Nikola Vucevic Appreciation Thread

[Max Power]

I think retiring Vucevic’s jersey is appropriate, maybe not his number, that could be reserved for guys who lead the Magic to a championship. But having a jersey with his name on it works.

I’ll say I’m not much of a statue guy, that needs to be reserved for the MJ’s Magic and Birds of the league. The Magic’s history isn’t quite rich enough for that.

As for the fringe AllStar remark by the last poster...a 2x allstar isn’t fringe, that’s AllStar. If we’re talking fringe, Hedo Turkoglu comes to mind. He should have been a couple times in Orlando but just didn’t happen.

[thelead]

This discussion has gotten beyond ridiculous and become embarrassing. I hope fans from other teams don't read this crazy statue talk. Even retiring his jersey sounds crazy to me. He was here for 7 years and never won anything. If Penny Hardaway doesn't have a retired jersey, why should Vuc???

[RookieStar]

LOL.. I get the retiring jersey but the statue? People are really serious about that? As someone who liked Vuc, there is no way will I agree that he should have a statue for him. Bobble-head figurine sure but a freaking statue like MJ???

[BadMofoPimp]

Vooch proved em wrong tonight winning the game for the Bulls going 32pts 17rbds 5ast with 4-7 from 3.

[tiderulz]

Vooch proved em wrong tonight winning the game for the Bulls going 32pts 17rbds 5ast with 4-7 from 3.

since they traded for him, wouldn't he be proving them...right?

[MoMM]

This discussion has gotten beyond ridiculous and become embarrassing. I hope fans from other teams don't read this crazy statue talk. Even retiring his jersey sounds crazy to me. He was here for 7 years and never won anything. If Penny Hardaway doesn't have a retired jersey, why should Vuc???

Different situations, Penny forced his way out, Vuc doesn't. I love Penny and he is one of the reasons that I root for Orlando, but ownership maybe doesn't see him as a loyal person and that's why they didn't retire his jersey. Other players could have it retired as well like Nick and Darrell, but it seems that we will only retire when we get a championship by 2030.

As for a statue, no comments, it's WAY too much.

[tiderulz]

This discussion has gotten beyond ridiculous and become embarrassing. I hope fans from other teams don't read this crazy statue talk. Even retiring his jersey sounds crazy to me. He was here for 7 years and never won anything. If Penny Hardaway doesn't have a retired jersey, why should Vuc???

Different situations, Penny forced his way out, Vuc doesn't. I love Penny and he is one of the reasons that I root for Orlando, but ownership maybe doesn't see him as a loyal person and that's why they didn't retire his jersey. Other players could have it retired as well like Nick and Darrell, but it seems that we will only retire when we get a championship by 2030.

As for a statue, no comments, it's WAY too much.

i will say, i would see a statue for Penny before Vuc. Penny was considered a top player in the NBA while in Orlando and also helped take Orlando to the finals. If Vuc had been here 12-15 years, then maybe i see it. but just being a loyal player doesnt deserve a statue in my eyes

[MoMM]

This discussion has gotten beyond ridiculous and become embarrassing. I hope fans from other teams don't read this crazy statue talk. Even retiring his jersey sounds crazy to me. He was here for 7 years and never won anything. If Penny Hardaway doesn't have a retired jersey, why should Vuc???

Different situations, Penny forced his way out, Vuc doesn't. I love Penny and he is one of the reasons that I root for Orlando, but ownership maybe doesn't see him as a loyal person and that's why they didn't retire his jersey. Other players could have it retired as well like Nick and Darrell, but it seems that we will only retire when we get a championship by 2030.

As for a statue, no comments, it's WAY too much.

i will say, i would see a statue for Penny before Vuc. Penny was considered a top player in the NBA while in Orlando and also helped take Orlando to the finals. If Vuc had been here 12-15 years, then maybe i see it. but just being a loyal player doesnt deserve a statue in my eyes

I'd dare to say that if not for Penny+Shaq, we wouldn't have a NBA team in Orlando anymore.

[VFX]

This discussion has gotten beyond ridiculous and become embarrassing. I hope fans from other teams don't read this crazy statue talk. Even retiring his jersey sounds crazy to me. He was here for 7 years and never won anything. If Penny Hardaway doesn't have a retired jersey, why should Vuc???

Agreed.

Is it good to see that he actually gave a **** about the organization and city? Yes.

He was also the number 1 option, on an option-less team, for almost a decade. This earned him allstar accolades and huge contracts that he probably wouldn’t have accrued playing alongside other all stars with competent management. He’s probably a 2nd or 3rd option on a legitimate team competing for championships.

