Orlando Magic 2008-09 Roster and Stats

The 2008-09 Orlando Magic season goes down as one of the most exciting rosters and season in franchise history. Led by a 23-year old Dwight Howard, the Magic compiled a 59 win season and completed a thrilling and somewhat surprising run through the Eastern Conference Playoffs to make its second appearance in the NBA Finals as an NBA franchise. The team was talented – with three All-Stars in Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson – but the team was also innovative, playing a style of basketball which featured the three-point shot before the three-point shot revolutionized the modern NBA.

• Regular Season Record: 59-23
• Regular Season Result: 3rd seed Eastern Conference
• Playoffs Result: Won 1st Round (4-2 vs. Philadelphia), Won Conference Semifinals (4-3 vs. Boston), Won Conference Finals (4-2 vs. Cleveland), Lost NBA Finals (1-4 vs. LA Lakers)

Orlando Magic Roster and Stats for 2008-09 Season

The Three-Point Legacy

The Magic 2008-09 roster featured a number of talented shooters that led to the Magic being one of the most prolific three-point shooting teams prior to the shooting revolution that would be ushered into the NBA in the mid 2010’s. The goal wasn’t necessarily to optimize around shooting, but because of Dwight Howard’s dominance and attention around the basket, the Magic roster naturally filled in shooters to spread the floor. While four (or five now in today’s NBA) men out wide seems incredibly normal today, this was not the standard offensive style in 2008 and 2009.

On January 13, 2009, the Magic set an NBA record for most number of threes made in an NBA game with 23 against the Sacramento Kings. While there are now dozens of games as result of the flurry of three-point shooting in today’s game of at least 23 three-point makes, The Magic’s performance against the Kings back in 2009 remains only one of five games ever that achieved at least 20 three point makes while shooting at least 60% from three in the same game. What’s the point? The Magic were shooting a high volume from deep, but they were also making them at a high clip – a difference when comparing the big scoring nights of the modern NBA in which 50 three-point attempts seems normal.

The Magic roster of 2008-09 made 817 threes. At that time, the only other teams to ever make that number of three-point shots were the Phoenix Suns in 2005-06 (837 threes) and the Orlando Magic the year before (801 threes). The New York Knicks also made over 800 threes (823) during the 2008-2009 season. Again, this level of shooting was incredibly rare at the time.

How many teams made at least 800 three-point shots between the years of 2009-10 and 2023-24? 209. The three-point revolution was coming, and the 2008-09 Magic team was simply a look at what was to come. Interestingly, just days after the Magic lost the 2009 NBA Finals, Stephen Curry and James Harden were drafted in the 2009 NBA Draft. More shooting was indeed on the way.

Dwight Howard at the Peak of his Powers

As we’ve documented, Dwight’s legacy is complicated. So much so, that Orlando fans as well as broader NBA fans now often forget just how good he was during his peak seasons. While statistically, his numbers might not be eye popping, his presence on the court during the 2008-09 season was dominant. Howard was named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for the 2008-09, the youngest player to ever be given the honors. Howard was also First Team All-NBA, effectively named one of the league’s top 5 players.

He led the Magic to one of its best seasons ever, and he capped it off with one of the most dominant Magic playoff performances ever, scoring 40 in the game 6 clincher against Lebron James and the Cavs to take the Magic to the NBA Finals. Utter dominance when the lights were at their brightest. Simply put, Howard was a monster in 2008-09.

The All-Star Roster

The 2008-09 Orlando Magic roster is the only time in franchise history where the team had three players receive All-Star honors. Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis all were named to the All-Star team. This season was the only time Jameer Nelson Lewis received All-Star honors in his careers. This was the second time Rashard Lewis was named to the All-Star team (previously in 2005).

Questionable 2009 Off-Season Roster Moves

After the NBA Finals run throughout the 2009 NBA Playoffs, the Orlando Magic made some somewhat controversial roster moves. Hedo Turkoglu, most notably, was not re-signed with the Orlando Magic after opting out of the final year of his contract and becoming a free agent. While the Magic front office claims to have made an offer to allow Turk to return, he received a larger contract from Toronto (a five-year deal worth $52.8 million). While Turkoglu’s peformance suffered with the Raptors and he underperformed the contract he was given, it’s an interesting move for the Magic that made a Finals run. Turkoglu was not only a key offensive producer for the team, the offense often ran through him especially late in games. Turk never regained the same offensive production, but it’s hard to not ask what if the Magic worked harder (and spent more) to keep the core roster intact.

Courtney Lee, who was a nice producer as a rookie with the Magic during the 2008-09 season was traded to the Nets along with Rafar Alston and Tony Battie on June 25, 2009 in a deal to bring Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to Orlando. Lee would go on to play another 14 seasons in the NBA.

Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Playoffs

Orlando Magic 2008-09 Regular Season Game Log