Nikola Vucevic has spent most of his career criticized and struggling with defeat. With some records in sight, he deserves a place among the best.

There was always something missing from Nikola Vucevic‘s Orlando Magic resume. It was the most obvious thing missing after six years of putting up solid numbers and still facing these doubts.

He had not won.

Nikola Vucevic understood this as well as anyone else. He was a near-All-Star in 2016 and a constant double-double producer, but team success eluded him. And that is ultimately what mattered to him, as it would any player.

He faced criticism that his numbers were empty. That it was his defense, admittedly not his best trait, holding the entire team back. He was the team’s best player and shouldered a lot of responsibility for the team’s constant struggles for much of his seven years in Orlando.

The Magic lacked all direction and Vucevic suffered most for it. He was the good soldier who did his work and put up his numbers with little complaint.

As much as anyone, he wanted to win in Orlando. This had become his home. The place where he began building his family. It would be hard to envision him going anywhere else.

Each trade deadline seemed to bring another wave of rumors and pushes to move on from Vucevic, perhaps as a symbolic gesture of moving on from this forgettable era itself.

Vucevic kept putting in his work. He continued to post double-doubles and climb the leaderboards in Magic history.

Then he finally had his breakthrough. An All-Star appearance, a playoff run and a stellar season — 20.8 points, 12.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. It helped him earn a new four-year contract and cement his place in the team’s near-term future as they try to make the playoffs again.

It also cemented Vucevic’s place in Magic history. No matter how anyone slices it or what happens next, Vucevic should go down as one of the very best players to play with the Magic.