How the Orlando Magic went from a Finals contender to the NBA's worst team in just 4 years 

Seth’s narration makes life worth living

Just realized.. Dwight won a championship in Orlando but just not on the Magic 😂

People really forget how good Dwight was, can't believe people think he isn't a Hall of Fame player 🤦

Glad Dwight still won a ring in Orlando😎

When Hedo Turkoglu started 2 collapses on the 2 best teams he played...

I’ll never forget when the media used to clown Dwight for acting like a kid in his early 20’s when he was a kid in his early 20’s

Please do the 90s Bills, from 4 time superbowls in a row to the music city miracle to not reaching to the playoffs in 18yrs. Now that is a collapse

Lmao, this happened to the cavs in just ONE year.

This was a sad watch, I first got into following the nba when I first starting playing ball in 2008, I picked the magic as my favourite team cause I liked there logo on 2k haha 😂 then was so stoked to see them go to the finals! 🙌 Then it all tumbled away so fast 😭😭

I've been waiting for this one

This feels weirdly like Giannis. Multi-year DPOY, team trying to surround him with shooters, small market, looming free agency...

New series idea: rebuild. Teams that were once a laughing stock of their league that evolved into a championship team for many years. One team is the Tampa bay lightning, they were once the worst team in the nhl and are now one of the most dominant teams in the entire league for the past nearly decade

I will never forget how terrifying those Magic teams of the late 2000s and early 2010s because of Dwight

The greatest crime Stan van Gundy ever committed was to start Jameer Nelson, who was coming off an injury, after Rafer skip to my lou Alston had driven them all the way to the finals. Smh!

Damn Orlando, y’all couldn’t keep Shaq, didn’t build around T-Mac, didn’t sign Duncan to pair with Hill and T-Mac, other stars y’all didn’t keep such as Victor Oladipo, and y’all split the 09 Magic team up. Brah cmon🤦🏾‍♂️

A very accurate and detailed story of my Orlando Magic fan life in two collapse videos. The local media drove our superstars away, oddly enough. The poll about how much Shaq is worth was dominated by non sports fans and the "Dwightmare" campaign was driven by sports analysts who thought we should trade for Andrew Bynum. We now have our 4th number one pick, so hopefully Bancero can turn us back to championship contenders soon if we can get some 3 point shooters for him.

JJ Redick’s career is soooo fascinating: he played at Duke, but he never thought he’d aspire to be a star, just a ‘shooter’. He’s been on the supporting cast of some truly great teams, these Magic, the Clippers with Chris Paul and Blake Griffen, the good part of the ‘process’ with Philly, and now he’s in a lineup with Zion. His ego didn’t let him think he’d have to carry a team, and because of that, he’s major underrated piece to a lot of these contending teams. We’ll see if New Orleans will contend for a title with him still on the roster, but I have no reason to think it won’t happen.

It's so damn tough being a magic fan I swear 😭

Its crazy how they had 2 generational centers consecutively

And now after 15 years, Dwight finally has a ring, and he's infinitely more mature then he was when he came to LA. He ain't soft no more Mr. Mamba!

The “Collapse” series is the best sports-related content on RU-vid by a significant margin. So many fan bases consistently experience heartbreak and rarely get happiness and almost never is that prolonged, so this series brings more rival fans together than anything else. Love it.

Who’s here after watching the collapse from the Shaq and Penny years!?!?

As an Orlando native and former Magic supporter, it's no wonder here in Central Florida they got the name "Orlando Tragic". We had Penny & Shaq, T-Mac and Dwight all within the first 20 years of our franchise. Just being an expansion team in '89 we started off on the right foot. If the Magic organization just opened their wallet, look at what our starting lineup could've looked like: PG: Jameer Nelson SG: Vince Carter SF: Hedo Turkoglu/Rashard Lewis PF: Rashard Lewis/Hedo Turkoglu C; Dwight Howard Dec. 18, 2010 is the day it all came crashing down. Stopped supporting them since that day when they made those trades to break up the team.

That '09 Magic team was legit, I'm glad Dwight was able to win one after all the problems

It’s been 11 years, why does seeing Lee’s missed layup still make me throw a pillow across the room?

I love Orlando Magic. Saying that, Guys Like Shaquille O neal, Horace Grant and Dwight howard all ended up with an NBA ring at the LA Lakers after leaving Orlando.

I'm just glad Dwight finally got a ring, like many other legends that never got it, he deserved it.

Based on the Magic players recollection (JJ discussed this himself in his own podcast), the main reason the Magic lost to Boston in the ECF was the coaching blunder of SVG *even before the series started.* Even though the Magic was solid heading to the ECF, SVG suddenly decided to make major adjustments for the Celtics series *even before the series started.* Remember what Shaq said about SVG? He was a good strategist BUT he had a tendency to get nervous, overthink, and make bad decisions. That "dark side" of SVG showed up during the Magic-Celtics ECF.

