Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic entered the NBA in 1989 as part of the league’s push into the fast-growing Sun Belt. A public contest settled on “Magic” — a nod to the city’s most famous neighbour, Walt Disney World, and to the broader idea of wonder and reinvention. Opened in 1971, Disney didn’t just add a theme park; it redrew Central Florida’s map. What had been citrus groves and wetlands became one of the world’s busiest tourist corridors. The name captured that shift neatly: a city conjuring a future out of sand, swamp and imagination.

Orlando’s rise had earlier roots. In the nineteenth century it was a small citrus centre, nearly undone by the great freezes of the 1890s. The Second World War brought air bases to Central Florida; McCoy Air Force Base on the city’s edge later became Orlando International (its “MCO” code still reflects the old base). The space race turned the coast east of the city into a launchpad — from Cape Canaveral to the Kennedy Space Center — tying the region to rockets as well as resorts. Disney’s 1960s land purchases and the creation of the Reedy Creek Improvement District then gave the company quasi-municipal control to build at scale, accelerating a Sun Belt boom of hotels, roads and jobs. By the 1980s, Orlando was aviation, aerospace, hospitality and show business rolled into one — so when the NBA arrived, calling the team the Magic felt obvious.

The club’s look leant into that sparkle. Early wordmarks sprinkled stars across pinstriped kits; later badges focused on a comet-like basketball, a sleek emblem for a city of lights and attractions. Blue, silver, black and white struck a balance between fantasy and polish, while a dragon mascot with a wink — Stuff — kept things suitably tongue-in-cheek.

On the court, Orlando rose fast. A year after tip-off they drafted Nick Anderson; in 1992 they won the lottery and took Shaquille O’Neal, a force of nature who changed the club overnight. The 1993 draft brought Chris Webber at No. 1, immediately traded for Penny Hardaway and future picks — a bold move that paid off in style. Shaq and Penny took the Magic to the 1995 NBA Finals with a brand of open-floor basketball that made the new franchise must-watch, even if Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets swept the series.

Shaq’s 1996 exit to Los Angeles forced a reset, but Orlando rebuilt again and found another franchise cornerstone in Dwight Howard. Under Stan Van Gundy, and with Hedo Türkoğlu, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson around him, the Magic returned to the Finals in 2009, upsetting LeBron James’s Cavaliers before falling to the Lakers. The run confirmed Orlando’s knack for landing and developing elite talent, even as the next few seasons became a protracted “Dwightmare” and another rebuild.

The modern chapter is about youth and promise. Paolo Banchero arrived as the No. 1 pick in 2022, joining Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and a group that looks built to grow together. The move from the old Orlando Arena (the O-rena) to the downtown Amway Center in 2010 symbolised the city’s next act: a refreshed core playing in a building designed for big nights, set among a skyline Disney helped draw and the aerospace coast continues to power.

The Orlando Magic are more than a basketball team. They are orange groves and rocket launches, air-base runways turned into MCO, Disney castles and Shaq-and-Penny fast breaks, Dwight’s shot-blocking and Paolo’s promise. Their badge is a sparkling basketball — a reminder that in Orlando, reinvention isn’t a trick; it’s the whole act.