Shaquille O’Neal’s legendary career started back in the summer of 1992, when he was chosen as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft. The young big man went on to dominate the league since day one and reached an overwhelming amount of accomplishment during his 19 years playing professional basketball.
Now a Hall of Famer, the 51-year-old was called to be a part of Orlando‘s 35-year celebrations as a franchise, where they decided to retire his famous No. 32 jersey. The strong center competed with the Magic for four campaigns, and was even named to his first All-Star selection and All-NBA team during this time.
Shaq has officially become the first athlete in the Florida franchise’s history to ever receive this honor, and he still can’t believe it happened. This past Tuesday, he was invited before the squad’s matchup against the Thunder to witness his jersey number be lifted to the rafters.
“Out of all the ceremonies, this is the most exciting. … At LSU, I knew it was going to happen. … The Lakers, I kind of forced it to happen. … Orlando, I never thought this day would happen. … To be the first is definitely an honor.”@Shaq on his @OrlandoMagic jersey… pic.twitter.com/W7m9aLJf3l
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 14, 2024
Even though O’Neal left the club as a young player and went onto have greater success with other teams, he left many memories in Orlando. Despite this, he admitted he was surprised to receive this honor. “You know, there’s an old saying: Never forget where you come from,” he shared during the ceremony.
“And my professional career started here. I’ve been living here mostly all my life. The fans have been hospitable. The people have been very, very hospitable. I never thought this day would happen,” Shaq added.
During the jersey retirement on Tuesday, former Magic teammates appeared on the scene to celebrate O’Neal’s career, including Dennis Scott, Nick Anderson and Penny Hardaway.
“There’s no one more deserving to be the first than Shaq,” said Alex Martins, Magic’s CEO. “Shaq put the Orlando Magic on the map. And the foundation of his Hall of Fame career started right here in Orlando.”
The 51-year-old now has three different jersey hanging around NBA arenas, including his No. 34 with the Los Angeles Lakers, as well as his No. 32 uniform with the Miami Heat.
Shaquille became only the third player to have his jersey retired by three different NBA franchises
The Hall of Famer now joins Wilt Chamberlain and Pete Maravich as the only three players to ever have three different jersey retired by NBA franchises, as there are eleven former athletes who had the same honor but only with two teams. LSU also retired his jersey as he went on to become the No. 1 NBA pick after college.
“It means that every franchise you played for, they enjoyed you,” Shaq expressed during the celebrations. “The fans enjoyed you. The people enjoyed you. They appreciated your hard work.”
The former player was seen very sentimental when talking about his time in Florida, as he knows it all started with the Magic. “Truthfully speaking, this will probably be the most impressive one,” said O’Neal, who today works as an NBA analyst.
A young Shaquille went on to play in 295 regular-season matches in Orlando, and still remains sixth in the list for all-time scorers for the club. Nevertheless, four out of the five players in front of him played at least twice as many contest for the Magic. “This is where it all started,” he concluded.
