The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Orlando Magic was founded on April 4, 1989, as an expansion franchise. The team's name, "Magic," was chosen to represent the state of Florida, which is often associated with magic and illusion due to its theme parks and tourist attractions. The Magic played their first season in the NBA in 1989-1990 and quickly made an impact. Led by star player Shaquille O'Neal and skilled shooter Nick Anderson, the Magic reached the playoffs in their fourth season in 1993-1994.

Orlando Magic

Founded in 1989, the Orlando Magic is one of the youngest teams in the NBA. And by their sixth year in the league, in 1995, the Magic became the second-youngest team ever to make it to the NBA Finals.

The team has gone on to rack up plenty of other accolades—including six division championships, playoff appearances in more than half of their seasons in the league, and a second trip to the NBA Finals in 2009. Also, five Magic players, including Shaquille O’Neal, have been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

But the Magic organization is committed to more than winning basketball games. Their mission: “To be world champions on and off the court, delivering legendary moments every step of the way” That’s why the team donates millions to community groups each year. It’s why the organization works so hard to create an amazing professional experience for employees. And it’s why the Magic always aims to create an outstanding experience for its fans.

It was this commitment to legendary customer service that led the Magic to retire their old telephony system.

A phone system having one losing season after another

Jeff Lutes, the Magic’s Senior Vice President of Technology, recalls the sales team’s growing frustration with their on-premise phone infrastructure.

“The phone system made it very difficult for our agents to be mobile,” Jeff says. “They were limited to forwarding their office numbers to their own mobile phones, but they wouldn’t know if those calls were work or personal. And if they wanted to make a business call originating from the company phone system, that process was so cumbersome that no one ever did it.”

The staff also desired to more fully integrate their phone system into their CRM—or, as Jeff explains—to easily integrate the systems. “With our on-premise phone system, anytime we wanted to make even a simple system change, we had to call a third party, submit a request, and wait.”

These limitations were increasingly undermining the Magic’s ability to create the outstanding experience the team wanted to provide for clients, fans, and other callers.

Here’s how Jeff sums up the challenge: “We basically had four sales rooms and or support centers established: ticket sales, our Fan Experience Center, the Solar Bears hockey team, and an internal number for IT issues. But other than being able to set up some basic call queues, we really didn’t have much of a contact center solution.”

But the Magic weren’t just playing defense

Even aside from these troubles with their legacy phone system, the Magic had another reason to search for a more modern solution. “In the last couple of years, we initiated a new strategic goal to move as much of our IT operations as possible to the cloud,” Jeff says. “Finding the right cloud communications platform was already on our roadmap. Then COVID hit, and that really accelerated our timetable.”

Jeff’s technology team researched the major cloud communications solutions, vetted each of them, and consulted with other NBA and pro sports teams.

We were extremely impressed with RingCentral’s breadth of features, the ease of use, and the ease of implementation.

Jeff Lutes

As Jeff points out, both of the NBA teams they spoke with were very pleased with their experiences using RingCentral—particularly with how well the solution was helping their organizations stay accessible to fans and each other during the COVID lockdowns.

“Our counterparts at the Detroit Pistons and Golden State Warriors were so helpful,” Jeff says. “Both strongly recommended RingCentral, and both had their own stories about how much the solution was helping their organizations continue to function at high levels even though everyone was quarantined at home.

He adds: “RingCentral had already impressed us for a number of reasons, but those recommendations made the decision obvious.”

Because we integrated RingCentral with our CRM, Microsoft Dynamics, our agents now see a screen showing a caller’s profile before they answer. They can even originate a call from the CRM and have it automatically added as a record. That’s such a time-saver, and the agents appreciate it.

Behind the Name: the Orlando Magic

When Orlando businessman Jim Hewitt and former Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams came together in an effort to bring an NBA team to Orlando, they decided it was best to give the franchise a name - even though a team had yet to be awarded to the city.

So a contest was held with the Orlando Sentinel for fans to submit their picks for the name of the future team. A total of 4,296 entries were submitted and after a committee was selected to review the entries, four names emerged as finalists - the "Heat", the "Tropics", the "Juice" and the "Magic".

While the group pondered which one of the finalists would be selected, Williams' 7-year-old daughter, Karen, paid a visit to her father from the family's home in Philadelphia. After spending some time together checking out Orlando's attractions, Pat took Karen to the airport for her flight home.

As she waited for her flight, Karen said something that would leave a lasting an impression on the city of Orlando.

