Over the years, the Orlando Magic have produced some of the best talents in the game. The next big name to rock Magic colors following the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard has been Paolo Banchero. He was the first overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and was expected to do big things in the league. Thankfully, he has lived up to the expectations and has been recently announced as the 2023 NBA Rookie of the Year. As Banchero soaks in his success, Shaq and many others recently came together to celebrate despite the clouds of a frustrating career moment reappearing.

In a series of posts shared by the Orlando Magic’s official Instagram handle, Shaq is seen celebrating with the youngster along with some other big names. Interestingly, he is not the only superstar from the sports world who was present at the party.

Shaquille O’Neal joins the likes of Lewis Hamilton to celebrate Paolo Banchero’s success

The 2022-23 NBA season had one of the most closely contested MVP races in league history. While many speculated over the MVP rankings, the Rookie of the Year was decided a while ago. Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic bagged the crown but not without any controversy.

Recently, he was spotted with Shaq and Lewis Hamilton among many others. The seven time F1 World Champion was present in the Sports Illustrated party in honor of Banchero’s success in Miami. Interestingly, Hamilton was the host of the huge bash.

Shaq, Jamie Salter, Mike Miller and many others were part of the celebrations. Interestingly, the Magic’s official Instagram handle posted a heartwarming picture involving the three Rookie of the Years.

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The picture had Shaq, Banchero and Miller. While O’Neal won the ROY award in 1993, Miller won the award in 2001. The Magic certainly know how to host elite rookies!

Banchero narrowly missed out on making basketball history

Winning an award unanimously is a huge achievement for any athlete. Paolo Banchero could have been only the sixth rookie to win the ROTY unanimously. However, his dreams were shattered by Andy Larsen, a Utah Jazz beat reporter, who voted for Walker Kessler.

Interestingly, even Shaquille O’Neal narrowly missed out from becoming the first ever unanimous MVP. While all the other voters had their votes on Shaq, one vote went to Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers. Although Shaq still won the 2000 MVP award, that one vote still hurts him. Instead of Big Shaq, Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry became the first ever unanimous MVP in 2016.

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Do you think Paolo Banchero can win the MVP award in the future? Let us know in the comments below.