Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown is an annual event that showcases the incredible athleticism and dunking skills of the Orlando Magic basketball players. This event is a fan favorite and draws a large crowd every year. The main idea of the Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown is to highlight the incredible dunks and aerial displays that these professional basketball players are capable of. The Orlando Magic players compete against each other in a series of high-flying dunk contests, showcasing their creativity, agility, and hops. Fans get to witness some jaw-dropping slams, as the players go above the rim with dunks that defy gravity. The event is known for its electrifying atmosphere, with the crowd cheering and screaming in excitement after each dunk.
The event is known for its electrifying atmosphere, with the crowd cheering and screaming in excitement after each dunk. The Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown is not just about the players' individual skills but also about the camaraderie and teamwork within the team. The players motivate and encourage each other, pushing their limits to showcase their best dunks.
Heat hail Haslem in 123-110 win over Magic, with play-in showdown next against Hawks
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro shoots against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade and forward Udonis Haslem at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem speaks to the media after beating the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem gestures after a basket against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem dunks against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat guard Victor Oladipo drives the ball against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra gestures during his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem gestures after a basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem drives the ball against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade holds his daughter Kaavia James Union Wade as he gestures at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade holds up Udonis Haslem''s jersey at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem warms up before his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem sits in a rocking chair before his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem waves to the crowd after beating the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson shoots against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem hugs head coach Erik Spoelstra as he checks out of his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Duncan Robinson looks to shoot against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami. (John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem is congratulated by teammates after a basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem drives the ball against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade hugs forward Udonis Haslem at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem dunks against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem sits near the bench during his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry drives the ball against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo jokes with forward Udonis Haslem before his game against the Orlando Magic at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Former Miami Heat player Dwyane Wade hugs forward Udonis Haslem at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem drives the ball against Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
John McCall/South Florida Sun Sentinel Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem dunks against the Orlando Magic during the first half at Kaseya Center on Sunday, April 9, 2023 in Miami.
Show Caption By Ira Winderman | [email protected] | South Florida Sun Sentinel PUBLISHED: April 9, 2023 at 4:10 p.m. | UPDATED: April 24, 2023 at 2:33 p.m.On the eve of something dramatically and desperately new for the franchise, the Miami Heat first paid tribute to someone enduring and exemplary.
In a game with no impact on their place in the standings, the Heat instead put the focus Sunday on the final regular-season game of the 20-season career of 42-year-old team captain Udonis Haslem.
For the Heat, the 123-110 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic stood secondary to the tribute to Haslem, who arrived undrafted in 2003 and went on to contribute to three championships during his two decades with his hometown team.
Haslem received numerous ovations during his 24-point performance, including when he finished an alley-oop dunk and converted three 3-pointers, a career high for any previous season.
“I probably couldn’t have envisioned it going any better,” Haslem said.
Neither could his coach.
“It was an amazing day,” Erik Spoelstra said. “UD is the ultimate gamer of all gamers.”
Haslem checked out with 58.9 seconds to play to a standing ovation. The effort tied his second-highest scoring total in a regular-season game.
“I just wanted to ride the wave until the game was over,” he said. “I just wanted to go out and put on a good show.”
As for the game itself, it mostly was a vehicle for the Heat’s rotation regulars to briefly get some cardio, with the exception of forward Jimmy Butler, who was given the day off for rest.
What follows will be the most consequential moment of the season, Tuesday’s play-in game against the visiting Atlanta Hawks at 7:30 p.m.
If the Heat win that game, they will receive the No. 7 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference and play the No. 2 Boston Celtics in the best-of-seven opening round of the playoffs. If the Heat lose, they will play on Friday night host the winner of Wednesday night’s Chicago Bulls-Toronto Raptors game for the No. 8 East playoff seed and a first-round matchup against the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks.
Should the Heat go without a win in that play-in round, they would miss the playoffs and be seeded into the NBA draft lottery.
“I think this is going to be fun,” Spoelstra said of the play-in round. “You have to embrace this new experience.”
The Heat closed 44-38, down from last season’s 53-29 finish.
Five Degrees of Heat from Sunday’s game:
1. As for the game: The Magic led 24-23 after the first quarter, before the Heat moved to a 52-50 lead at halftime. Orlando then took an 85-82 lead into the fourth.
From there, a 16-0 run put the Heat up 102-89.
In addition to Haslem’s 24, The Heat got a season-high 20 points from Duncan Robinson, 19 from Victor Oladipo, 18 from Jamal Cain and 14 from Omer Yurtseven.
“It’s always good for him to see a bunch of shots go in,” Spoelstra said of Robinson.
As for Cain, who is ineligible for playoffs on his two-way contract, Spoelstra said, “I thought Jamal just played with a tremendous energy and athleticism.”
