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Yesterday marked 25 years since Shaq broke our hearts and left Orlando.

I still remember so many things about that day like it was yesterday.

That day all the haters won and it was the probably the worst day in Franchise History. It was the end of an Era and excitement of our youth (For those of us that were alive) that was taken away with the stroke of a pen.

Since then, The Magic have had their Stars and even got back To The NBA Finals. The Magic have had better days and the fans better memories than a lot of other teams.

When Shaq left, it was hard as I was a month from starting high school and it wasn't the best 4 years of my life.

After that though, things drastically changed for me as my teenage years were close to an end. I found out about a new website launching. First, I compared research with them and almost 21 years later and almost 40 years old (Years go by fast) here I am today.

This Anniversary sucks but I rarely think about it much today because we move on and Shaq was always going to leave no matter what. Don't buy that crap about the so-called low-ball offer or that damn poll. It only gave him the excuse but it would have happened anyway.

I made it through him winning 3 with The Lakers and saying "Can you dig it" and then going down to Miami and winning one.

I have made it through all the Heat Fans packing the Arena for Magic games and chanting "Let's go Heat" through the years.

I have made it through the years of losing as well.

The thing is, All of us although some teenagers might have missed some of those or not been alive or old enough to watch The Magic when Shaq was here have made it through that.

and then, the bad Lottery Luck that seems to be a curse of that miracle Lotto win in 1993.

Still, we are here and fans.

What more can you do to us as fans?

Other than this getting sold and moved, NOTHING.

For the past decade or so, everyone bashes this team including and I am sick and tired of it.

The Magic are in a great position because one week from Thursday they pick #5 and #8.

For everyone upset about the Top-4, how many times do the so-called Top-4 Players turn out to be the best players?

Go check Draft History like some of us have

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past-drafts

the key here is The Magic making their own luck and they well are in a position to do it.

Will WeltHam make the right picks? Who knows?

But regardless, I am excited about the future of this team and look at the playoffs this year...........

Look at the parity...............

Look at the lack of a Super Team......

If you play your cards right in this NBA, you can be back in a few years.

All this team needs is a Title to stomp out recent history.

The Magic do have to make the right moves but there is hope and sometimes that's all you need before something great happens in life.

That hole many of us feel we are in as fans was darker 25 years ago and 4 years later, The Magic landed another Star and the beginning of my time here.

There is no reason to think that things can't turn around.

Have hope everyone and to the haters living here or claiming to be Magic Fans, I've had it. Stop ********* (I typed stars and that is not the filter) on this Team.

Here is to a great Draft Night a week from Thursday.

Here, here, Howard!

I am excited for the future. I don't know what it will hold, but it is tough to see every thread being a negative vs positive argument instead of just being able to talk about the team without bashing every guy. I almost made a separate draft thread with a (No Negativity) label for it so people can debate without it turning into a ****. On the flip side, unhinged homerism and delusion with the team is just as bad, but as far as being positive about the team.. that's part of what being a fan is. We're miserable, but there is always hope.

You should see the Suns and Bucks boards after a loss. A few Suns fans said they'd rather lose in the first round than make the finals and lose like they are.. so it's hard to be truly happy as a fan unless your team wins it all, and let's be honest, we aren't going to be at that level for a few years... might as well just enjoy the process (not THE process, Sixers way lol) of seeing who can potentially become important pieces for us.

Thank you, that was cathartic. I needed this.

I'll add that the most enjoyable season for me ever was the heart and hustle team. That team was stripped down and built to lose. We hired a rookie head coach. I wasn't really aware of it at the time, but I'm pretty sure the plan was to tank that season and then come back with a high draft pick and a boatload of cash with which to chase some of the top free agents. People were arguing that they would struggle to score 70 points a night. Nobody told those players that they were supposed to lose though, and they wouldn't ultimately be eliminated from playoff contention until the final day of the regular season.

It's not difficult to see parallels between that team and this one. This team is quite a bit younger, but it isn't all that much less experienced. I know everyone expects us to be dreadful next year. We probably will be. I'm keeping an open mind though. Everyone thought Memphis was in for an extended rebuild after they traded away Conley and Gasol, but they have only improved and seem to be a franchise on the up. I'm optimistic.

Orlando as a city never quite recovered from Shaq leaving. Not saying we turned into Detroit or anything, but the glory years were definitely early to mid-90s. That's not on Shaq, though, and I'm still here as a resident.

There is no reason to think that things can't turn around.

Really? Uh, what about the last decade?

