NBA London 2016: Nick Anderson on the Orlando Magic dynasty that never was

Anderson travelled with Shaq and Penny to London in 1993

(Getty Images)

"It was like travelling with the Beatles".

Nick Anderson, now 47, travelled to London with Shaquille O'Neal, Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway and the rest of the Orlando Magic team in the first NBA game to be played outside of the US, in a pre-season game at Wembley Arena in October 1993.

That season they went on to win 50 of their 82 games, although they were swept in the First Round of the play-offs by the Indiana Pacers. A season later, alongside that core of Shaq, Penny Horace Grant, Brian Shaw and coach Brian Hill, Anderson and the Magic would improve their win total to 57.

The climax of their season for this young team was still to come. O'Neal was only 22 and Hardaway 23, but the Magic were able to beat Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls and reach the 1995 NBA Finals. Yes, it was the season that Jordan made his comeback to the game after a year chasing his baseball dream. The Greatest may not have been at his awe-inspiring peak, but he was close, averaging 31 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Anderson with Shaqulle O'Neal (Getty Images)

They were swept in the Finals 4-0 by Hakeem 'The Dream' Olajuwon's Houston Rockets, who defended their Larry O'Brien trophy, but hope was high for that young group to take over the league.

In 1995-96 they again improved their win tally, to 60 and again reached the Conference Finals, again going up against Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls. This was a Bulls team that had just set the NBA single-season record with 72 wins and 10 defeats, an all-powerful team that would go on to win three titles in a row, before Jordan's second retirement.

The series wasn't particularly close, but the Magic were seen as a true rising force in the league, one that would surely lift a title soon.

But in the summer of 1996 it all went wrong. After a season of discord off the hardwood, Shaq and Penny's egos got the better of their brilliant partnership on it. Shaq shocked the US by bolting for the bright lights of Los Angeles with the Lakers.

Exacerbated by persistent injuries to Hardaway, who left for Phoenix in 1999 the Magic wouldn't recover for years. They didn't get past the first round of the play-offs until Dwight Howard came of age in 2007-08 and although they reached the Finals again in 2009, where they lost to Kobe Bryant's Lakers, they haven't been back since and have not made it into the play-offs since 2012.

Many thousands of column inches have been dedicated to that Magic team, arguably the greatest to never really exist.

When The Independent spoke to Nick Anderson, who is a Magic lifer that leads the franchise in games played and numerous statistical categories, he remembered the time fondly.

"Obviously Shaq and Penny, that's the main attraction right there," he says.


 Penny Hardaway was an All-Star four times in his first five seasons before injuries slowed him
 (Getty Images)

"Playing with those two guys was like travelling with the Beatles. It was just great being a part of that and then adding the pieces that they added, you get Horace Grant who had won championships and brought some veteran leadership right there and another guy in Brian Shaw with leadership.

"You mix that young with the older guys and you get that great core, great mix of players. It was wonderful. It was a young team, no one expected us to do what we did, but we just went out and played. It was great times, you can't forget those times."

Does he, or any of the other players have regrets about how it ended?

"I can't speak for them, for myself, you can always look back and say 'what if? What could have happened different?' We don't know. But I savour the moments, I had a great time and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. "

He also remembers the 1993 game very fondly.


 Shaq left for the Lakers in 1996 - he would win three successive titles in Los Angeles
 (Getty Images)

"You know that's a long time back, right! It was a great time, it was the first time I ever went abroad and travelled. I've always wondered how London would be and I got that opportunity.

"I had a great time because, we were obviously going to play basketball, but to see the other cultures, the other side of the world, I was looking forward to that. Meeting other people and seeing how they live.

"Besides basketball... the shopping was outstanding! I loved it! The food. It was just a great time, I can remember it like it was yesterday. We still talk about it, I still have souvenirs from that time."

And what tips will he be passing on to the current group, who play the Toronto Raptors at the O2 Arena on Thursday?

"I'll be telling the players, first and foremost to take care of business. But enjoy, savour. Many guys don't get this opportunity to go abroad and enjoy other cultures and see how they live. So business first... but have a lot of fun."

The Orlando Magic host the Toronto Raptors at The O2 in London on Jan. 14 as part of NBA Global Games London 2016. The game is live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Showcase or via NBA LEAGUE PASS