DeVos family says it has no plans to sell the Magic,
Orlando Magic chairman made it clear during the team’s media day Monday: His family intends to keep owning the Magic franchise for a long, long time.
“We have no desire to get rid of the team at all — it’s just not discussed,” DeVos told the Orlando Sentinel as he responded to a question about his family’s long-term plans for the team.
“We plan to keep the team around and enjoy Orlando,” DeVos added. “We love Orlando. We love being here and we love the team. So we’re going to keep at it. We’re just fortunate that Orlando’s been a great place to have a team, with the community support here from the fans and from the sponsorship side. It’s outstanding. They’ve been with us through our ups-and-downs, and we’ve always appreciated that about Orlando. We’ve just got to get [the team’s on-court play] going again.”
The DeVoses have owned the Magic since the family patriarch, Amway cofounder purchased the franchise in 1991 for $85 million from Orlando real estate developer Forbes has estimated the Magic’s value at $1.225 billion, 19th out of 30 NBA teams.
Rich DeVos died two and a half weeks ago, at the age of 92.
In recent years, the family altered the Magic’s ownership structure through estate planning. Ownership of the team was distributed between Rich and
four children and spouses: and his wife, the U.S. Secretary of Education; and his wife, and and his wife,
The team has helped unify the family. It has captured the interest of Rich and Helen DeVos’ grandchildren.
“It does what dad originally bought the team for: to give the family something to rally around, something to have fun at, something to enjoy as a family,” Dan DeVos said. “And it really has been a rallying point for the family. We do a lot of other family things together, but the NBA is so special. It’s a small club and it’s unique and it is something that we’ve really enjoyed all the years that we’ve had the team. So it’s something we will continue.” easing into things.
Clifford said his team will play up to 30 minutes’ worth of 5-on-5.
“We’ll start looking at lineups — see who can play well together — because as you know, it’s not just who starts,” Clifford said. “You’ve got to have a way to play with balanced lineups on the floor for 48 minutes. So there’s a lot that goes into that. And the more we can play 5-on-5 and scrimmage here early, the better chance we have to evaluate everything.” What was the highlight of center
offseason? A trip to Cuba. “That was a great experience,” Vucevic said. “I’ve heard of a lot of people that went there that had a great time, and they were right. It was really fun. The people there are awesome. They were always in a good mood: singing, dancing, really helpful. It was just great to be part [of it]. It’s still kind of a different world. You don’t have internet anywhere. My phone wasn’t working unless I was in the hotel, so that was great.”
The Magic had additional world travelers. Forward visited Barçelona, and swingman visited South Africa to participate in the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders program.