With now NBA hall of fame Shaq in attendance, there could be no better way to kick off the premiere of this 30 for 30.
For any fan of the NBA, the 94′-95′ Orlando Magic team was one of the greatest dynasties that never was. When a team goes so far as to make it to the NBA Finals, especially when the team is filled with young talent, you expect them to return the next year with a vengeance. That wasn’t the case with this fabled team as team leader Shaq left the Magic for the Lakers, and this documentary explores the events leading up to that.
The directors Gentry Kirby and Erin Layden discussed the film at the red carpet and offered their perspective on the events of the 90’s. They offered their two cents on why this story was fascinating and how social media might have affected the saga the team endured. With the Magic being the only sports franchise in the city of Orlando, they were already getting all the attention they possibly could from newspapers to television to radio. They also mentioned some stories that didn’t make the cut, such as the time the team got stranded in a hotel in Allentown Pennsylvania with the cast of Sesame Street Live on Ice and Marilyn Manson as well as the secret rap diss track Shaq had made where he erroneously predicted he and the Magic would win the championship.
The biggest red carpet star, in more ways than one, was Shaq himself. He towered over his directors, and with his recent hall of fame announcement, the retirement of his rival and friend Kobe, the film reflecting on his early career and the dozens of fans lining the streets to see him, he certainly had a look of mixed emotions. However, he is as playful as he is big and managed to engage the crowd with some shenanigans involving a box of Entenmann’s donuts.
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