Back In The Day NBA

The Story Behind Shaquille O'Neal Wearing No. 32 Instead Of No. 33 With Orlando Magic

Shandel Richardson

RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports

It appeared O'Neal would continue wearing the number he donned at LSU but things didn't go according to plan. He spent his entire stay with the Magic in a No. 32 jersey.

Here's why:

The No. 33 belonged to Magic player Terry Catledge, who arrived in Orlando three years before O'Neal. Magic owner Pat Hill was under the impression Catledge had no problem giving up the number.

"33 seems to be a big part of Shaquille's life," Hill said. "It was important to him to have that jersey number."

Hill had no idea at the time he was wrong. A local television station (Wesh2) interviewed Catledge at an autograph session before the draft. He told the station he wasn't giving up the number unless: "It depends how much he wants to pay me."

Even though Catledge was smiling at the time, he never relinquished the number. It left O'Neal wearing No. 32 while he played for the Magic.

Some years later, O'Neal addressed the issue while appearing in his role as an analyst on TNT. He was giving a rundown on why he wore certain numbers during his career. He wore 32, 34, 33 and 36 for the six teams he played for.

When asked about why he wore No. 32 in Orlando, he said:


"Because punk a** Terry Catledge tried to make me pay 50,000 dollars," O'Neal said.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson

SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com