Dwight Howard Says The Magic Should Have Retired His Jersey Before Shaquille O'Neal's
Shaquille O’Neal will become the first player to have his jersey retired by the Orlando Magic on February 13 this year, and Dwight Howard believes he should have been the one to get that honor. On the All Stars podcast, Howard said his jersey should have been the first to be retired.
“The Magic have finally just decided to retire Shaq’s jersey,” Howard said on the All-Stars Podcast. “And how many years did Shaq play with Orlando? Four years. So that’s kind of crazy. I played there for nine years and what we did in Orlando — no offense to Shaq, he should have his jersey retired — but I should’ve been the first one to have his jersey retired.”
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Howard isn’t making a whole lot of sense with what he said here. Sure, the 38-year-old has a case to be regarded as the greatest player in Magic history over O’Neal, but that doesn’t mean his jersey should be the first to be retired.
What’s more, Howard hasn’t announced his retirement just yet. He is currently playing for Strong Group Athletics, a Philippines-based team, and still hopes to get an opportunity in the NBA. Were the Magic just supposed to wait for his retirement and then hang his number up in the rafters before anyone else’s?
They have anyway taken a bit too long to retire O’Neal’s No. 32 jersey. The big man retired in 2011 and had his jersey retired by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013 and then the Miami Heat in 2016.
You could argue whether he deserved this honor from the Magic as he left after four seasons in 1996, and didn’t win a title with them either. Still, O’Neal was the franchise’s first big superstar and put the Magic on the map after they drafted him with the first pick of the 1992 NBA Draft.
Gilbert Arenas Said Dwight Howard Is The Greatest Player In Magic History
While Howard probably won’t find too many agreeing with him that the Magic should have retired his jersey first, plenty would agree that he did more for the franchise. Gilbert Arenas even said Howard is the greatest player in Magic history, not O’Neal.
“He (O’Neal) was only there four years,” Arenas said. “We’re not talking about Shaq’s body of work, we’re just saying Orlando, that’s four years. I mean yeah he was breaking backboards and stuff but three-time All-NBA Defensive Player of the Year, Rebounding Champ, All-Star, 6 All-NBAs. His resume is just bigger than Shaq’s in that jersey. The better player? Talent-wise of course Shaq but in that jersey, it’s Dwight.”
Howard was selected with the first pick of the 2004 NBA Draft by the Magic and would spend eight seasons with the franchise. In those seasons, he averaged 18.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.0 steals, and 2.2 blocks per game.
He achieved a fair bit on an individual level during those years, with the highlight being winning Defensive Player of the Year three years in a row from 2009 to 2011. Howard also led the Magic to the NBA Finals once in 2009, where they lost to the Lakers in five games.
As for O’Neal, he also led the Magic to the NBA Finals once in 1995, where they were swept by the Houston Rockets. He averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 2.8 blocks per game with the Magic, and also won a scoring title along the way.
Still, he didn’t quite achieve as much as Howard did, and I would rank Dwight as the greatest player in franchise history as well. His jersey will probably be the next to be retired by the Magic.
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