How Popular were the 90s Orlando Magic? (Shaq & Penny ERA)

ropjhk · Post #21 » by **ropjhk** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 10:44 am

They were pretty popular. No where near Bulls level, but they were one of the trendier teams to follow.

dans1230 · Post #22 » by **dans1230** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 11:37 am

They were a fun team with alot of personality. Shaq was and is a once in a lifetime nba personality. He was the most dominant single player since Wilt, starred in movies and was a rapper. Penny was the perfect sidekick quietly dominating in his own way both on the court and off. If it werent for injuries and Shaq seeking a larger market the Magic would have multiple championships imo.

Calvin Klein · Post #23 » by **Calvin Klein** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:00 pm

VERY.

Shaq was everywhere since his rookie year, not only playing basketball but making music and movies. And then Penny joined. They were huge. I was an 11 year old kid in Argentina waiting to see Blue Chips.

FreeThrowLine · Post #24 » by **FreeThrowLine** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:20 pm

As others have said, they were extremely popular and mostly due to Shaq. Not that Penny wasn't an unbelievably talented player, but it's hard not to be overshadowed by a beast like Shaq, I remember the first 2 times he brought down the entire basketball system, I believe against the Nets and then the Suns and it was just one of those wtf moments, you're watching it and thinking this guy is not human

It was crazy to see a guy that size, with that kind of athletic/explosive ability and while I wasn't a fan, it was must watch basketball and the team was very well constructed

This will forever be one of my favourite passes of all time

Watch on YouTube

The Shaq plays I was referring to above

Watch on YouTube

EliteSmarts · Post #25 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:27 pm

Hellcrooner wrote:the nba did all that was humanly possible in their hands to market the Magic.
Hornets too but in a lower level.
If you went to a sports shop in spain around 1994 you would ONLY find Bulls/magic and hornets merchandise.
Previously you also had Lakers/celtics merchandise on store but dissapeared fast once bird and magic were no more, were explayers, cesed to be active players,berreft of game, joined the hof chore invisible.

Damn that's fascinating, didnt even know they had NBA merchadise in Spain in those days. I'm guessing 1992 Dream Team in Barcelona helped NBA popularity in Spain?

EliteSmarts · Post #26 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:27 pm

dockingsched wrote:Lakers fan here who’s first ever favorite player was Penny, first two jerseys I ever owned were Shaq’s 32 and Oenny’s 1. That was my team before there was ever a Kobe or Shaq ever came to LA.

How come you didn't become Magic fan instead of the Lakers

EliteSmarts · Post #27 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:28 pm

HomoSapien wrote:They were extremely popular, especially when Jordan was retired. They were young, brash, athletic, had a high-octane fun offense, Little Penny and Shaq were all over TV commercials, Grant's blue goggles were iconic, and those jerseys were dope as hell.

If you weren't alive in the 90s, I'm not sure if it registers how scary they were. It just seemed like a certainty that they would become a dynasty. In all honesty, it still feels remarkable to me that the Bulls were able to sweep them in 96. I've never feared an opponent as much as I feared the Magic. They very easily could have been the team that ended the Bulls championship run at 3.

Why did you fear them more than, Jazz, Sonics, Blazers or Suns or you just talking about in East?

EliteSmarts · Post #28 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:29 pm

gavran wrote:Jordan wore Penny's shoes one game. That's how popular they were.

Wow I'm shocked Jordan did that. I guess to help promote Penny Hardaway as the next superstar after Jordan and Nike gave money to Jordan to wear those shoes. Still fascinating though.

EliteSmarts · Post #29 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:31 pm

-Sammy- wrote:They were my favorite non-Spurs team and the only non-Spurs NBA team I owned gear and posters for. I caught a ton of Texas heat by cheering for them to beat a Texas team in '94.

That is super weird, esp since Rockets and Spurs were huge rivals. DRob vs Hakeem was incredible rivalry. Is this like Texas vs Everybody thing? Otherwise I don't get it.

EliteSmarts · Post #30 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 12:35 pm

trueballer7 wrote:I had some Reebok shoes of him (I believe it was the Shaq Attacks), which I liked very much, and I still remember the song from the cd they gave away with (''shoot, pass, slam''). Pivotal to my emotional development was a quote of his about how he handles a relationship once he gets bored, the great man, wise beyond his years at that time, said ''I fart and burp in front of her, so she gets disgusted by me''. Mind you, I grew up a million miles away from the States, so you can say the 90s Orlando Magic and Shaq were a global phenomenon.

Yeah someone from Spain in this thread said during that time, only Bulls, Hornets and Magic merchandise were being sold. That's very fascinating they had that type of reach.

Post #31 » by **-Sammy-** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 1:15 pm

EliteSmarts wrote:
-Sammy- wrote:They were my favorite non-Spurs team and the only non-Spurs NBA team I owned gear and posters for. I caught a ton of Texas heat by cheering for them to beat a Texas team in '94.

That is super weird, esp since Rockets and Spurs were huge rivals. DRob vs Hakeem was incredible rivalry. Is this like Texas vs Everybody thing? Otherwise I don't get it.

Well, I have a lot of family and friends in Houston, and they couldn't get their heads around why I would hate on their Rox, even after they bounced us out of the playoffs that season. I grew up in S.A. but was born in Houston, so I suppose they thought I owed the Rox some loyalty for that. Ha ha.

But yeah, Texans have a strong tendency to go for anything Texan over anything else; a few people were legitimately angry with me for wanting the Knicks to beat the Rox in the previous year's Finals.

