OrlandoMagic.com’s Josh Cohen opens up a debate on intriguing topics on the Magic and the entire NBA.
Best Magic Team?May 1, 2014
It would be straightforward to advocate that either the 1995 or 2009 teams were the best Magic teams in franchise history because they are the only two to reach the NBA Finals.
But could it be argued that the 1996 and 2010 clubs – two teams that were eliminated in the conference finals – were actually “better” overall teams?
While accomplishment is a substantial facet of categorizing a team’s status, there are other pieces to the puzzle, including competition and injuries.
When comparing ’95 and ’96, first off, it’s more about recognizing the landscape of the league as opposed to the rosters considering the only substantial difference was a pair of backup centers (Tree Rollins in 95 and Jon Koncak in 96). Michael Jordan’s Bulls in ’96 were unstoppable. They won a league record 72 games in the regular season and cruised to their fourth of six NBA titles, including a sweep of the Magic in the conference finals.
On the other hand, ‘09 and ’10 had very different rosters. While Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee were significant contributors in 2009, Vince Carter, Jameer Nelson (injured for much of previous season) and Matt Barnes were a major part of the core in 2010.
Watch an analysis below for some opinion.
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