Imagine if Dwight won a championship with the Magic.... Shaq still would say he didn't deserve it 😑

Man when I was in middle school when the magic were going to the finals , Dwight was the biggest thing to talk about in Orlando. He was so so so famous in the city. I went to the Florida mall for shoes one day , and the mall was completely filled with people. I was confused why and the whole mall was in line to just take pictures with Dwight Howard in front of a champs. I’m talking the entire mall was just a line to see Dwight. Dude was like Kobe Bryant levels of famous in Orlando. Those were good times

0:46 “f!ck it. We ball!”- Coach Stan Van Gundy

Watching their newest video of the Shaq and Penny magic collapse and then queueing this up afterward is hilarious. Genuinely picks up right where the Shaq/Penny video left off. Just 20 years of constant failure

I felt like Rafer Alston was a better starting point guard during the finals, Jameer Nelson ruined the rotation.

Part two babyyyy

I remember commenting on a Secret Base video asking them to make a rise & fall video of the Orlando Magic a few months ago & finally now im watching it 💙👌

This Magic team is a precursor to the teams today. They got a dominating center and a lineup full of shooters. Then they blew it up all of a sudden.

Seth should be put in charge exclusive for NBA rewind, NBA Collapse, and any Beef in the NBA. Love his pace and his soothing voice in the narration

“52 wins is nothing to sneeze at, and you shouldn’t sneeze at things” 😂😂 I’m weak Seth 😂

Bruh poor Dwight 😂 Lack of management and roster improvement drew him out of the Magic

Alternate title: How the Orlando Magic went from a Dwinner to a Dwightmare to Dwightless.

Y’all should do a rewinder on game 7 of the 76ers vs raptors 2019

We all knew the awkward interview was going to pop up and waited for it.

My favourite clip of Dwight is when he says he’s open to Steve Nash, like it’s Steve Nash, he decides when you’re open.

A Collapse of the Tom Thibodeau's Chcago Bulls would be interesting since they kept going even after DRose's devastating injury and once GarPax failed to convince Carmelo Anthony to join the team and fired Thibs after failing to dent the Cavaliers, everything fell apart for the Bulls which led to the biggest coaching meme of them all - Jim f'n Boylen.

I’m so happy Dwight got a ring

Dwight's redemption arc to champion is one of the most fascinating storylines in the NBA. And the Magic are one of the most frustrating orgs ever. Amassed so much greatness and realized such little potential. Great deep dive video!

This shows that organizations are built from the top down. Need great management then great Coaching followed by a great team.

I remember those tough times!Dwight and Jameer sitting dejected after thr Finals loss. But this year everything is sweep away for Dwight!So happy for him!

Dang, I've been waiting for another Collapse episode. These are my favorite

I’m not sure what series this would fit into, but a video on Evan Gattis’ rookie season with the Braves could be very interesting. The whole background as a janitor combined with his completely unexpected output that year and great nickname would make for a really good video!

As a Magic Fan, it’s been rough

One of my favorite teams to watch in the late 2000s/early 2010s

Rushing the rebuild for a desperate Playoff spot will forever be the darkest moment for me as a fan. Trading Oladipo and a lottery pick (just so happened to be an the all-star, Sabonis 🙂) for a half season of Ibaka while ditching Harris for capspace only to waste money on Bismack. Years of hope wasted because of the lack of patience. I'm glad they are in a better position nowadays but I hope the young guys can develop and hopefully improve to be more than an average 7th or 8th seed team.

Collapse: The 1995-1996 Supersonics Collapse: The 1994-1995 Rockets Collapse: The 2007-2008 Celtics Collapse: The 1991-1992 Redskins

Narration is an art. Great job. As usual ✊🏾

Orlando Magic is the Minnesota timberwolves of the south. Every one leaves.

Pls do a rewind on the Manny Pacquiao’s knockout punch on Ricky Hatton‼️, Day 1

I LOVE THIS DAMN CHANNEL!!!

Been binging on these.

all these Collapse series videos are little masterpieces. Thanks! Idea for the next one: Sonics between 96 finals and 08 Oklahoma switch.

Suggestion: Beef history: Lebron James vs Paul Pierce

As a Magic fan, I like to think things worked out long term with the Dwight trade with getting Fournier and Vuc. Damn I miss those two and Aaron Gordon SO MUCH!! But our new young core going into 2023 is so fun and exciting. Fultz. Franz. Cole. Suggs. Banchero. Bamba. T-Ross (for now). Carter. They were so much fun to watch last season, it even made losing fun (won only 22 games). Got my League Pass bought and paid for, and I am SO READY for this season. GO MAGIC!!!

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR SO LONG!!!!

Excellent content!

