Amway Arena Implosion Video: Watch Orlando Magic's Former Home Crumble
The Orlando Magic and their fans said goodbye to their franchise's heartbreaking history in destructive fashion on Sunday when the 23-year-old Amway Arena was imploded with more than 500 pounds of dynamite.
The Magic have been playing at the 18-month-old Amway Center since leaving the former arena (and now empty lot) after the 2009-10 season, and won't return home from their two-game road trip until Friday night against the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, giving the dust ample time to settle, literally.
The dynamite hopefully erased some bitter memories for the oh-so-close franchise, which came up short in both the 1995 and 2009 NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets and LA Lakers, respectively. Orlando won only one game combined in those two series, the lone win coming at Amway Arena in Game 3 of the 2009 NBA Finals.
Things look to be improving for the Orlando Magic, however, considering they have already turned over a new leaf and started anew with the birth of the Amway Center, where they are 18-8 this season.
At times it looked like the Magic's season and franchise were on the verge of imploding as if they were Sunday's $2 million demolition project, but their fortunes quickly turned around.
Unlike superstar center Shaquille O'Neal in the late 1990s, Dwight Howard made the decision to remain in the Magic Kingdom, and that means the future is not foggy and clouded with dust like downtown Orlando, but bright.
Still, I would hate to see what the Magic would have done to the city if Howard actually opted out of his deal.
