Question: The 1996–97 NBA season was the Magic's which ordinal number season, in the National Basketball Association, after losing Shaquille O'Neal via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason, the Magic signed free agent Gerald Bernard Wilkins, a retired American professional basketball player?
Context: The 1996–97 NBA season was the Los Angeles Lakers' 49th season in the National Basketball Association, and 37th in the city of Los Angeles.  During the offseason, the Lakers signed free agent All-Star center Shaquille O'Neal to a seven-year, $120 million deal, and acquired high school star Kobe Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets, who selected him with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA draft.  Other offseason acquisitions included signing former Lakers guard Byron Scott, and free agents Jerome Kersey and Sean Rooks.  In January, they traded Cedric Ceballos back to the Phoenix Suns for Robert Horry, who won championships with the Houston Rockets.  O'Neal finished fourth in the league in scoring averaging 26.2 points per game, but only played just 51 games due to a knee injury. The 1992–93 NBA season was the Magic's fourth season in the National Basketball Association.  This season held a lot of promise as Shaquille O'Neal was drafted first overall by the Magic in the 1992 NBA draft.  Meanwhile, the Magic signed free agent Donald Royal during the offseason.  There were predictions that O'Neal would become the next dominant center in the NBA.  Shaq became an instant superstar with merchandising that rivaled only Michael Jordan.  The Magic started to show improvement winning eight of their first eleven games, but then lost six straight afterwards.  In December, the team acquired Steve Kerr from the Cleveland Cavaliers.  However, the Magic had various problems with injuries as Dennis Scott was out with a sore Achilles tendon at midseason, as the Magic lost a tie-breaker for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference to the Indiana Pacers with a 41–41 record. The 1998–99 NBA season was the Mavericks' 19th season in the National Basketball Association.  In the offseason, the Mavericks acquired point guard Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns, traded their top draft pick Robert Traylor to the Milwaukee Bucks for rookie Dirk Nowitzki, signed free agent Gary Trent and released Khalid Reeves to free agency.  In a season shortened by a four-month lockout, the young Mavericks still struggled losing eight of their first nine games, but began to show promise by posting their first winning record at home in ten years at 15–10.  However, with Cedric Ceballos only playing just 13 games due to a wrist injury, they were still a mile away from the playoffs as they finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 19–31 record.  Michael Finley led the team averaging 20.2 points per game.  Following the season, A.C. Green was traded back to the Los Angeles Lakers, and Samaki Walker signed as a free agent with the San Antonio Spurs. The Los Angeles Lakers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California that competes in the National Basketball Association (NBA), which was formerly called the Basketball Association of America (BAA).  Since 1999, the Lakers have played their home games at Staples Center.  The Lakers' franchise was founded in 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The first owners purchased the disbanded Gems from Detroit, Michigan, then renamed and moved the team.  It was in Minneapolis where the Lakers received their official title from Minnesota's nickname, Land of 10,000 Lakes.  The Lakers won five championships before relocating to Los Angeles for the 1960–61 NBA season.  The Lakers went on to lose all of their eight appearances in the NBA Finals in the 1960s, despite the presence of Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.  In , the Lakers compiled a 33-game winning streak, the longest streak in U.S. professional team sports, and won their sixth title, under coach Bill Sharman.  The Lakers' popularity soared in the 1980s when they won five additional championships during a nine-year span with the help of Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and coach Pat Riley, the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins.  Two of those championships during that span were against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics.  With the help of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers played in seven NBA Finals between 2000 and 2010, winning three of them consecutively from 2000 to 2002, losing the next two in 2004 and 2008, and winning in 2009 and 2010; the last three appearances were without O'Neal. The 2002–03 NBA season was the 14th season for the Orlando Magic in the National Basketball Association.  During the offseason, the Magic signed free agent All-Star forward Shawn Kemp.  The rise of Tracy McGrady into a superstar was completed as he won his first scoring title with 32.1 points per game, while being selected for the 2003 NBA All-Star Game.  However, with Grant Hill playing just 29 games due to injury, and Horace Grant only playing just five games with a sore left knee, it seemed as if he was all alone again.  Midway through the season, the Magic traded Mike Miller to the Memphis Grizzlies for rookie Drew Gooden as they finished fourth in the Atlantic Division with a record of 42–40.  However, in the first round of the playoffs, they lost to the top-seeded Detroit Pistons four games to three after taking a 3–1 series lead.  