion Miami Heat, who were led by All-Star guard Tim Hardaway, All-Star center Alonzo Mourning, and Jamal Mashburn. Prior to the playoffs, Grant was out due to a season-ending wrist injury, and was replaced with Strong as the team's starting power forward.^[33][34][35] The Magic lost the first two games to the Heat on the road at the Miami Arena, which included a 35-point margin loss in Game 1 by a score of 99–64, in which the Magic struggled only shooting .306 in field-goal percentage.^[36][37][38] In Game 3 at home at the Orlando Arena, despite the Heat leading by 20 points early in the second quarter, and losing Seikaly for the rest of the series due to a foot injury, the Magic won the game by a score of 88–75, in which Penny Hardaway scored 42 points.^[39][40][41] The Magic won Game 4 over the Heat at home, 99–91 to even the series, as Hardaway scored 41 points.^[42][43][44] However, the Magic lost Game 5 to the Heat at the Miami Arena, 91–83, thus losing in a hard-fought five-game series.^[45][46][47] As of 2026, this was the only NBA playoff matchup between both teams from Florida.

The Magic finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 711,311 at the Orlando Arena during the regular season.^[28][48] Following the season, Scott was involved in controversy after a public outburst at a youth basketball camp in Sterling, Virginia during the off-season, in which he threatened to retire from the NBA due to a contract dispute with the Magic;^[49][50][51] he was later on traded to the Dallas Mavericks after seven seasons in Orlando.^[52][53][54] Meanwhile, Shaw was traded to the Golden State Warriors,^[55][56][57] and Adubato was fired as head coach.^[58]