Oh man this resonates with me so much! For over a decade I’ve been wanting to discuss that 2009 team and that heartbreaking summer off-season! I moved to Daytona Beach in 2007, and soon I became a Magic fan since the matches were always on the local Central Florida sports channel (Sun Sports perhaps???) and also because I followed them for Hidayet Turkoglu, being a compatriot Turk myself. The 2008 play-off run was great and the 2009 Finals run was epic! They were a team opposite to weird obsession of American sports where it is not deemed important to be a `team` and rather the focus is always on the `stars` i.e. individualism rather than teamwork. But this team was different, Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo, Lewis & Howard started games but soon Lee would get subbed on for Mickael Pietrus, Dwight had a decent sub in Marcin Gortat, Reddick was decent as a sub, Tony Battie was alright as a big 4 and Anthony Johnson did an admirable job as Alston’s sub considering he’d be considered a third string PG. All in all, maybe none of the guys beside Dwight were exceptional, but it was a great team! Everyone knew their roles. All that team needed was a real big man number 4, to replace Lewis, who was an undersized PF, during games as necessary. Lakers had three big men at two positions which Orlando couldn’t overcome; they had Andrew Bynum (probably his best season in his career), Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Van Gundy tried Gortat with Howard, and I think Battier with Howard and it just didn’t work. A good PF/C and the team was set for another run the following year! That 2009 offseason is when it all went wrong! Instead of going for that big man next to Howard, they went and screwed up everything!! Just like they had done in 1994 when they lost Shaq! Can you imagine losing more than half your starters (3/5, or 60%) that made it to the NBA Finals for one man, Vince Carter. Where I was in Daytona, that trade was celebrated but which had made me disgusted. Since they got Carter, that meant Hedo’s minutes were definitely going to get diminished, and pretty much he had no choice (well, more like 90% no choice, cause looking back maybe he could have been less selfish and thought about staying). He was Mr Fourth Quarter that year! This meant that 4/5 (80%) of the starting team was gone! You have to say this because Jameer Nelson was not part of that playoff team. How do you expect to start over from pretty much scratch and do well?! After that summer, I was disgusted with the obsession with stars rather than teams, and plus I had finished grad school and had left the area, I stopped supporting Orlando Magic. That summer was the beginning of the end of that great team unfortunately.

I'm happy for D12 winning a title and he is a qualified HOF. Never give up on your dreams!

Great timing on this one.

I love this show , gives me and all sports fans the true back story of teams . Keep it up 💯

The Magic have been exceedingly lucky for such a young franchise. A good chunk of their existence has been them contending. With that said, the last 10 years of the Magic has been the universe reverting them to the average NBA franchise.

As a Bucks fan, I want to see a collapse video with the early 2000s Bucks.

You gotta do more of these collapse videos!!! These, untitled, and beef history are you're best series please do more of them

Thanks for this vid, I was looking forward to an Dwight era of magic video.

I remember being pumped when the magic came to town to see d howard

I'm still a Magic fan always, no matter what, we have a bright future in the next couple years

I love every secret base basketball video, all your series are so informative and interesting. Also I am a Knicks fan and understand your pain!

Life long magic fan since the teams inception. This was painful to relive thanks for posting 😢

Orlando Magic: “What happened?” Dwight Howard: “...I won.”

As an Orlando Magic fan, I can use five words to describe this video Pain. Tears. Pain. Endless pain

I love your content!! I claim not to be into sports anymore because it’s to heart breaking. But when you post I watch lol! Keep up the great content!

The Magic have their next All-Star!! So proud of Paolo Banchero and the work he's doing for that franchise. I hope he stays long term and takes them the distance.

Looks like the Magic ran out for the Magic.

If they would've got Tim Duncan along with a healthy Grant Hill & Tracy McGrady would've been scary

I love these kinds of vids. TY for some entertainment before the football Sunday

I love this kind of videos. Thanks SB!

Hey Seth, can you guys do videos on how miller and Ewing were ringless? Or the collapse of the 1987 Celtics or the 1982 76ers?

The first collapse that I lived directly through, and the one that hurts the most. Watching this team live hurt. I wish it could have gone another way

it’s crazy, been a magic fan since I was a little kid. Remember when they made the finals in 09 I was a kid crazy how bad they are.

There are interviews on All the Smoke podcast featuring Vince Carter and featuring JJ Redick, which talked about Stan van Gundy's change of strategies in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics as the head-scratcher. They went away from what worked and it was a shame that team didn't advance to the Finals.

Can you guys make a Collapse video for soccer? Like how AC Milan went from being Europe's best, to just another team.

Please make one eventually for the 1990's Indians teams. Those teams were loaded and were very consistent, but overall never won the world series with Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Omar Vizquel and Kenny Lofton. Those 4 names alone should be great for any team!

I was waiting for this

This channel gives me life

Did anyone else think “which time” when the saw the video title Ah the 2nd time.....kewl

"Vince Carter was past his prime" That was 10 years ago.

Got here as fast as I can. I always love watching these videos.

the episode we all needed

Now Dwight has a ring, we’ll deserved

Howard's offensive game really improved in his prime o the point where he was taking and making bank shots from just outside the paint

Seth blessed my ears with the intro Love your guys work

Dwight getting his first ring with the same franchise he was once despised on in the place he was once so beloved, has to be the perfect character arc ever.