In an oddity of the type of day it was, the Heat closed with 111 bench points.
2. Haslem-a-thon: The focus singularly was on Haslem, who entered to a rousing ovation with 9:05 to play in the first quarter, his first appearance since Feb. 2 and just his seventh of the season.
He then missed his first attempt, a baseline drive, but then converted a driving layup for his first score, and, after two missed attempts from beyond the arc, converted a 3-pointer. It was his first 3-pointer since March 28, 2022, against the Sacramento Kings and just the seventh of his 20-season career.
Along the way, he grabbed two rebounds before the game’s first timeout, extending his Heat all-time career record.
“He pushed the rebounding record a little bit,” Adebayo said of a record he said he someday hopes to own.
Later in the opening period, Haslem finished an alley-oop play from Duncan Robinson with a dunk, giving him 13 points in the opening period, matching the highest-scoring quarter of his career and the most points he had scored in a game since 2015.
The previous time Haslem had scored in double figures in a game was Dwyane Wade’s career finale at the end of 2018-19.
Of Haslem’s three 3-pointers, Spoelstra said, “We’ve been developing him as that stretch four for a while.”
Haslem closed 9 of 17 from the field, 3 of 7 on 3-pointers, 3 of 3 from the line, with three rebounds in his 24:56.
“He just took care of it all. He checked all of the boxes,” Spoelstra said of Haslem seizing the day.
3. Pregame tribute: In addition to various video montagues throughout the game, Haslem addressed the crowd pregame.
“Whether I was starting, whether I was the first guy off the bench, or whether I didn’t play at all, you guys always had my back and showed love,” he said. “For me, that’s priceless. That’s beautiful. And that’s why it made it all so easy, just to sacrifice everything.”
Center Bam Adebayo presented Haslem with a rocking chair during the brief pregame ceremony that had the Haslem family alongside.
“There you go man,” Adebayo quipped, “take your seat.”
Wade, who watched from courtside in a Haslem jersey, praised Haslem during a televised interview.
“People talk about Hall of Fame careers.” said Wade, who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in August, “but they don’t talk about role-player careers and what they mean for the team and for the franchise.”
Wade called Haslem the “greatest Miami Heat of all-time.”
Of the day, Haslem said, “I was trying to take in everything.”
4. Last legs: Despite only a two-day turnaround before their play-in opener, the Heat opened with four of their regular starters, with Adebayo, Max Strus, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent on the court for the opening tip.
With Butler given a second consecutive game off, Haywood Highsmith rounded out the starting lineup.
“You need that type of activity, that type of real game going on,” Adebayo said. “It was being able to get out there and really run and enjoy the moment.”
Vincent played just the opening 7:19, Adebayo the opening 7:56, Herro the first 8:40 and Strus the initial 10:38. There also were brief, first-half cameos from Kyle Lowry and Kevin Love.
The Heat then opened the second half with Haslem, Highsmith, Yurtseven, Robinson and Oladipo.
5. New look: The game was the first for the Heat since the building was renamed the Kaseya Center, with the logo of the Miami software company painted in two places on the court and a temporary sign at the building’s entrance.
The Heat previously played this season with the facility called FTX Arena, The Arena and Miami-Dade Arena.
Kaseya branding also was in place for Saturday night’s UFC event at the building.
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The event also serves as a platform for the players to connect with their fans on a more personal level. Fans get to see their favorite players up close and witness their amazing athleticism firsthand. Overall, the Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown is an incredible showcase of the incredible athleticism and skills of the Orlando Magic basketball players. It is a thrilling event that brings fans closer to the game and allows them to witness the awe-inspiring dunks that these players are capable of..
Reviews for "Orlando Magic's Great Debate: Who Had the Most Jaw-dropping Dunk in Franchise History?"
1. John - 1/5 - I was extremely disappointed with the "Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown." The show lacked creativity and excitement. The performances felt repetitive, and there was a lack of variety in the acts. The overall production quality was low, and it seemed like the organizers hadn't put much effort into making it a memorable experience for the audience. I would not recommend attending this event if you are looking for an entertaining and captivating show.
2. Sarah - 2/5 - I attended the "Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown" with high expectations, but it fell short on many levels. The performances lacked synchronization and precision, making them look sloppy and unimpressive. The event's organization was subpar, with long wait times and a confusing schedule. Additionally, the ticket prices were too high for the quality of the show. Overall, I was left feeling underwhelmed and would not consider attending another Magic Showdown in the future.
3. Mike - 2/5 - The "Orlando Magic Above the Rim Showdown" was a letdown for me. The performances lacked the wow factor I was expecting from a showcase of this nature. Many of the acts were repetitive and didn't bring anything new or exciting to the table. The event felt disorganized, with long breaks between performances and a lack of flow. I left the show feeling unimpressed and would advise others to save their money and find a different entertainment option in Orlando.