Last March, after playing 42 minutes in a 98-74 win over the Orlando Magic, New York Knicks guard Josh Hart sat in the Madison Square Garden locker room, took a breath and reflected on the night.

The win ended Orlando's five-game winning streak. But just as important — if not more important — to Hart, it negated the Magic's attempts to complete the ritual.

Since November 2023, Orlando has celebrated every win with a social media video, often teasing fans with "Do you want to hear this song?" Post first. The final score graphic is paired with a fast-paced, catchy chorus, "Orlando Magic, Orlando Magic, Orlando Magic, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh."

Hart wasn't shy about expressing his joy at having it go away, at least for that night. When asked about the importance of beating the Magic, he was quick to explain.

"This is really important because I don't want to see the Orlando Magic post their song on TikTok that has some cows dancing in it," he said.

Josh Hart says it’s important for the Knicks to win tonight so he doesn’t see the Magic posting content about dancing cows on TikTok 😂

Stay tuned for Josh's performance of the Orlando Magic song 🎤 pic.twitter.com/EFHfWSPo9M

— Knicks video (@sny_knicks) March 9, 2024

Although Hart calls the song "a song," Orlando hasn't forgotten what inspired him.

When the Magic beat the Knicks on Jan. 6, they released a clip of Hart's commentary. As the beat of the song drops, cattle dance in the background.

It's just one example of how songs following Orlando wins have become a social media phenomenon, bringing new fans to a young, rising team.

As of January 13, they had posted the song 700 times on TikTok, according to data the Magic provided to ESPN. It generated 174 million impressions and 154 million video views, 66 million of which came from the "For You" page.

The posts reached huge heights thanks to a catchy spin on the 1989 Magic's original theme song.

"It's a really cool tradition..." Magic guard Jalen Suggs told ESPN. "There are certain moments in a serious game, in a serious season, where you can just let yourself go a little bit and, you know, have fun, smile and just enjoy the song."

---

Prior to the start of the first season in 1989, Orlando collaborated with Gettings Production to create a player introduction video and on-field dance number. Glenn Gates wrote the song and then found local Disney performers to sing it.

The performers on the original song were the voices behind the catchy: "Orlando Magic, oh, oh, oh oh oh oh." They also sang a two-line verse that included: "Abracadabra, razzamatazz. Slam Dunk sesame ” and then ends the rhyme with “Hocus pocus, alakazam/Gonna set the spirit free.”

"It feels very '80s," Shelly Wilkes, Orlando's executive vice president of marketing and social responsibility, told ESPN. "For some reason, it just took off."

At some point, they stopped using the song in arenas. Wilkes said staff lobbied for its return from time to time, but the answer was always no.

Fans haven't forgotten this either. In November 2021, ESPN's Kevin Clark released a clip of a live performance of the song. Clark said the song didn't get enough appreciation.

It quickly went viral. Within an hour, the Magic's

1000 RT, we will play this in tomorrow's game https://t.co/WWjqHV3AG9

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) November 12, 2021

Orlando performed the song at its next home game, and the song began to gain more attention on social media. Wilkes said that in her 20 years working on the series, the company had never used the song before that night.

In January 2022, the Magic began posting variations on social media around "play that song" or "play the music." It wasn't until a December 2022 win over the Atlanta Hawks that Orlando used it in the form of a post-win meme. The song was featured on TikTok, with pictures of the sheet music and video at the back.

Everything changes for the 2023-24 season. On November 2, 2023, the Magic began posting this message regularly, and it was successful.

"The reason it's gotten so much attention is because they're just so stupid," Wilkes said.

---

The first victory post of the 2023-24 season included a clip of anchor Kai Cenat dancing in the background.

This is the result of the Magic's hard work during the offseason.

Seven social content creators did the bulk of the post-win editing. Ahead of the 2023 season, the Magic's social media content creation team began stocking up on viral videos. It produces a shared folder of content that the team relies on after every win.

"They see everything that's out there and just cut out content that's going viral, or that they think is funny, or that might have some relationship to the opposing team or other cultural conversations," Wilkes said.

Team members will come up with a video idea and put it together before the upcoming competition. The team will browse this video library in preparation, but can make adjustments as the game progresses. The night's opponent also often determines the direction of the video.

The Toronto Raptors were the target of a video in which someone failed to open a bottle of champagne, followed by an impersonation of Canadian rapper Drake.

turn me on pic.twitter.com/2e6vaLnI7y

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) January 4, 2025

"When I say I'm too old to even find these videos," Wilkes joked. “I said to some of them, ‘What the hell is going on?’ But they always made you laugh, and I think part of it was the editing, they always found a rhythm to make some crazy things happen in the editing.”

Memes aside, the song has remained the same, although it has evolved through several versions since its relaunch in Orlando.

The series teams up with Grammy Award-winning producer Ayo ahead of the 2023-24 season. Ayo added a rhythm in the back that would continue throughout the season. This season, after seeing different remixes of the song, Orlando chose to go back to the original version.

Wilkes explained that they thought the original version made the most sense. She did reveal that the team is working on a Brazilian remix for the Magic's Portuguese account.

---

The reason these posts went viral last season is simple: Orlando kept winning. More wins, 47 regular-season wins to be exact, means more opportunities for fans to get into "oh, oh, oh..." mode.

"It's an easy thing to root for, especially after a win. It doesn't matter, the regular season or the playoffs, it's just the energy that comes with it," Suggs said.

Wilkes and her team took inspiration from the Sacramento Kings' "Light the Beam" phenomenon for the 2022-23 season in an attempt to create their own winning tradition that bridges the gap between social media and the on-court experience. By February 2024, they had an answer: bringing players and fans together through postgame video presentations on the field.

That message will then be transformed into its own social post, creating a celebration that connects players with fans directly in person and online.

Yeah Dale play this song pic.twitter.com/Z41YrbNNbI

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) November 28, 2024

The tradition of players like Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr. and Tristan DaSilva jumping on the planks during chants of "Play this song" has spread beyond Orlando to even the Buffalo Bills and Italian soccer giants Juventus also used the song's melody for their own social media posts.

Suggs calls it something that connects players and fans.

"Know that you came out tonight and took care of business, and you can walk off the field with a win. And then we all come together to not only celebrate the dub (or) celebrate the song, but celebrate being one unit, one united voice ," he said.

As it develops, so does player awareness.

Hart's comments come a month after teammate Jalen Brunson praised the Magic's social team.

Credit must go to the amazing social team. Every time I open TikTok I hear "Orlando Magicoooooooooooooo"

— Jalen Brunson (@jalenbrunson1) February 15, 2024

Even though Hart jokingly said he hoped to avoid appearing on the show, he revealed his obsession with the song.

*Open TikTok and go to the Orlando Magic page*

— Josh Hart (@joshhart) May 4, 2024

“It’s really cool for us to get this kind of reaction and popularity and it helps us celebrate these wins,” Wilkes said. "It makes our wins that much more important to the players and the team, right? Because it brings extra attention to winning."

But for opposing players, earworms are not a good thing. However engaging, being on the receiving end isn't all that fun. The song can serve as enough motivation to get a win without hearing it - like it did for Hart.

Suggs doesn't think so. Magic is too powerful to ignore.

"It's a really cool thing, like when you hear a good beat anywhere, how can you not nod?" Suggs said. "They found a great rhythm, had good words behind it, and this is the Orlando Magic; this is us...so how can you not love and support it?"

The next chance Suggs and Orlando have to hear their theme song may be after Friday's game against the Boston Celtics at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.