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Via the Orlando Magic:

The National Basketball Association today released its 2011-12 schedule and announced the Orlando Magic will open its 23rd season on Wednesday, November 2 at Amway Center against Charlotte. Tip-off is 7 p.m.

Orlando Magic season tickets, partial plans, group and single-game Amway Center suite rental opportunities are on sale now. Ticket highlights include: 2,500 seats priced $20 or less, 8,000 seats priced $40 or less and 9,000 seats priced $50 or under. Single-game tickets will go on sale in October. A limited number of season tickets are available through the Orlando Magic Box Office by calling 407-89-MAGIC or visiting orlandomagic.com. Fans will receive refunds, with interest, in the event games are missed because of the NBA work stoppage.

Orlando opens training camp on October 4 at Amway Center. The Magic’s complete regular season schedule is available through their official website: orlandomagic.com. The entire NBA schedule can be found on the league’s official website: NBA.com.

The 61st NBA All-Star Game will be played on Sunday, February 26 at Amway Center, which will also host the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam on Friday, February 24 and NBA All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm on Saturday, February 25. NBA All-Star Jam Session presented by adidas, the hugely successful interactive basketball celebration, will be held at the Orange County Convention Center.

On March 7-8, Orlando will travel to London, England for a pair of regular season games against the New Jersey Nets. Both games will be played at London’s O2 Arena. It marks the second time in franchise history that the Magic will have regular season games scheduled outside of the United States. In 1996-97, Orlando also played New Jersey in a pair of contests in Tokyo, Japan.

Orlando has 14 national television games scheduled. The Magic will appear once on ABC (February 19 @ Miami), five times on ESPN and eight times on TNT.

The Magic’s local broadcast schedule will be released at a later date.

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Shaq!

Ahhh.

He’s the greatest in the universe.

Okay, maybe the last sentence isn’t true but there’s no question that Shaquille O’Neal, now retired, goes down as one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball. And at his zenith, it’s hard to argue that O’Neal wasn’t as good if not better than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and others in the pantheon of great centers. Was O’Neal better than any of them overall? It’s hard to say, and that’s another discussion altogether.

O’Neal used his size and strength to rule the NBA in his prime and even though he carved out his legacy with the Los Angeles Lakers from 1997 to 2004, winning three championships in a row and earning a multitude of individual awards (he won a fourth title with the Miami Heat in 2006), his legend began with the Orlando Magic and that can’t be overlooked.

Although O’Neal left the Magic on bad terms in the summer of 1996, admitting in his retirement press conference on June 3 that he partly left for selfish reasons (also because the Lakers offered more money originally), it can’t be denied that he put the franchise and the city of Orlando on the map. The Magic were nothing more than bottom-feeders but when O’Neal arrived, everything changed, and they became not only winners but one of the most popular teams in the NBA. Ask many fans why they began rooting for Orlando and it’s not uncommon to hear the reasoning — because of O’Neal. The Magic never won a title during O’Neal’s four-year tenure with the team but his impact was undeniable.

For that, Magic Basketball reflects on O’Neal’s career.

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What was Shaq’s most impressive NBA performance?

Nate Drexler: When Shaq dropped 61 on the Clippers in 2000, he took “beast mode” to a whole new level. Was it a throw-away game against a throw-away team? Sure, but considering he did not have the luxury of a three point shot and tacked on 23 rebounds in the process, this was one of the most mind-blowing performances of his career. Now consider this: it only took Shaq 35 shots to get his 61 points. There was absolutely no stopping the big man on that night.

Eddy Rivera: I think most Shaquille O’Neal enthusiasts would cite his 61-point, 23-rebound destruction of the Los Angeles Clippers on his birthday, en route to his lone MVP of his career during the 1999-2000 season, as his most impressive. That was O’Neal at his most majestic, but also at his most ruthless. The Clippers’ pitiful frontcourt of Michael Olowokandi, Pete Chilcutt, and Anthony Avent stood no chance against O’Neal’s superior touch, strength, and footwork. And though I’ve only seen bits and pieces of this game, O’Neal’s triple-double against the New Jersey Nets in 1994 still boggles my mind to this day — 24 points, 28 rebounds, and 15 blocks.

Matt Scribbins: In 1999-2000, Shaq led the NBA in scoring (29.7 PPG), had the most defensive win shares, and was named MVP of the All-Star Game and regular season. For a curtain call, he led the Lakers to a title and was named Finals MVP. His playoff numbers: 43.5 MPG, 30.7 PPG, 15.4 RBG. I’m shaking. Seriously, is it possible to have a better season?

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Via the Orlando Magic:

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, winner of the last three Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards, headlines the NBA All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced today. Howard totaled 56 points overall, including 27 First Team votes.

Howard earned the 2010-11 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, becoming the first player to win the award three straight seasons. He led the league with 66 double-doubles, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 rpg) and fourth in blocks (2.38 bpg). He recorded at least 1,000 rebounds and 100 blocked shots for the sixth straight year; since blocked shots were officially tracked in 1973-74, only Moses Malone has done it more (seven seasons). With Howard manning the middle, the [Orlando] Magic allowed 93.5 ppg, ranking fourth in that category.

Also selected to the All-Defensive First Team are guard Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics (39 points), forward LeBron James of the Miami Heat (38 points), forward Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics (33 points) and guard Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers (33 points). Garnett and Bryant each earn All-Defensive First Team honors for the ninth time, tying Michael Jordan and Gary Payton for the most in NBA history.

The NBA All-Defensive Second Team consists of guards Tony Allen of the Memphis Grizzlies and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets, center Tyson Chandler of the Dallas Mavericks, forward Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers and forward-center Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls.

The voting panel consisted of the NBA’s 30 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not permitted to vote for players from their own team. Two points were awarded for a First Team vote and one point was awarded for a Second Team vote.

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Via Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel:

A week has passed since the Orlando Magic exited the playoffs with a Game 6 first-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks.

Haven’t gotten over it?

Neither has the Magic’s chief executive officer, Bob Vander Weide.

“We didn’t get to our goal, so it’ll take me a while and I’ll deal with it,” Vander Weide said today.

“As we get prepared to get through the summer and some of the business issues, we’ve got to keep thinking how do we get better and how do we improve this club and how do we not fall short of our goals? Everyone that works for the Magic feels the same way. We never, ever thought we’d be out in the first round. No, I’m not over it and I won’t be for a while.”

Magic fans would nod their heads in agreement.

The expectation entering the season for the Orlando Magic was to avenge last year’s series defeat in the 2010 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics and try to make their way back to the Finals.

With the Miami Heat and Celtics jostling for supremacy in the East, as well as the Chicago Bulls in retrospect, there was an understanding that the task at hand was going to be difficult but no one expected the Magic to lose in the first round of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

Nevertheless, that’s what happened. Now Orlando has to pick up the pieces.

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Via ESPN.com:

Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose is the youngest Most Valuable Player award-winner in the history of the NBA.

The 22-year-old Rose was officially announced as MVP on Tuesday after leading the Bulls to a 62-20 record and No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Rose finished with 113 first-place votes and 1,182 total points. The [Orlando] Magic‘s Dwight Howard finished second with three first-place votes and 643 points. The Heat’s LeBron James was third with 522 points, including four first-place votes, and the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was fourth with 428 points and one first-place vote.

The Chicago-born point guard had a breakout third season, averaging 25 points, 7.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds. After a summer with the U.S. National team, Rose made a significant leap.

During the Bulls’ media day in September, Rose wondered aloud in front of the media why he couldn’t win the MVP award. Eight months later, Rose answered his own question.