[Grantland] Blue Chips: An oral history of Shaq, Penny, and the Magic's lost NBA dynasty (Rockets me

BUMP
Stumbled upon the article... didn't want to create "its own thread"

The young Magic would square off against the veteran Houston Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals. The Rockets were coming off a championship, but Orlando was confident to start the series, since it had hammered Houston in its two regular-season games. The Rockets (47-35) began the playoffs as the 6-seed in the West, with 30-to-1 odds of winning the championship, and they remain the lowest-seeded team to win an NBA championship.



Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway
guard, Orlando Magic
We owned them during the regular season. With our athleticism, we thought it would overwhelm them. We were very confident when they beat the Spurs because we did have problems with the Spurs, but we didn’t have problems with the Rockets.



Shaquille O’Neal
center, Orlando Magic
During the regular season, I used to have my way with [Hakeem Olajuwon]. But I celebrated too early. Once I got to the Finals, I felt I had him and I didn’t keep the mentality up. But he helped me get four more, because after losing, I said, “OK, now I know I can’t celebrate until it’s over. And even if I win [a championship], I can’t celebrate until my career’s over.”



Brian Schmitz
Orlando Sentinel
The stories are [that] the Magic were out partying; Shaq and Dennis Scott were out partying.



Donald Royal
forward, Orlando Magic
Once we got there, we felt like the job had been done. We’ve got home-court advantage. ****, we knew we were going to win at least two at home.



Kenny Smith
guard, Houston Rockets
We weren’t a regular-season team. Honestly, we used to give games away in the regular season. Mentally, it’d be like, Oh, we’re going to lose today. And then we’re like, We’re going to win five or six in a row to stay where we need to be. We had that ability because we were a veteran team, but at the same time we were an aging team, so we couldn’t play out for 82 games.



Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway
guard, Orlando Magic
Shaq was a true big man. He was a center. He was a 5. Dream was really a 4 playing the 5, and he was a tough matchup. He was smart, highly skilled, and Shaq wasn’t really into his own zone at that time, meaning he wasn’t the Shaq [who] went to L.A. That Shaq was dominant. If he would have met Dream at that time, then Dream would have had problems, but Shaq was still young. Dream was established and in his prime.



Brian Hill
assistant coach, later head coach, Orlando Magic
They’re two different players with contrasting styles. Shaq is the power player. Hakeem was the finesse player. They each presented problems for the other, and with Shaq’s power, Houston spent a lot of time double-teaming and forcing the ball out of his hands. When you have a guy like Shaquille O’Neal guarding somebody, you don’t always have to come with the double, but Hakeem just had that unique style, to be getting the ball 12, 14 feet away from the basket and using his speed and footwork to create problems. We really had to mix up our defenses with him.



Shaquille O’Neal
center, Orlando Magic
You had a guy that was fundamentally sound against a guy that was young, flamboyant, and talented. He taught me everything I needed to know about being a winner.



John Gabriel
team executive, later general manager, Orlando Magic
We actually played the best basketball that we played the entire year in the first half [of] the first game against Houston. We really did. We were guarding 90 feet to a man. We just had a great first half.



Rudy Tomjanovich
coach, Houston Rockets
They beat us both of those [regular-season] games and here we are starting this series, and they’re free-stroking on us. There was a feeling of concern.



Kenny Smith
guard, Houston Rockets
We came to the huddle. It was Clyde, myself, Hakeem, Sam [Cassell], and Robert Horry, like a semi-huddle. We go, “I think if we get it to eight, they fold.” And so, we get it to eight and we come back and we say, “If we win, they won’t win a game in this series.”

I went up; I missed two free throws.

 

David Steele
broadcaster, Orlando Magic

You figured that Hardaway would make enough plays, [that] Shaq would be able to make plays.




Anthony Bowie
guard, Orlando Magic

If they just utilized the whole bench during that series, I honestly believe we would have won. I’m sitting there for the first game. They can say I’m a bad guy or whatever they want, but sitting there for the first game and watching that we’re up 20 going into halftime,12 and you never take none of your bench players and let them play? Those [starters] are tired. I can hold my own on defense and they know that. Ain’t too many guys that are going to just blow past me or go around me or Donald Royal or other guys that we had on the bench. You can’t win an NBA Finals with six guys.




Dennis Scott
forward, Orlando Magic

At times, there were disagreements because of the bench’s style of play. With Bowie backing up Nick and Royal backing me up, we were perfect complements because Donald was a better defensive player and a better driver [than me]. But if Shaq was on the floor and Penny was on the floor and if Donald was on the floor, now the defense wasn’t stretched out because Donald wasn’t a great outside shooter.




