Nick Anderson: Greatest Magic Player Of All Time

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Nick Anderson named greatest Magic player of all time - Link

 

 

The first draft pick in the history of the Orlando Magic is also the team’s greatest player.

 

Nick Anderson soundly defeated Shaquille O’Neal in the championship matchup of our 64-player Orlando Magic bracket buster to decide – once and for all – who the greatest player in the 25-year history of the franchise is.

 

For the past three weeks OrlandoSentinel.com reader have voted round-by-round for each of the 63 matchups in our bracket – and when the dust settled, the team’s second all-time leading scorer came out on top.

 

According to a non-scientific poll, the readers of the Orlando Sentinel have named Anderson the greatest Magic player of all time. Of course, this doesn't mean much, and several people here may disagree, and point to more skilled, more athletic and exciting players like Shaq, T-Mac and Penny (not to mention Dwight still thinks his jersey should be retired), but there are also several members here who would support Anderson's jersey being retired.

 

Yes, we've discussed this on the forum before, and our own Fan Voice blogger (Live or Die Magic) wrote a great piece in support of retiring Anderson's jersey several years ago (yes, several, where does the time go). If you haven't read it, or just want to check it out again, here's a link:

 

Fan Voice - A Case for #25

 

Now it seems like Anderson has the support of the community, and with the team celebrating it's 25th year in the league, maybe the time is right to pull the trigger and celebrate our first draft pick for everything he brought to this team all those years ago.

 

What do you think?

[Emory889 353]

I'm in favor of retiring Nick's jersey. Between him being our first draft pick, his very solid career here, and his impact in the community, I believe he has earned that. But to call him the greatest player in Magic history....that is batcrap insane. He MIGHT be the 5th best player in Magic history.

[TrustInHenny 14]

I'm in favor of retiring Nick's jersey. Between him being our first draft pick, his very solid career here, and his impact in the community, I believe he has earned that. But to call him the greatest player in Magic history....that is batcrap insane. He MIGHT be the 5th best player in Magic history.

All of this.

[Fultz4thewin 2,464]

No to retiring his jersey. You retire the numbers of pinnacle players in the sport.

[Soul Bro 1,422]

To call him the greatest player in Magic history....that is batcrap insane. He MIGHT be the 5th best player in Magic history.

 

Hahaha!!!

[penny4ever 1]

First round : Oladipo > Hardaway

 

:shard:/> :svgsad:/>

[Stu Bronsilino 313]

in one of these hall of fame articles I read that they have some criteria to retire a jersey and no player has met it. Do we know what that is?

[Janders 102]

in one of these hall of fame articles I read that they have some criteria to retire a jersey and no player has met it. Do we know what that is?

On David Baumann's show the other night, apparently Pat Williams told him that the criteria was to play for the team 10+ years and to make multiple all-star games (didn't listen to the show, but saw this on twitter).

[Captain Hi-Top 791]

Personally, I think Anderson deserves the nod, but at the same time, I don't think the team will honor him as their first retired jersey. I think it's motivation for a young guy (like Dwight but that ship has sailed) to look up in the rafters and think that his jersey might be the first to be up there.

 

Is he the greatest ever in terms of talent? No, obviously, but you could make the case for his contributions and what he meant to this club. That whole "greatest Magic player" thing from the Sentinel was just a popularity contest, not to be taken too seriously, however, I shared it to demonstrate his favorable standing with the fan base as a way to suggest that the fans would welcome the gesture of the team retiring his jersey.

[OrlandoFeds 34]

I'm in favor of retiring Nick's jersey. Between him being our first draft pick, his very solid career here, and his impact in the community, I believe he has earned that. But to call him the greatest player in Magic history....that is batcrap insane. He MIGHT be the 5th best player in Magic history.

 

Spot on with this. I think his career with the magic after basketball convinces me he should be retired.

[Live or Die Magic 383]

Man, did you guys miss Captain Hi-Top's point!

You guys have got to stop taking these polls so seriously. It is a Sentinel poll! Stop focusing so literally on the whole "greatest" angle. No one said Anderson is the "best" player in Magic history, but he just might be the "greatest."

 

He deserves to have his jersey retired, plain and simple.

 

The Magic are being elitists if they intend to wait on someone to play 10 years with us and go to multiple all-star games.

[You're Fat, Pat! 98]

Believe it or not, I side with the Magic on this one. The player has to not only be a legend within the team, but also a legend in the league. I know different teams across different sports may view it differently, but that is my opinion.

 

I don't think we have had a player worthy of a retired jersey to this point. However, I think there will be at least one on our current roster to enjoy the honor.