I mean, listen, I know your position is diplomatic and all, but no reason to sugarcoat to the fans.

got to keep it 100, i thought you were going a different way with this considering the thread title i got scared for a minute there...but i wholeheartedly agree

Howard Mass wrote:Yesterday marked 25 years since Shaq broke our hearts and left Orlando.

I still remember so many things about that day like it was yesterday.

That day all the haters won and it was the probably the worst day in Franchise History. It was the end of an Era and excitement of our youth (For those of us that were alive) that was taken away with the stroke of a pen.

Since then, The Magic have had their Stars and even got back To The NBA Finals. The Magic have had better days and the fans better memories than a lot of other teams.

When Shaq left, it was hard as I was a month from starting high school and it wasn't the best 4 years of my life.

After that though, things drastically changed for me as my teenage years were close to an end. I found out about a new website launching. First, I compared research with them and almost 21 years later and almost 40 years old (Years go by fast) here I am today.

This Anniversary sucks but I rarely think about it much today because we move on and Shaq was always going to leave no matter what. Don't buy that crap about the so-called low-ball offer or that damn poll. It only gave him the excuse but it would have happened anyway.

I made it through him winning 3 with The Lakers and saying "Can you dig it" and then going down to Miami and winning one.

I have made it through all the Heat Fans packing the Arena for Magic games and chanting "Let's go Heat" through the years.

I have made it through the years of losing as well.

The thing is, All of us although some teenagers might have missed some of those or not been alive or old enough to watch The Magic when Shaq was here have made it through that.

and then, the bad Lottery Luck that seems to be a curse of that miracle Lotto win in 1993.

Still, we are here and fans.

What more can you do to us as fans?

Other than this getting sold and moved, NOTHING.

For the past decade or so, everyone bashes this team including and I am sick and tired of it.

The Magic are in a great position because one week from Thursday they pick #5 and #8.

For everyone upset about the Top-4, how many times do the so-called Top-4 Players turn out to be the best players?

Go check Draft History like some of us have

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/past-drafts

the key here is The Magic making their own luck and they well are in a position to do it.

Will WeltHam make the right picks? Who knows?

But regardless, I am excited about the future of this team and look at the playoffs this year...........

Look at the parity...............

Look at the lack of a Super Team......

If you play your cards right in this NBA, you can be back in a few years.

All this team needs is a Title to stomp out recent history.

The Magic do have to make the right moves but there is hope and sometimes that's all you need before something great happens in life.

That hole many of us feel we are in as fans was darker 25 years ago and 4 years later, The Magic landed another Star and the beginning of my time here.

There is no reason to think that things can't turn around.

Have hope everyone and to the haters living here or claiming to be Magic Fans, I've had it. Stop ********* (I typed stars and that is not the filter) on this Team.

Here is to a great Draft Night a week from Thursday.

Amen to this

**** the haters (I didn't type stars, it s the filter lol)

Im always a glass half-full.kind of guy and I have to admit I was a fan during the transition from heart&hustle to the Tmac-Hill-TD ( what could have been era) so I, unlike most of you never experienced the heartache of shaq leaving.

Yet... good times are upon us with the 5th and 8th pick. I kinda believe our 8th pick player would.be more.impactful than our 5th

P.S im with killmonger.. i too though you were gonna shut down realgm or something lol

Well said, I agree.

If you want to see a more positive spin on this forum, get rid of pepe.

Some might be thinking I am joking, but the dude has been bashing/hating on our team for years, disguised as a fan. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I have been saying it constantly, but this guy literally has no other goal but to be a drama queen and stir up ****. Probably doesnt even watch the games.

I too am hoping for a new era of Magic basketball.

fateis007 wrote:Well said, I agree.

If you want to see a more positive spin on this forum, get rid of pepe.

Some might be thinking I am joking, but the dude has been bashing/hating on our team for years, disguised as a fan. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I have been saying it constantly, but this guy literally has no other goal but to be a drama queen and stir up ****. Probably doesnt even watch the games.

I too am hoping for a new era of Magic basketball.

. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I joined forum in 2016.
2015-16: 35-47 record
2016-17: 29-53
2017-18: 25-57
2018-19: 42-40
2019-20: 33-40
2020-21: 21-51

Since i joined forum, Orlando's cumulative record is 185-288 . I'm "overly critical" about team, that in that period missed playoffs 4 out of 6 times, won 2 playoff games and is doing third re-re-rebuild in 9 yeras ?
So , your cure for better forum is getting rid of every person who doesn't share your opinion ? Did you, by any mean, worked for China or North Korea in past ? Because that methods and logic and mindset most defently sounds like they belong in "red World".

