Shaquille O’Neal is a person of many nicknames and can quickly change into a person of many retired jerseys. On Feb. 13, the Orlando Magic will retire the Corridor of Famer’s No. 32 in a postgame ceremony, the franchise introduced Thursday.
With the retirement, O’Neal will change into the second participant in NBA historical past to have his jersey retired by three completely different franchises he performed for, becoming a member of Wilt Chamberlain. O’Neal’s No. 34 was retired by the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013 and his No. 32 was retired by the Miami Warmth in 2016. Chamberlain’s No. 13 was retired by the Lakers, Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors, together with the Harlem Globetrotters.
O’Neal’s No. 33 was retired by the LSU Tigers as properly.
In celebration of our thirty fifth anniversary this season, we’ll formally retire jersey #32 in honor of Shaquille O’Neal throughout a postgame ceremony on Tuesday, February 13.
O’Neal turns into the primary participant in franchise historical past to have his quantity retired 🪄 pic.twitter.com/i5zk1b6IR9
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) January 5, 2024
The Magic, who’re celebrating their thirty fifth anniversary as a franchise this season, will make O’Neal the staff’s first retired quantity. The 7-foot-1 middle well-known for a lot of a damaged backboard led the Magic to a 20-win enchancment as a rookie in 1993 and led Orlando to its first NBA Finals look in 1994-95, the identical yr he gained the primary of his two profession scoring titles.
O’Neal arrived in Orlando by the use of the Magic successful the 1992 lottery. The much-anticipated high decide arrived in Orlando trying to proceed his No. 33 legacy, however that quantity was taken by Terry Catledge, who wasn’t eager on giving up his jersey for the rookie.
Many years later, Shaq jokingly known as Catledge a “punk ass” for turning down O’Neal’s supply of $50,000 for the quantity.
Now, over three a long time later, that white-and-blue pinstriped No. 32 will hold within the rafters of Orlando perpetually.
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(Picture: Fernando Medina / NBAE by way of Getty Photographs)