MagicBagley18 · Post #32 » by **MagicBagley18** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 1:30 pm

Extremely popular. Shaq as big as he still is now from a commercial aspect- was even bigger. Toys, movies,video games and commercials out the ass. Just larger than life.

Penny super exciting and really fun to watch. Arena had a good atmosphere and the black pinstripe jerseys were very popular. They were really really big.

Yinwest · Post #33 » by **Yinwest** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 1:50 pm

As someone born and raised in Hong Kong, Magic and Bulls button up pants were the bomb.

Also, Air Penny’s were as popular as the Jays, no lie.

EliteSmarts · Post #34 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 1:58 pm

Yinwest wrote:As someone born and raised in Hong Kong, Magic and Bulls button up pants were the bomb.

Also, Air Penny’s were as popular as the Jays, no lie.

Incredible, another international person with Magic gear. Awesome stuff.

EliteSmarts · Post #35 » by **EliteSmarts** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 2:00 pm

-Sammy- wrote:
EliteSmarts wrote:
-Sammy- wrote:They were my favorite non-Spurs team and the only non-Spurs NBA team I owned gear and posters for. I caught a ton of Texas heat by cheering for them to beat a Texas team in '94.

That is super weird, esp since Rockets and Spurs were huge rivals. DRob vs Hakeem was incredible rivalry. Is this like Texas vs Everybody thing? Otherwise I don't get it.

Well, I have a lot of family and friends in Houston, and they couldn't get their heads around why I would hate on their Rox, even after they bounced us out of the playoffs that season. I grew up in S.A. but was born in Houston, so I suppose they thought I owed the Rox some loyalty for that. Ha ha.

But yeah, Texans have a strong tendency to go for anything Texan over anything else; a few people were legitimately angry with me for wanting the Knicks to beat the Rox in the previous year's Finals.

Lmao your friends and family are funny. Tbf, did they root for Spurs Knicks in 99, Nets 03, Pistons 05, Cavs 07 and Miami in 13 & 14?

Either way I liked that you didn't root for Rockets. Like you said the damn team bounced your team out of the playoffs and instate rival :lol:

dhsilv2 · Post #36 » by **dhsilv2** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 2:00 pm

dans1230 wrote:They were a fun team with alot of personality. Shaq was and is a once in a lifetime nba personality. He was the most dominant single player since Wilt, starred in movies and was a rapper. Penny was the perfect sidekick quietly dominating in his own way both on the court and off. If it werent for injuries and Shaq seeking a larger market the Magic would have multiple championships imo.

Wasn't just shaq in movies.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109305/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm

ImSlower · Post #37 » by **ImSlower** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 2:06 pm

I grew up in Illinois in the 80s so of course Jordan was a superhero to me. My cousin of a same age didnt get into basketball until he decided Penny was going to be better than Jordan. He had the shoes and everything. Penny and Shaq were very kid friendly with all the Lil Penny ads etc.

Statlanta · Post #38 » by **Statlanta** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 2:35 pm

EliteSmarts wrote:
HomoSapien wrote:They were extremely popular, especially when Jordan was retired. They were young, brash, athletic, had a high-octane fun offense, Little Penny and Shaq were all over TV commercials, Grant's blue goggles were iconic, and those jerseys were dope as hell.

If you weren't alive in the 90s, I'm not sure if it registers how scary they were. It just seemed like a certainty that they would become a dynasty. In all honesty, it still feels remarkable to me that the Bulls were able to sweep them in 96. I've never feared an opponent as much as I feared the Magic. They very easily could have been the team that ended the Bulls championship run at 3.

Why did you fear them more than, Jazz, Sonics, Blazers or Suns or you just talking about in East?

Probably because of 95 when they eliminated the Bulls.

Only 3 franchises have eliminated LeBron and MJ, Historic franchises like Boston and Detroit and this 90’s expansion franchise.

NW BBALL · Post #39 » by **NW BBALL** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 4:11 pm

As a 90s kids, they were extremely popular. They were young, fun to watch, marketed like crazy, and almost immediately successful early in their careers. Imagine Zion breaking backboards, making a Finals appearance, and then starring in a movie as a genie within the first few seasons of his career. It seems absurd.

The city of Orlando also seemed like the mecca for kids in the ‘90s too. You had this young basketball team with great jerseys, Walt Disney World, and Nickelodeon Studios in its prime based out of the city. I remember I wanted to go to Orlando so bad when I was a kid then. It seemed like the coolest place on earth.

trueballer7 · Post #40 » by **trueballer7** » Tue Feb 1, 2022 4:32 pm

EliteSmarts wrote:
trueballer7 wrote:I had some Reebok shoes of him (I believe it was the Shaq Attacks), which I liked very much, and I still remember the song from the cd they gave away with (''shoot, pass, slam''). Pivotal to my emotional development was a quote of his about how he handles a relationship once he gets bored, the great man, wise beyond his years at that time, said ''I fart and burp in front of her, so she gets disgusted by me''. Mind you, I grew up a million miles away from the States, so you can say the 90s Orlando Magic and Shaq were a global phenomenon.

Yeah someone from Spain in this thread said during that time, only Bulls, Hornets and Magic merchandise were being sold. That's very fascinating they had that type of reach.

Shaq was breaking rims, so he d sometimes make the actual 20:00 news here in Greece. Although we were extremely familiar with most of the NBA stuff (I had an...Ottis Thorpe poster in my bedroom), if you re talking about jerseys, it was Bulls by a lot, then a bit of Barkley, KJ for the Suns, Ewing and Starks for NW, Shaq and Penny, and Kemp and GP. Shoewise, there werent many people that could afford the Jordans. So mostly it was Reebok stuff

How popular were the Orlando Magic