Eh, pepe is needed just like you always need black and white, light and dark, etc. Although lately I've just found myself not replying to pepe when I don't have the energy to argue certain things

It's only certain discussions that annoy me now. There's only so much debating or defending of a player I can do that hasn't played a game yet or has barely started their career. I like for guys to play 3+ years for me to form opinions of where I can start doubting their abilities and future here, hence why I think this is a big year for Bamba.

SOUL wrote:Eh, pepe is needed just like you always need black and white, light and dark, etc. Although lately I've just found myself not replying to pepe when I don't have the energy to argue certain things

It's only certain discussions that annoy me now. There's only so much debating or defending of a player I can do that hasn't played a game yet or has barely started their career. I like for guys to play 3+ years for me to form opinions of where I can start doubting their abilities and future here, hence why I think this is a big year for Bamba.

I enjoy reading opinions that are pollar opposite of mine, gives you different perpsective of things.
If i want portion of " i agree" and people just clapping like mindless penguins at everything their leader says, i watch politic parties and speeches of their "great leaders"

I feel like I've grown far more pessimistic/negative lately. I was definitely not like this until about a year or two ago. But my negativity is not towards the Magic in the slightest. It's towards the NBA and it's players.

It tends to feel hopeless when teams like the Lakers, Nets, Heat, etc, get saved by stars even after being horribly run or mediocre at best while all other teams lose their superstars. The Lakers were headed nowhere fast until LeBron came and saved them.

We don't really have that luxury and you can use the Suns and Bucks as an example. Both of those teams only made it to the Finals (both of their first in decades) because of huge injuries to teams in NY and LA. It's also widely accepted that this will be both teams one and only shot at this before NY and LA take over again for years to come.

So if I seem more negative in general, it's definitely not because of the Magic. It's because of the NBA. The only thing I dislike about this current team is Bamba, but we'll see what he does with a new coach and no one likely to be in front of him besides potentially Wendell.

fateis007 wrote:Well said, I agree.

If you want to see a more positive spin on this forum, get rid of pepe.

Some might be thinking I am joking, but the dude has been bashing/hating on our team for years, disguised as a fan. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I have been saying it constantly, but this guy literally has no other goal but to be a drama queen and stir up ****. Probably doesnt even watch the games.

I too am hoping for a new era of Magic basketball.

Completely agree. I haven't posted on here in about 2 years and don't visit Realgm nearly as much as I used to, and they are honestly the main reason why. I don't expect people to be positive all the time, we've been through a really rough stretch of years and I think we all are negative about a lot of things having to do with the Magic. You nailed it about his post though, completely over the top critical of everything to the point that I'm almost sure they are trolling half the time. Any positive discussion often gets sidetracked or ruined by their negative post often time criticizing anyone else's positive opinion. I mean you can go into any thread right now and see multiple posts by them like this. It's exhausting to read and is probably a big reason why people have stopped visiting this board over the years, I know it is for me.

Again, I don't expect everyone to be positive, I think different opinions are a great thing and create interesting conversations, but this just isn't what they are doing imo. Clearly, the mods think it's fine based on their replies to your post, which is fine, they can run things however they want. I just wanted to add my two cents since it's the first thing that popped in my head as well after reading Howard's wonderful post. I guess this makes me a Communist because I don't like reading overly negative trolling, which has got to be the most MAGA response I've ever seen

Alright, I'm back to lurking. I hope everyone reads Howards post, it's great! I think the Magic are moving in the right direction and I'm excited to see the players we add in the draft to a young core being coached by an excited young coach!

pepe1991 wrote:

fateis007 wrote:Well said, I agree.

If you want to see a more positive spin on this forum, get rid of pepe.

Some might be thinking I am joking, but the dude has been bashing/hating on our team for years, disguised as a fan. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I have been saying it constantly, but this guy literally has no other goal but to be a drama queen and stir up ****. Probably doesnt even watch the games.

I too am hoping for a new era of Magic basketball.

. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I joined forum in 2016.
2015-16: 35-47 record
2016-17: 29-53
2017-18: 25-57
2018-19: 42-40
2019-20: 33-40
2020-21: 21-51

Since i joined forum, Orlando's cumulative record is 185-288 . I'm "overly critical" about team, that in that period missed playoffs 4 out of 6 times, won 2 playoff games and is doing third re-re-rebuild in 9 yeras ?
So , your cure for better forum is getting rid of every person who doesn't share your opinion ? Did you, by any mean, worked for China or North Korea in past ? Because that methods and logic and mindset most defently sounds like they belong in "red World".