"I really like this place. This place is like Magic."

Along with the influence from Karen's comment, the committee was able to whittle away at the other finalists. They thought the "Heat" left a negative connotation to the area, that the "Tropics" referred more to South Florida than Central Florida and that the "Juice" wouldn't be received too strongly after a terrible winter freeze had devastated the citrus industry.

The committee decided to go with the Magic, saying the name referred to the magic of Orlando - a tourist hotspot with lots to offer visitors and those who called the area home.

Four months after the Magic was publicly announced as the name of Orlando's future NBA franchise, the Miami franchise selected the name "Heat", which was also submitted in their naming contest.

Orlando Magic

The Orlando Magic are a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded in 1989 as an expansion team and joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) as part of the league's expansion into the southern United States.

Led by star player Shaquille O'Neal and skilled shooter Nick Anderson, the Magic reached the playoffs in their fourth season in 1993-1994. However, it was in the mid-1990s when the team truly flourished. With the addition of star rookie Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway and the hiring of head coach Brian Hill, the Magic became one of the most exciting and competitive teams in the league.

Early years (1989-1994)

The Orlando Magic is one of the NBA's newest teams. With only 31 years of history, the Florida Magic came into the competition in the 1989 expansion alongside the Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets. Jimmy Hewitt and Pat Williams (former general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers) were the first to put together the Magic's first roster, with players such as Reggie Theus, Scott Skiles, Terry Catledge, Sam Vincent, Otis Smith and Jerry Reynolds, who were led by Matt Guokas, the franchise's first coach. That same year, the Magic selected Nick Anderson 11th overall in the draft.

The official debut of the Magic in the NBA was on November 4, 1989 against the New Jersey Nets, where they ended up losing 106-111. Although the first victory would not be long in coming, and it would be two days later against the New York Knicks by 118-110.

The second year was somewhat more promising with the selection of Dennis Scott in the fourth position of the 1990 draft and Scott Skilles' Most Improved Player award, leading the Magic to 31 wins and 51 losses.

The following years continued to have little hope until the 1992 draft.

In the 1994-1995 season, the Magic reached the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. Despite losing to the Houston Rockets in the Finals, the Magic's success marked the beginning of a golden era for the team. In the following years, the Magic remained a strong contender in the Eastern Conference, making multiple playoff appearances. Another significant moment in the team's history came in 2004 when the Magic won the NBA Draft Lottery and selected Dwight Howard as the first overall pick. Howard quickly became a dominant force in the league and led the Magic to multiple playoff runs, including another trip to the NBA Finals in 2008-2009. However, the Magic fell short once again, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. In recent years, the Magic have undergone several changes in their roster and coaching staff. While the team has faced ups and downs, they continue to strive for success and remain a competitive force in the NBA. Throughout their history, the Orlando Magic has been known for their emphasis on teamwork, strong community involvement, and entertaining style of play. As the franchise continues to evolve, the Magic's dedicated fan base eagerly awaits their next chapter of success..

Reviews for "The Orlando Magic: A Blueprint for Expansion Success in the NBA"

- John Doe - 1 star

I was really disappointed with "Orlando Magic Founded". The plot was all over the place and I couldn't follow what was happening. The characters were very forgettable and lacked depth. The pacing was also very slow, which made it hard for me to stay engaged. Overall, I found this movie to be a waste of time and would not recommend it.

- Jane Smith - 2 stars

I had high hopes for "Orlando Magic Founded", but it didn't live up to my expectations. The acting was subpar and I had a hard time connecting with the characters. The storyline was confusing and hard to follow, which made it difficult for me to stay interested. The film also lacked any real emotional depth, which left me feeling indifferent towards the outcome. Overall, I found this movie to be mediocre at best.

- David Williams - 1 star

I couldn't stand "Orlando Magic Founded". The acting was so bad that it was cringeworthy. The dialogue was cheesy and unrealistic, and the characters were one-dimensional. The film seemed to drag on forever and I found myself struggling to stay awake. The story was also very predictable and offered no surprises. Overall, this movie was a complete waste of my time and I would not recommend it to anyone.

- Emily Brown - 2 stars

"Orlando Magic Founded" was a disappointment for me. The plot was confusing and hard to follow, leaving me feeling detached from the story. The characters lacked development and I had a hard time caring about their fates. The cinematography was also lackluster and didn't add anything visually appealing to the film. Overall, I found this movie to be forgettable and not worth the price of admission.

The Building Blocks: The Founding Players of the Orlando Magic