The 1997–98 NBA season was the ninth season for the Orlando Magic in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

. The Magic hired Chuck Daly as head coach, who led the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...

to two straight championships in 1989 and 1990. In the off-season, the team acquired All-Star guard

Mark Price William Mark Price (born February 15, 1964) is an American former basketball player and coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Charlotte 49ers. As a player, he played for 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from ...

from the Golden State Warriors, acquired

Derek Harper Derek Ricardo Harper (born October 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. A second-team All-American at the University of Illinois, he was the 11th overall pick of the 1983 NBA draft and spent 16 seasons as a point guar ...

from the Dallas Mavericks, and signed free agent

Bo Outlaw Charles "Bo" Outlaw (born April 13, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. Outlaw was known for his athleticism, tenacious defensive approach and sub-par free-throw shooting (.521 for his career). Career High school He was ...

. Under Daly, the Magic would get off to a solid 16–7 start. However, they struggled losing nine of their next ten games, as

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

only played just 19 games due to a knee injury, leading the team with 16.4 points and 1.5 steals per game. The team then lost seven straight games in January, as

Darrell Armstrong Darrell Eugene Armstrong (born June 22, 1968) is a former American professional basketball player, who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He is currently an assistant coach for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, who won the cha ...

was out for the remainder of the season with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder after 48 games. The Magic also signed free agent

Vernon Maxwell Vernon Maxwell (born September 12, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who was a shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for thirteen seasons during the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. Maxwell play ...

in January, but released him to free agency after eleven games, as he later on signed with the Charlotte Hornets. At midseason, the team traded

Rony Seikaly Rony is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ronielson da Silva Barbosa, Brazilian footballer better known as Rony *Rony Ahonen (born 1987), Finnish ice hockey defenceman * Rony Bakale (born 1987), Olympic swimmer from the Repub ...

to the

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

in exchange for Greg Foster and Chris Morris. However, the trade was voided due to Seikaly failing to report to the team, because of a foot injury. Instead, he was then traded along with second-year forward Brian Evans to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

in exchange for David Benoit,

Kevin Edwards Kevin Durell Edwards (born October 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who currently serves as DePaul University men's basketball team's director of community, corporate, and professional relations. Edwards was selecte ...

and Yinka Dare, who never played for the Magic and was released to free agency. After the trade, the Magic signed free agent and former Slam Dunk champion

Spud Webb Anthony Jerome "Spud" Webb (born July 13, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Webb, who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), is known for winning a Slam Dunk Contest despite being one of the shortest players ...

, who only played just four games for the team. The Magic held a 23–25 record at the All-Star break, and finished fifth in the Atlantic Division with a record of 41–41, missing the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

for the first time since the 1992–93 season. In Hardaway's absence, Nick Anderson stepped up averaging 15.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while

Horace Grant Horace Junior Grant Sr. (born July 4, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for Michael Reinsdorf, the president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Bulls. He attended and played college baske ...

averaged 12.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and Derek Strong provided the team with 12.7 points, and 7.4 rebounds per game off the bench as the team's sixth man. In addition, Outlaw had a stellar season averaging 9.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks per game, while Price contributed 9.5 points and 4.7 assists per game, Armstrong provided with 9.2 points and 4.9 assists per game, and Harper contributed 8.6 points and 3.5 assists per game. Danny Schayes became the team's starting center after Seikaly was traded, as he averaged 5.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Anderson also finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Outlaw finished tied in eighth place. Despite the knee injuries, Hardaway was selected for the

1998 NBA All-Star Game The 1998 NBA All-Star Game was the 48th edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game. The event was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The East won the game 135–114. Besides the NBA All-Star game, there were t ...

, which would be his final All-Star appearance. Following the season, Price retired after playing 12 seasons in the NBA, while Harper signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers, and Benoit and Edwards were both released to free agency.

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

:z – clinched division title :y – clinched division title :x – clinched playoff spot

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Awards and honors

– All-Star

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997-98 Orlando Magic season Orlando Magic seasons 1997 in sports in Florida 1998 in sports in Florida