Yea, calling you a troll and claiming you provide negative environment on a magic forum is equal to being a communist from North Korea. Please keep proving my point. I already know your MO, trying to always validate your arguements with some sort of stats, so I wont fall for the bait. You are cringe to read and if you don't like the team so much, is there anything better to do with your life then find a way to make people miserable on an online forum?

fateis007 wrote:

pepe1991 wrote:

fateis007 wrote:Well said, I agree.

If you want to see a more positive spin on this forum, get rid of pepe.

Some might be thinking I am joking, but the dude has been bashing/hating on our team for years, disguised as a fan. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I have been saying it constantly, but this guy literally has no other goal but to be a drama queen and stir up ****. Probably doesnt even watch the games.

I too am hoping for a new era of Magic basketball.

. Constantly being overly critical, pessimistic, and figuring out ways to debate/create turnmoil on people's opinion on anything positive or hopeful posted here.

I joined forum in 2016.
2015-16: 35-47 record
2016-17: 29-53
2017-18: 25-57
2018-19: 42-40
2019-20: 33-40
2020-21: 21-51

Since i joined forum, Orlando's cumulative record is 185-288 . I'm "overly critical" about team, that in that period missed playoffs 4 out of 6 times, won 2 playoff games and is doing third re-re-rebuild in 9 yeras ?
So , your cure for better forum is getting rid of every person who doesn't share your opinion ? Did you, by any mean, worked for China or North Korea in past ? Because that methods and logic and mindset most defently sounds like they belong in "red World".

Yea, calling you a troll and claiming you provide negative environment on a magic forum is equal to being a communist from North Korea. Please keep proving my point. I already know your MO, trying to always validate your arguements with some sort of stats, so I wont fall for the bait. You are cringe to read and if you don't like the team so much, is there anything better to do with your life then find a way to make people miserable on an online forum?

You call me troll because you don't agree with my opinion. I'm one bringing negative attitude, according to you, that's why you think you are much better by saying that i make you cringe, make people miserable and troll ?
But fight good fight, don't fall for "stats"

Man i love forums.

SOUL wrote:Eh, pepe is needed just like you always need black and white, light and dark, etc. Although lately I've just found myself not replying to pepe when I don't have the energy to argue certain things

It's only certain discussions that annoy me now. There's only so much debating or defending of a player I can do that hasn't played a game yet or has barely started their career. I like for guys to play 3+ years for me to form opinions of where I can start doubting their abilities and future here, hence why I think this is a big year for Bamba.

i'm fine with people holding opinions that are different than others, thats what these types of forums are for. i dont like people acting they know more than anyone else and stating it as such. I also dont like people putting out things personally, thus i dont engage with certain people anymore.

thankfully, we only have a few people left here that post as if they know 1,000 times more about basketball (or any topic for that matter) more than anyone else and acts with that superiority.

and I also hate the people that $%#@$ on everything about the Magic seeing nothing with any possible optimism. if its that bad, in my opinion, leave to to either the team board of a team that you like or just do something else. That is a bad mental state to be in all the time. UNLESS, that is your aim and that is why you are doing it. I lived in Orlando from 95-2000. My wife graduated from UCF, i worked the Ale House on Kirkman, opened Emerils restaurant at Universal. moved away and havent been back, but i just dont feel the pull to any other NBA team, even now currently living in Atlanta for my 2nd time. Took my wife to her first NBA game in Orlando (and laughed as she asked where were the people telling you what was going on, on the court. you know the TV Announcers ). I do wonder what causes people to spend the effort and energy to come on this board daily to #$#^ on the team and everything about it.

i feel a contrarian is always needed for balance, sort of provides perspective in a macro sense if that makes any sense but there are some here that does make you wonder if they are actually a fan of this team i can't lie and if they are a fan it then makes me wonder if they're a glutton for pain....for me personally if i dislike something to that degree i would feel like it's necrotic and excise myself from it or it from me....why stick around and let it spread?

We need one of these young guys from the last few years and this and the next draft to hit, and hit big.

I am putting my chips on Hampton and Isaac. Still have hope for Bamba and Fultz, and love the outlook for this draft. This team could be amazing if everything breaks right. I know, i know, it's the hope that kills you.

jonbob17 wrote:We need one of these young guys from the last few years and this and the next draft to hit, and hit big.

I am putting my chips on Hampton and Isaac. Still have hope for Bamba and Fultz, and love the outlook for this draft. This team could be amazing if everything breaks right. I know, i know, it's the hope that kills you.

I agree. unfortunately, i cant put my hopes on Isaac until he can play a season fairly injury free. I think he provides very good defense but is still a project on offense and might need to change his role to more rim defender than all over the court defender. might put less torque and stress on his legs that keep breaking down