Donald Royal
forward, Orlando Magic

I started during the regular season. In the playoffs and the Finals, I think I played two minutes the whole game.13 I had a very bitter taste in my mouth, especially the way we lost. God bless our boy Dennis Scott, but we were hurt defensively and that was why I was there.




Anthony Bowie
guard, Orlando Magic

When you’re sitting there and coach is asking guys, “Are you tired?” Why the hell did you ask if they’re tired? You know they’re tired. Put somebody else in.




Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway
guard, Orlando Magic

It seemed like Robert Horry, Kenny Smith, Sam Cassell, Vernon Maxwell, Mario Elie, it seemed like they didn’t miss a shot at all. When we double-teamed Dream, I thought, Man, it’s just their destiny to win because they are not missing.




Wayne Monte “Tree” Rollins
player-coach, Orlando Magic

Game 1, Kenny Smith had an unbelievable game hitting 3s. I played for Houston for two years with Kenny. I never saw him shoot the ball that well. I really felt, Not this guy. This guy’s going to beat us? But great players are made in the playoffs, and he beat us.




Pat Williams
general manager, later senior vice-president, Orlando Magic

We had Houston on the ropes and the next thing you know, they’re back into it, but we survived and now Nick has the two free throws and it looks like we’re home free.

 

Why did Penny mention Maxwell?

 

Shaq would have never owned Hakeem. Young or Prime Shaq.

 

There’s something wrong with the fan base

In Chicago, as the years go by , Jordan’s legacy gets more admired

For the Rockets, based on the crap posts by newbs, Dream gets less respect

It’s been what? Over 20 years since we made the finals ?

Forget rules and future nutrition and norms

Nobody has the heart of Olajuwon.

They never faced someone with that much heart

 

My favorite anecdote --

Donald Royal
forward, Orlando Magic
Nick Anderson bought a Ferrari in Houston and he can’t even drive a stick. We’re like, “Why are you buying a $150,000 car during the Finals, in Houston of all places?” That kind of relaxing attitude was not good, and Houston saw it and they just drove us. We were never in it.​

 

wow..........

 

Teammates should have taken a "brick" to the windshield.

 

Yeah, doesn't he know Maxwell quit on his team?

 

Kenny Smith
guard, Houston Rockets
We weren’t a regular-season team. Honestly, we used to give games away in the regular season. Mentally, it’d be like, Oh, we’re going to lose today. And then we’re like, We’re going to win five or six in a row to stay where we need to be. We had that ability because we were a veteran team, but at the same time we were an aging team, so we couldn’t play out for 82 games.


....MDA woulda run that team into the ground and cost us a championship... something to keep in mind....

 

yeah he made a big mistake that year, but forgiven!

 

This was awesome to read. Those quotes are great. I was only 9 years old the time and I watched every second of those games. The year before I fell asleep during game 7 of the knicks so I was determined to not miss any of it. Was heart broken until Kenny hit that 3 in game 1. All over after that.

I thought it would be the norm but we havent been back since. Maybe this year!!!

 

Crazy. So did he buy this Ferrari before Game 3 or after ?

 

Would be interesting to see if this year's team could have handled Shaq, Penny, 3D.

 

Hakeem was a very versatile center. He wasn't a 4.

 

Morale of the story, Don't ever underestimate the heart of a champion!

 

You can tell a tinman post without even seeing who wrote it

Olajuwon is a legend. An absolute legend. Find me one other guy who could fast for a month and still dominate everyone he matched up against. And the crazy part was that this just made him more motivated, more hungry (no pun intended) when it came to fight it out in the playoffs.

We haven't had a guy like that in a long time. I'm hoping Paul rubs off on Harden, and maybe Hakeem rubs off on both - but that drive was just legendary.

 

I'm going to keep in mind that you have a loser mentality. Rockets are a half game from leading the NBA. On the way to the best regular season in franchise history and both Beard and CP3 are playing fewer minutes than their career average.

Are you already conceding a loss of a championship before it's even played? Are you not getting the moral of the Orlando story? It has do with lack of mental fortitude. Don't let your agenda against D'Antoni get in the way of the enjoyment you should be feeling for Harden's MVP season, historic regular season, historic offensive records and potential dominance in playoffs.

There is so much more to like than this petty dislike. You do realize that we are also the deepest team in association as well right?

 

Did you actually watch basketball in that era? It wasn't unusual for starters to play 40 minutes on any given night. The pace was sometimes slower, but still. Rudy T didn't really manage minutes. Nobody did. You played your best guys at any given time, for as long as you could.