1998–99 Orlando Magic season

The 1998–99 NBA season was the tenth season for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.

The Magic had three first-round draft picks in the 1998 NBA draft, selecting center Michael Doleac from the University of Utah with the twelfth overall pick, power forward Keon Clark from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas with the thirteenth overall pick, and small forward Matt Harpring out of Georgia Tech University with the fifteenth overall pick. However, Clark never played for the Magic, and was later on traded to the Denver Nuggets. During the off-season, the Magic signed free agents Isaac Austin, and former All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins, who previously played overseas in Italy, and would become teammates with his younger brother Gerald Wilkins.

At mid-season, the team signed free agent B.J. Armstrong, who was previously released by the Los Angeles Lakers, who acquired him from the Charlotte Hornets in a mid-season trade. The Magic played solid basketball winning 14 of their first 18 games of the regular season, then won their final four games, and finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with a 33–17 record, earning the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference, and returning to the NBA playoffs after a one-year absence.

After missing most of the previous season with a knee injury, Penny Hardaway played all 50 games, but his scoring had decreased as he averaged 15.8 points, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game. In addition, Nick Anderson provided the team with 14.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game, while Darrell Armstrong had a breakout season averaging 13.8 points, 6.7 assists and 2.2 steals per game, and was named the NBA Sixth Man of the Year, and also the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year. Austin averaged 9.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, while Horace Grant provided with 8.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, Harpring contributed 8.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and Bo Outlaw averaged 6.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, but only played 31 games due to a leg injury. Harpring was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, while Doleac was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

However, in the Eastern Conference First Round of the 1999 NBA playoffs, the Magic lost to the 6th–seeded Philadelphia 76ers in four games. Following the season, head coach Chuck Daly retired, while Hardaway was traded to the Phoenix Suns after six seasons in Orlando, Anderson, the only member left from the team's inaugural season, was traded to the Sacramento Kings after ten seasons in Orlando, Grant was dealt to the Seattle SuperSonics, Austin was sent to the Washington Wizards, and B.J. Armstrong re-signed as a free agent with his former team, the Chicago Bulls. Both of the Wilkins' brothers, and veteran center Danny Schayes all retired.

For the season, the Magic changed their uniforms replacing the pinstripes with visible stars, and side panels on their jerseys and shorts, which remained in use until 2003.