The big guy from New Jersey arrived in Orlando in 1992 - just three years after the Magic became part of the NBA - and everything after that was history. And Shaquille O'Neal and the club from Florida.
A little more than three decades later, the time has come for Orlando to properly thank the great Shek for everything he brought to the club...
For the first time in history, this club retired the jersey from the use of one player - the legendary number 32 of Shaquille O'Neal.
All this happened last night before the match between Orlando and Oklahoma.
"You know, there's that old saying, 'Never forget where you came from.' My professional career started here. I've lived here most of my life. The people have been welcoming. I never thought this day would come," said O' Nile during the solemn ceremony.
O'Neal arrived in the NBA as Orlando's first draft pick, and he was the Magic's first All-Star, the first best arm, the first member of the league's best team and the first big star to leave the club.
He played 1992 games in the regular season for Orlando from the 93/1995 season to the end of 96/295 and is the club's sixth best scorer and third best rebounder, despite the small number of matches.
He left his biggest mark in the LA Lakers, with whom he was a three-time NBA champion, while in the Miami jersey he once became the champion of the strongest league on the planet. Until the end of his career, he also wore the jerseys of Cleveland, Phoenix and Boston.
The special night for Orlando, however, did not go well - the team from Florida was defeated by Oklahoma with 127:113.
Oklahoma was led to victory by Jalen Williams with 33 points and Shay Gilges-Alexander with 32 points and five assists, while Chet Holmgren added 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
At the home team, Paolo Bankero had 23 points and 10 assists, Wendell Carter had 22 points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Suggs had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Great Boston continues to share lessons - the "Celts" recorded a new triumph against Brooklyn (118:110) and achieved their fifth consecutive victory.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 41 points, 14 rebounds and five assists - his 25th regular season game in which he scored at least 40 points.
Jaylen Brown added 19 points, Al Horford and Derrick White 16 each, and Jrue Holiday had 14 points and 12 assists for Boston, which is the best team in the league with 42/12.
Brooklyn lost for the fourth time in the last five games, and the most effective players in the team were Mikel Bridges with 27 points and Cam Thomas with 25 points. Lonnie Walker had 15 points, and Nick Claxton had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Miami was better than Milwaukee 123:97, and Nikola Jović shone, who achieved a career record in the NBA with 24 points.
The basketball player from Serbia returned to the top five and was the team's most efficient player, adding seven rebounds and three assists.
Duncan Robinson with 23 points, Kevin Love with 19 points and eight rebounds, Tyler Hiro with 19 points and Bem Adebayo with a triple-double performance of 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists contributed to Miami's victory.
In the Milwaukee team, Janis Adetokumbo scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists. He didn't make a single attempt from the free throw line for the first time since Feb. 24 of last year, when he played just six minutes against Miami. Damian Lillard, Malik Beasley and Bobby Portis each added 16 points.
In other games, Phoenix beat Sacramento 130:125, Los Angeles Lakers beat Detroit 125:111 for their second straight win, and Minnesota beat Portland 121:109 for their third straight win.
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