Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
In the Magic’s season opener in Indiana, Andrew Nicholson was a human blowtorch. He lit up the Pacers for 18 points (all in the first half) and set basketball Twitter ablaze with his scoring prowess. Nicholson unleashed his full arsenal of moves — some old, some new. A lefty hook here (old), a corner 3 there (new!), and midrange jump shots (old) everywhere. It appeared that Nicholson was primed to build off his impressive rookie campaign.
Through the first month of the season, Nicholson looked every bit like a player that was naturally progressing in his second year in the NBA. He added a 3-point shot (specifically from the corners) and he was improving as a rebounder. His defense still had a long ways to go, but that’s the case for almost any youngster in the league. Nicholson included.
Then something unexpected happened after that first month. Nicholson regressed.
Badly.
One of the biggest factors is that Nicholson stopped getting steady minutes. For players in a developmental stage, consistent playing time can have transformative effects and can help them reach their potential. And Nicholson was deprived of that.
After missing 21 of the Magic’s first 22 games of the season with a high ankle sprain, Tobias Harris returned from injury on Dec. 13 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Five days later, he was reinserted into the starting lineup at the small forward position.
At first, Nicholson was still coming off the bench as the back-up power forward. But in late December, Harris began soaking up minutes as a stretch four with the second unit. Bit by bit, Nicholson’s playing time waned.
Mar 13
A Magic dynasty and what could have been
Commentary
by Tim Sartori
at 1:10 pmPhoto by Fernando Medina/Getty Images
By the end of the 1995-96 season, it was clear the Orlando Magic had one of the youngest, most promising cores in the league — of the five guys who logged over 30 minutes per game that season, the average age of them was 26. Their past two seasons included one Finals appearance, two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, and a combined regular season record of 117-47 (.713). They also had two of the most promising young stars in the league on their roster — Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O’Neal.
Despite this, over the next four years the Orlando Magic missed the playoffs twice, and in the two seasons they did make it, failed to advance past the first round. To be fair to Orlando, it’s worth mentioning that those four years came after losing one of the most dominant players the game has ever seen.
In July 1996, Shaquille O’Neal had agreed to a seven-year deal with the Lakers, worth over $120 million.
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Shaq wasn’t the only player who signed a big deal that summer. Horace Grant had just signed a big extension with the Magic, merely days before O’Neal would sign with L.A.
Horace recently appeared on a Grantland podcast with Bill Simmons where he talked about playing with Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq himself.
Grant spoke of one particular moment from his NBA career that he wished he could re-live: he said that not long before Shaq signed with L.A, he missed a call from him, and didn’t return it until after O’Neal had agreed to the deal. Horace thought that had he answered that call, things might have played out differently, and perhaps he would have been able to convince Shaq to stay in Orlando, where they undoubtedly would have built a dynasty.
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Tags: Alonzo Mourning, Charles Barkley, Dikembe Mutombo, Horace Grant, Juwan Howard, Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Michael Jordan, Orlando Magic, Reggie Miller, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady
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