30 luckiest sports franchises

8. Orlando Magic

It’s weird to say that the Orlando Magic made it to an NBA Finals in a time when the Boston Celtics had their Big Three roaming the court and LeBron James was reaching his potential in Cleveland with the Cavaliers, but it did happen.

The Magic had some solid years with Dwight Howard leading the squad and Hedo Turkoglu , Rashard Lewis and Jameer Nelson in their peaks, but it didn’t look like they’d be able to truly take advantage of the talent when the Celtics brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to Boston to side with Paul Pierce. The Celtics dominated the Eastern Conference in 2008, and looked like they wouldn’t be stopped while the three were all on the court together.

However, all good things must come to an end, and the Celtics’ dominance against their Eastern Conference rivals was hindered by a big ACL injury to Kevin Garnett early on in the year. With the Celtics now hobbled, the Magic swooped in and earned their way to the 2009 NBA Finals.

In addition to that madness, the team is historically one of the luckiest teams in the NBA Draft Lottery, as they earned back-to-back number one picks (which, if you haven’t seen the Magic Moment 30 for 30 that documents this historic moment, you should) to gain Shaquille O’Neal and then Chris Webber, which they turned into Penny Hardaway and more picks in the process.

They’ve had luck on the court, and especially off of the court, but just haven’t been able to utilize any of it to win themselves an NBA Finals in their history.