Other than its sports-starved fans, no one was more thrilled that the city of Orlando joined the NBA than Michael Jordan. The Magic welcomed him with open shots.

The Magic really got Michael's tongue waggin'. He averaged 32.7 points against them during his career as a Chicago Bull. He probably could score double digits against their 15-37 team today — as he turns 50.

While Jordan bedeviled them with scrapbook performances, the Magic surprisingly left a few marks on Michael's legacy.

Here are the five most memorable moments between the Magic and MJ:

His Airness arrives: Every game for fans was an event in their inaugural season. Dec. 20, 1989, was special because of one man: Michael.

Already a legend in his sixth season, Jordan was playing at Orlando Arena — aka the O-rena — for the first time, creating a rock-star buzz. One fan held up a sign that read, "Michael, did you eat your Wheaties?"

It was as if the superstar's likeness had leapt off the cereal box, scoring 52 points — 20 above his league-leading scoring average. Only Jordan could surpass his hype.

"There's Michael, and then there's everybody else," Magic Johnson said.

Actually, the night couldn't have gone any better for Orlando. Fans witnessed Air Jordan in full flight and their gritty expansion-team underdogs pull off a 110-109 upset.

Jordan had led the Bulls to a rout over the Magic the previous week in Chicago, scoring 38 points in just 25 minutes. This time, surrounded by three defenders, he hit a 15-foot bank shot with seven seconds left to put the Bulls ahead of the Magic, 109-108.

Jordan, however, was trumped by an unlikely hero: Magic small forward Otis Smith. Smith finished with 28 points, including the game-winner, after weeks of struggling with his role off the bench.

Magic coach Matt Guokas, now the team's television analyst, drew up a play with two seconds remaining for him. Smith drove by Jordan and Scottie Pippen for a layup to send the crowd into a frenzy.

"'Michael had 52, and I was on him most of the night. I don't feel real good about that,"' said Smith, who would become the Magic's general manager in 2006. "I tossed and turned all night trying to figure out how to stop him."

Someone had Michael's number: The biggest steal of the night came before the Magic hosted the Bulls on Feb. 14, 1990, at Orlando Arena: Jordan's famed No. 23 jersey had been stolen out of the Bulls' locker room before the game.

Looking to find the culprit, security searched the building and employees were interviewed.

The Bulls resorted to scanning the crowd hoping to buy or borrow a replica No. 23 jersey off the back of a fan. But, as the story goes, a kid they found wearing one was several sizes too small to fit Jordan.

A Bulls trainer had packed an extra jersey just in case. Jordan took the floor wearing a uniform with the No. 12 and had no name on the back — a bizarre look for a star recognized throughout the world.

And apparently, Michael lost some of his superpowers after the wardrobe heist.

The Magic won 135-129 in overtime, surviving Jordan's 49-point effort on a raucous night. Guokas was ejected for the first time in his NBA coaching career, his rage ignited after a technical foul called against Nick Anderson.

The Magic's late comeback was fueled by Scott Skiles' 3-point shooting and a circus shot by Smith.

After the game, Jordan was still upset that his jersey had been pilfered out of his locker.

"That has never happened to me before," Jordan said. "It's pretty irritating because you're accustomed to certain things and you don't like to have things misplaced."

Jordan's 64 not enough: All you needed to know about Jordan's greatness was this:

Playing with a sore wrist, he torched the Magic for 64 points on Jan. 16, 1993 — and it wasn't even his career high (which was 69). Despite his heroics, Chicago lost to Orlando in overtime, 128-124.

Michael also made another point, as he often did.

Rookie Shaquille O'Neal, touted as the NBA's next great superstar, was making his first visit to Chicago Stadium. Jordan reminded Shaq that he was still the king.

He scored 22 points in the first quarter, eight in the second, 11 in the third, 16 in the fourth and 7 in overtime. He put on a deadly shooting display early and wound up hitting 27 of 49 shots.

Statement delivered.

But it would be the third time that Jordan had scored at least 45 points in three games that season against the Magic, with the Bulls losing all three.

Scott Skiles scored 31 points and Shaq finished with 29 points and a team-record 24 rebounds. Anderson hit a 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He then converted an odd three-point play with 1:05 remaining in OT.

Anderson hit one free throw, missed the second and put back the rebound. He added two free throws with 25 seconds left to secure the victory for an emerging Magic team that would test Jordan's supremacy during the next several seasons.

"We just gave away the game," Jordan said. "We played good enough, but we just made some dumb plays. When you blow a six-point lead in less than a minute, there is something wrong with that. Getting 64 points doesn't mean anything when you lose."

The second coming: After stunning the world with his retirement on Oct. 6, 1993, and flirting with minor-league baseball the following summer, Jordan issued a two-word statement as equally stunning on March 18, 1995: "I'm back."

And back he was, citing his "love of the game." He made his comeback on the road in Indianapolis, saying, "I didn't want to go through the hype at home."

But there was plenty of hype anyway when he returned to play at the United Center, facing the Magic, who had become a league force without Jordan in the picture.