No one was immune to the effects of the blizzard of 1996, not even the legendary Shaquille O’Neal.
The NBA star was playing with the Orlando Magic at the time, and the team had been en route to Philadelphia where they were set to play the 76ers. However, the severity of the snowstorm forced the closure of Philadelphia International Airport, and the team’s plane had to be diverted to Lehigh Valley International Airport.
A bus was sent to bring the team to what was then the Hilton Hotel at Ninth and Hamilton streets in downtown Allentown, where the team found shelter.
O’Neal and other players held court in the hotel’s sports bar, where they signed autographs for hotel guests and employees who relished in the unexpected visit. Shaq even gave a lengthy interview — while playing several rounds of darts — to a Morning Call sports reporter.
“Shaq finds his magic doesn’t faze mother nature,” blared the front-page headline on the Jan. 9, 1996, edition of The Morning Call, which chronicled the team’s experience being snowbound in Allentown.
O’Neal himself had praise for the Queen City, remarking that it was a “nice town.” “Your downtown is bigger than downtown Orlando,” he added, while noting that he was no fan of the snow and much preferred the Florida sunshine.
You can read The Morning Call’s full account of O’Neal and the Orlando Magic’s Allentown stay below:
‘Shaq’ finds his magic doesn’t faze mother nature
By Sophia Lezin
Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal evokes a knock-kneed type of fear in his opponents. His 7-foot-1, 301-pound physique is an indomitable force on the basketball court.
But yesterday, his “Shaq Attack” was no match against the ultimate power — Mother Nature.
The relentless Blizzard of ’96, which dumped mounds of snow on the region, snarled the travel plans of O’Neal and his Orlando Magic teammates, who are in first place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division.
Their flight destination on Sunday was Philadelphia, where they were to play the 76ers last night. But when the brutish snowfall forced the closing of the airport there, the Magic’s plane had to land at the Lehigh Valley International Airport. A bus was commissioned to deposit them at the Allentown Hilton, where they arrived around 3 p.m.
The Orlando Magic basketball team bus sits outside the Hilton Hotel at Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown. The team was forced to stay in Allentown because Philadelphia International Airport was closed due to the weather during the blizzard of 1996. (Morning Call file photo)
Their game against the 76ers will be made up later in the season.
After finishing off his lunch — a cheeseburger, turkey club sandwich and home fries — at the hotel’s Trophies Sports Salon, O’Neal looked out the window from his seat to survey the snow-covered Hamilton Mall. “I can see it’s a nice town. Your downtown is bigger than downtown Orlando,” he said.
Magic shooting guard Nick Anderson said the snowy view is one he’s familiar with.
“I’m originally from Chicago, so I know all about the snow,” Anderson said. But he said the difference there is, “they make you go to school.”
Orlando Magic players (front) Darrell Armstrong, Nick Anderson and Anthony Bowie look out the window of the Hilton Hotel at Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown during the blizzard of 1996. The team was snowbound there after their plane was diverted to Lehigh Valley International Airport since Philadelphia International Airport, where they were traveling to play the 76ers, was closed due to the storm. (Clarence Elie-Rivera/The Morning Call)
O’Neal and Anderson obviously were antsy to head back to that Orlando sunshine.
“While you all are doing this,” O’Neal said, while rubbing his hands together and pretending to shiver, “I will be in my drop top chillin’ in 75-degree weather.”
Soon after, he quipped, “I think I’m going to write a book — ‘Trapped in Allentown.’”
Then O’Neal, who released the fairly popular rap singles “I Got Skills,” and “My Biological Didn’t Bother,” proceeded with an impromptu rap.
It went like this: “I woke up, there was 50 feet of snow, no where to go. All the stores were closed, frostbite on my nose. Tried to step outside, frostbite on my toes.”
He ended the rhyme with a succession of chuckles.
“The people (in Allentown) are nice,” O’Neal offered. “But I’m a tropical black man.”
Despite the Magic’s intention to jet out of the Valley for Orlando around 4 or 5 p.m. yesterday, the blizzard’s hellish effects on the roads did not allow it. Because of the governor’s ban on travel, airlines had no arriving or departing flights yesterday — and the Magic’s 12 players were held captive in Allentown another night. They leave today — they hope.
While the Magic anticipated their return to Orlando, hotel guests, employees, and bar patrons relished in their unexpected stay.
Remembering the blizzard of 1996 in the Lehigh Valley | PHOTOS
Corinne Tirpok, 17, of Allentown bought a sport magazine and opened it to a page with a Shaq advertisement. Pen in hand, she asked for his autograph and No. 32 obliged.
A star-gazed waitress, wearing a “Christine” name tag, introduced herself to Shaq and inquired how the famed center was doing. Fine, he replied, adding that it was cold here.
O’Neal, clad in a black T-shirt, black corduroy pants and brown boots, even engaged in a game of darts with teammate Darrell Armstrong.
While doing that, one man who appeared to walk in from the street, opened the bar door, spotted Shaq and hollered back to his female companion, “I told you he was in here.”
Another waitress, Jen Gonder, 22, of Allentown noted, “I’ve never seen as much business in this bar as there was (Sunday).”
Most of them were Magic players, she said.
Gonder worked from 10:30 a.m. Sunday till 2 a.m. yesterday, and reported to work eight hours later.
An elementary education major at Kutztown University, Gonder described the Magic’s towering team members as gracious customers.
“They’re very polite, very laid back and relaxed,” she said. “And that was nice to see.”
To the disappointment of some yesterday afternoon, Magic point guard and superstar Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway didn’t venture down to Trophies.
The team’s bus ride from LVIA to the Hilton on Sunday brought back memories for Magic head coach Brian Hill. He was the head coach of Lehigh University’s basketball team from 1975 to 1983.
It’s his first time in the Lehigh Valley since he left, and Hill said he regrets he won’t be able to visit the campus. He did call one of his former players, Bill Griffin of Allentown, who remains the sixth-highest career scorer in Lehigh basketball history. Hill also tried to reach Lehigh athletic director Joe Sterrett, but learned he is at a convention in Dallas.
“I enjoyed my nine years immensely at Lehigh,” Hill said. “All the things I went through there really prepared me for being in the NBA.”
Hill’s hoop dream for the Magic is to “just be the best team we can possibly be, try to make our way to the NBA finals again, and see if we can change the outcome.”