ORLANDO, Fla. — Tuesday night will be big in Orlando Magic history.

Not only will the game feature a matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder, one of the top teams in the Western Conference, but it marks Orlando’s only appearance on TNT or ESPN for the entire 2023-24 regular season. Perhaps the most important of all, however, will be the retirement of former Magic center Shaquille O’Neal’s No. 32 jersey — the first player in franchise history to receive the honor.

The jersey retirement after Tuesday night’s game will be a recognition of the Big Fella’s outstanding performance as a Magic player and the contributions he made to the team’s future in the league.

The Magic selected O’Neal No. 1 overall out of LSU in the 1992 NBA Draft, their first overall No. 1 pick. By the 1994-95 season, he led the Magic to an NBA Finals matchup with the Houston Rockets. The rest of the starting lineup featured All-Star point guard Penny Hardaway, powerful shooting guard Nick Anderson, sharp-shooting small forward Dennis Scott and power forward Horace Grant.

In four seasons in Orlando, O’Neal averaged 27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in 295 games. In addition to the 1995 Finals, the Magic made the 1996 Eastern Conference Finals, where they fell to the Bulls on the first of Chicago’s second run to three consecutive championships.

He was honored as NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1992-93 season and was selected to three All NBA teams and four All-Star Games in his four seasons with the Magic. He also made the 1996 Men's U.S. Olympic Basketball Team.

Without him, Orlando would not become as well known in the NBA as quickly as it did, starting with his first season with the franchise in 1992-93.

As important as O’Neal’s contributions were on the court, however, was his larger-than-life personality, which attracted fans in Orlando and throughout the world to him. Off the court, he was engaging, playful, entertaining and was active in the Orlando community, and he freely moved about at restaurants, clubs and on the lake where he had his massive Isleworth estate, interacting with the people he met.

He also was an advocate for law enforcement in Central Florida. His rap records sold well throughout the country and roles in commercials and movies were just more avenues for him to spread his appeal. His mother, Lucille, became a household name.

As he became more and more famous, so did his teammates. Hardaway was featured in a nationwide ad campaign for Nike with his alter-ego “Little Penny,” voiced by comedian Chris Rock, and he became an All-Star and a member of the U.S. Men’s Olympic Team. Scott’s record-setting 3-point shooting helped open up the middle for O’Neal’s thundering dunks, including ones that brought down basketball stanchions and forced the NBA to reinforce them. Grant brought the skills, knowledge and added power that helped the Bulls reach their first three championships and was key to Orlando’s defense. Anderson was a major scorer and a big defender at shooting guard, too.

O’Neal’s departure from the franchise to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent was bitter for Orlando and created a divide between fans who blamed the team and ownership and those who thought it was the fault of O’Neal and his agent.

Not only that, but it came in a year when there were no NBA collective bargaining rules giving teams rights of first refusal to keep their draft picks after their first contracts, which the NBA has now. The Magic received no compensation, and O’Neal’s departure, along with injuries to Hardaway, led to the eventual first rebuild of the team after the 1998-99 season.

Time has healed those wounds, and 28 years later, Orlando is retiring his jersey, recognizing the historical importance of his role to the Magic. O’Neal will become only the second player in NBA history to have his jersey retired by three teams, the other being center Wilt Chamberlain. O'Neal's number already has been retired by the Lakers and the Miami Heat, teams that he led to NBA championships.

TNT has taken note, too. The announcement by the Magic of O’Neal’s jersey retirement came live on a network pregame show.

“When someone asks who was the first player to officially put the Orlando Magic on the map, the answer is simple — Shaquille O’Neal,” Magic Chief Executive Officer Alex Martins said on the broadcast. “He took this franchise to new heights, both on and off the court, and his legacy is still felt within our organization today. On behalf of the DeVos family, we are excited to honor Shaquille by raising #32 into the rafters of the Kia Center, where it will remain forever.”

The network also has exclusive coverage for Tuesday night’s game. In addition to O’Neal, who is a regular on TNT’s studio’s show, broadcasters will feature Scott, O’Neal’s former teammate, and former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who coached Orlando and then-center Dwight Howard to the 2009 NBA Finals. That is attention that the Magic have not received from national broadcasters since the team went to the 2009 Finals.

The game comes after Orlando (29-24) won back-to-back matchups against the San Antonio Spurs and the Bulls and is fighting to reach the NBA playoffs with another young core of players during its 35^th anniversary season. The Thunder (36-17) are also one of the NBA’s youngest teams, perhaps at least a year ahead of the Magic in their rebuild, and will be a major challenge for Orlando. Oklahoma City’s roster includes All-Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the same year that the Magic drafted All-Star Paolo Banchero No. 1 overall.