{"id":81697,"date":"2026-01-08T21:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/81697\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T21:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:33:10","slug":"blizzard-of-1996-stranded-shaquille-oneal-orlando-magic-in-allentown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/81697\/","title":{"rendered":"Blizzard of 1996 stranded Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando Magic in Allentown"},"content":{"rendered":"

No one was immune to the effects of the blizzard of 1996<\/a>, not even the legendary Shaquille O\u2019Neal.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s plane had to be diverted to Lehigh Valley International Airport.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal and other players held court in the hotel\u2019s sports bar, where they signed autographs for hotel guests and employees who relished in the unexpected visit. Shaq even gave a lengthy interview \u2014 while playing several rounds of darts \u2014 to a Morning Call sports reporter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cShaq finds his magic doesn\u2019t faze mother nature,<\/a>\u201d blared the front-page headline on the Jan. 9, 1996, edition of The Morning Call, which chronicled the team\u2019s experience being snowbound in Allentown.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal himself had praise for the Queen City, remarking that it was a \u201cnice town.\u201d \u201cYour downtown is bigger than downtown Orlando,\u201d he added, while noting that he was no fan of the snow and much preferred the Florida sunshine.<\/p>\n

You can read The Morning Call\u2019s full account of O\u2019Neal and the Orlando Magic\u2019s Allentown stay below:<\/p>\n

\u2018Shaq\u2019 finds his magic doesn\u2019t faze mother nature<\/p>\n

By Sophia Lezin<\/p>\n

Shaquille \u201cShaq\u201d O\u2019Neal 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.<\/p>\n

But yesterday, his \u201cShaq Attack\u201d was no match against the ultimate power \u2014 Mother Nature.<\/p>\n

The relentless Blizzard of \u201996, which dumped mounds of snow on the region, snarled the travel plans of O\u2019Neal and his Orlando Magic teammates, who are in first place in the NBA\u2019s Eastern Conference Atlantic Division.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe 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)<\/p>\n

Their game against the 76ers will be made up later in the season.<\/p>\n

After finishing off his lunch \u2014 a cheeseburger, turkey club sandwich and home fries \u2014 at the hotel\u2019s Trophies Sports Salon, O\u2019Neal looked out the window from his seat to survey the snow-covered Hamilton Mall. \u201cI can see it\u2019s a nice town. Your downtown is bigger than downtown Orlando,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Magic shooting guard Nick Anderson said the snowy view is one he\u2019s familiar with.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m originally from Chicago, so I know all about the snow,\u201d Anderson said. But he said the difference there is, \u201cthey make you go to school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoOrlando 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)<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal and Anderson obviously were antsy to head back to that Orlando sunshine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile you all are doing this,\u201d O\u2019Neal said, while rubbing his hands together and pretending to shiver, \u201cI will be in my drop top chillin\u2019 in 75-degree weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after, he quipped, \u201cI think I\u2019m going to write a book \u2014 \u2018Trapped in Allentown.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Then O\u2019Neal, who released the fairly popular rap singles \u201cI Got Skills,\u201d and \u201cMy Biological Didn\u2019t Bother,\u201d proceeded with an impromptu rap.<\/p>\n

It went like this: \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He ended the rhyme with a succession of chuckles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people (in Allentown) are nice,\u201d O\u2019Neal offered. \u201cBut I\u2019m a tropical black man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the Magic\u2019s intention to jet out of the Valley for Orlando around 4 or 5 p.m. yesterday, the blizzard\u2019s hellish effects on the roads did not allow it. Because of the governor\u2019s ban on travel, airlines had no arriving or departing flights yesterday \u2014 and the Magic\u2019s 12 players were held captive in Allentown another night. They leave today \u2014 they hope.<\/p>\n

While the Magic anticipated their return to Orlando, hotel guests, employees, and bar patrons relished in their unexpected stay.<\/p>\n

Remembering the blizzard of 1996 in the Lehigh Valley | PHOTOS<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

A star-gazed waitress, wearing a \u201cChristine\u201d name tag, introduced herself to Shaq and inquired how the famed center was doing. Fine, he replied, adding that it was cold here.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Neal, clad in a black T-shirt, black corduroy pants and brown boots, even engaged in a game of darts with teammate Darrell Armstrong.<\/p>\n

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, \u201cI told you he was in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another waitress, Jen Gonder, 22, of Allentown noted, \u201cI\u2019ve never seen as much business in this bar as there was (Sunday).\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of them were Magic players, she said.<\/p>\n

Gonder worked from 10:30 a.m. Sunday till 2 a.m. yesterday, and reported to work eight hours later.<\/p>\n

An elementary education major at Kutztown University, Gonder described the Magic\u2019s towering team members as gracious customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very polite, very laid back and relaxed,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that was nice to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

To the disappointment of some yesterday afternoon, Magic point guard and superstar Anfernee \u201cPenny\u201d Hardaway didn\u2019t venture down to Trophies.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s 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\u2019s basketball team from 1975 to 1983.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s his first time in the Lehigh Valley since he left, and Hill said he regrets he won\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed my nine years immensely at Lehigh,\u201d Hill said. \u201cAll the things I went through there really prepared me for being in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill\u2019s hoop dream for the Magic is to \u201cjust 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

SNOW CAN\u2019T SLOW DOWN SHAQ\u2019S FUN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No one was immune to the effects of the blizzard of 1996, not even the legendary Shaquille O\u2019Neal.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81698,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,433,182,4794,139,434,28,726,432],"class_list":{"0":"post-81697","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news","11":"tag-lehigh-county","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-northampton-county","16":"tag-pennsylvania","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81697\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}