Following the season, Kemp retired, Darrell Armstrong signed as a free agent with the New Orleans Hornets, and Grant re-signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Gerald Bernard Wilkins (born September 11, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player.  A 6'6" (1.98 m) shooting guard/small forward, who played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before a career in the NBA. The 1996–97 NBA season was the Grizzlies' second season in the National Basketball Association.  Coming off of an NBA worst record of 15–67 in their first season, the Grizzlies acquired Anthony Peeler and George Lynch from the Los Angeles Lakers, and signed free agent Lee Mayberry during the offseason.  However, they continued to struggle in their second season losing their first seven games as head coach Brian Winters was fired after an 8–35 start, and was replaced with General Manager Stu Jackson.  The Grizzlies then suffered a 15-game losing streak between February and March, finishing last place in the Midwest Division with a league worst record of 14–68, their worst record in franchise history.  Top draft pick Shareef Abdur-Rahim led the Grizzlies with 18.7 points per game and made the All-Rookie First Team.  Second-year star Bryant Reeves showed improvement averaging 16.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.  Following the season, Greg Anthony signed as a free agent with the Seattle SuperSonics, and Jackson was fired as coach. The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California.  They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  The Lakers' franchise was founded in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan before moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where the team got its official title from the state's nickname, "Land of 10,000 Lakes".  The Minneapolis Lakers won five NBA Finals before relocating to Los Angeles in the 1960–61 NBA season, becoming the first West Coast team in league history.  In the 1960s, the Lakers reached the NBA Finals six times, but lost every series to the Boston Celtics, beginning their long and storied rivalry.  In 1972, with future Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Gail Goodrich, and Jerry West, the Lakers compiled a 33-game winning streak, the longest streak in U.S. professional team sports, and won their sixth title under coach Bill Sharman.  The Lakers' popularity soared in the 1980s when they won five additional championships during a nine-year span with the help of Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and coach Pat Riley, the franchise's all-time leader in both regular season and playoff games coached and wins.  Two of those championships during that span were against their arch-rivals, the Boston Celtics.  With the team of Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Toby Tincher, and Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson, the Lakers played in four of the first five NBA Finals of the 21st century; winning three consecutively from 2000 to 2002, and losing the fourth in 2004.  The Lakers would then conclude the decade with three straight Finals appearances; losing to the Boston Celtics in 2008 but then prevailing with back-to-back championships against the Orlando Magic in 2009 and the Boston Celtics in 2010.  The 2010 championship marks the 16th NBA championship in Lakers franchise history. The 1996–97 NBA season was the Magic's eighth season in the National Basketball Association.  After losing Shaquille O'Neal via free agency to the Los Angeles Lakers in the offseason, the Magic acquired Rony Seikaly from the Golden State Warriors, and signed free agents Gerald Wilkins and Derek Strong.  Early into the season, the Magic played two games against the New Jersey Nets in Tokyo, Japan.  Head coach Brian Hill was fired 49 games into the season after a 24–25 start, and Anfernee Hardaway was generally blamed for leading a player revolt that resulted in his dismissal.  Hill was replaced with Richie Adubato for the remainder of the season as the Magic finished third in the Atlantic Division with a 45–37 record.  Hardaway was selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, despite playing just 59 games due to a knee injury. The 2003–04 NBA season was the Rockets' 37th season in the National Basketball Association, and their 33rd season in the city of Houston.  The season saw the Rockets move their home games from Compaq Center to the new Toyota Center.  During the offseason, the Rockets hired head coach Jeff Van Gundy, who is best known for his tenure with the New York Knicks, and signed free agent Jim Jackson.  Midway through the season, they signed free agent point guard Mark Jackson.  The Rockets finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 45–37 record, and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1999 as the number 7 seed in the Western Conference.  Second-year star Yao Ming and Steve Francis were both selected for the 2004 NBA All-Star Game.  However, the Rockets were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Lakers, who added Karl Malone and Gary Payton to join Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, in five games.  This also marked Francis' only playoff appearance in his career.  Following the season, he was traded along with Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to the Orlando Magic, and Mark Jackson retired.
Answer: eighth