Good luck to Vuc in Chicago. Thanks for not being a modern nba “me-first” diva. Thanks for putting up numbers on talent devoid nonsensical rosters when required.

[paperboymafia]

Different situations, Penny forced his way out, Vuc doesn't. I love Penny and he is one of the reasons that I root for Orlando, but ownership maybe doesn't see him as a loyal person and that's why they didn't retire his jersey. Other players could have it retired as well like Nick and Darrell, but it seems that we will only retire when we get a championship by 2030.

As for a statue, no comments, it's WAY too much.

i will say, i would see a statue for Penny before Vuc. Penny was considered a top player in the NBA while in Orlando and also helped take Orlando to the finals. If Vuc had been here 12-15 years, then maybe i see it. but just being a loyal player doesnt deserve a statue in my eyes

I'd dare to say that if not for Penny+Shaq, we wouldn't have a NBA team in Orlando anymore.

This.

Only reason I'm a Magic fan to this day is because of the profound effect Penny had on me as a kid. Penny & Shaq put Orlando on the map. I have zero ties to the city, why would I? I live in Switzerland lol.

[BadMofoPimp]

Penny was not well liked as a person whereas Shaq was loved by those around him. Back then I saw Shaq around often. He always had friends mainly other players around him and smiled at everyone he passed and either nodded his head or gave a whattup. Penny scowled alot, was usually by himself and quite rude to many around him off court. Because of that, I never liked Penny the person and only respected him as a player. To me, he wasn't as great as McGrady. So, why not retire McGrady's jersey? I don't see the organization retiring a jersey from someone who was known as a jerk.

[MagicStarwipe]

Penny was not well liked as a person whereas Shaq was loved by those around him. Back then I saw Shaq around often. He always had friends mainly other players around him and smiled at everyone he passed and either nodded his head or gave a whattup. Penny scowled alot, was usually by himself and quite rude to many around him off court. Because of that, I never liked Penny the person and only respected him as a player. To me, he wasn't as great as McGrady. So, why not retire McGrady's jersey? I don't see the organization retiring a jersey from someone who was known as a jerk.

Pretty unfair of you to label Penny that way. He was simply an introvert. Introverts can come off as rude or standoffish, but really they are just uncomfortable in certain situations. Everybody that was around Penny that got to know him loved him.

[MoMM]

Penny was not well liked as a person whereas Shaq was loved by those around him. Back then I saw Shaq around often. He always had friends mainly other players around him and smiled at everyone he passed and either nodded his head or gave a whattup. Penny scowled alot, was usually by himself and quite rude to many around him off court. Because of that, I never liked Penny the person and only respected him as a player. To me, he wasn't as great as McGrady. So, why not retire McGrady's jersey? I don't see the organization retiring a jersey from someone who was known as a jerk.

What about the way that McGrady forced his way out? That is a problem too! Had him waited one more year he would have played with prime D12 instead of injured Ming and maybe we would have a NBA championship nowadays.

The common issue is that all of our superstars forced to leave us, none left in good terms like Vuc did (not saying that Vuc is a superstar like Shaq, Penny, McGrady and D12 were by any means).

[MagicStarwipe]

Superstar players falling out with their original teams at some point is the norm, not the exception. For every Jordan or Nowitzki, there's ten Durants, Hardens and Lebrons. If you don't win a championship within the first 8 years things start to get a bit hairy. That's the way it's always been. And Vucevic is no superstar. He'd barely qualify as a star in most peoples criteria.

[p0peye]

Last 15 years or so, superstars usually win rings with teams they sign with as FA or get traded to. Teams building strictly through draft usually keep drafting and developing them only to trade them or watch them sign elsewhere. To me it seems logical to use all three routes: draft, trade and FA in order to build championship level team and here's hoping we do that this time.

[Max Power]

Penny Hardaway’s tenure in Orlando certainly had its ups and downs. On the court he was spectacular, but young Penny had some issues with his lack of megastar treatment and was pretty vocal about it early in his career. If I recall correctly, Penny held out the first two seasons of his career. Back before guaranteed contracts I believe. Post Shaq, it’s arguable that Nick Anderson became the best player on the team during the Chuck Daly era. Penny wasn’t really healthy after his 4th season here.

As for Tracy Mcgrady, the reasons he wanted out were the doings on John Weisbrod, who’d panned him to the media during the 03/04 season. I don’t necessarily blame Tracy, but had he been patient he’d had added Dwight and Jameer Nelson and perhaps Hedo Turkoglu and that team would have been a contender even quicker when Hill finally recovered.