A memo to Magic players
After beating the Celtics, see, you can do it!
This is an open letter to the Orlando Magic. Not ownership.
Not management.
Not the coaching staff.
No, this letter is to Magic players.
Dear players:
This is on you now.
You showed us what you’re capable of for one game in Saturday’s night 105-103 victory over the Boston Celtics. Now show us you can do it again … and again … and again.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great you beat the Celtics, but what now? Are you going to build upon this victory or turn back into the team that had lost four in a row, nine of the last 12 and was in the midst of its traditional postChristmas fade into irrelevance?
Over the years, fans and media have rightfully heaped blame on every facet of the organization. We’ve blamed the DeVos family. We’ve blamed CEO Alex Martins. We’ve blamed former GM Rob Hennigan. We’ve blamed the revolving door of coaches.
Now, it’s time to hold you players accountable.
Let’s be honest, fellas, it’s not management’s fault. The organization brought in a new management team last year — Jeff Weltman, the president of basketball ops, and general manager John Hammond. Weltman was instrumental in helping build the Toronto Raptors into a team that last year was the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and currently sits atop the East again. Hammond was instrumental in building the Milwaukee Bucks into a team that is currently No. 2 in the East.
It’s not the coach’s fault, either. Steve Clifford is an excellent coach and teacher who is respected around the league. Then
again, so were Frank Vogel and Scott Skiles. The Magic have been turning good coaches into fired coaches for years now.
As for ownership, it has given you everything you need to be successful over the last couple of years. You’ve been given good coaches, good management, a magnificent arena and state-of-the-art practice facilities. You guys have team nutritionists, chefs, massage therapists. You fly on private jets and stay in five-star hotels.
You make millions of dollars (with no state income tax) and live in a fun-filled, sun-filled city that millions of people from all over the globe flock to every year. There’s a sign at UCF’s athletic complex that you guys should take to heart. It says we get to “live where the rest of the world vacations.”
You know what else you’ve been blessed with? A pretty darn good fan base. Don’t ask me how, but the Magic are 10th in the league in attendance with an average of 17,903 per game despite the fact that fans here have been watching crappy basketball for six straight years.
These fans deserve better than what you’ve given them. Coach Clifford is trying to hold you guys accountable, but you need to start holding yourselves accountable. We all realize you’re not the most talented team in the league, and that’s why you need to play harder, better and smarter than your opponents.
And that’s what you did against the Celtics. Aaron Gordon scored 28, Terrence Ross had 25, Nik Vucevic had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Bench players Khem Birch and Isaiah Briscoe came into the game and made contributions that didn’t necessarily show up in the box score.
And that’s what it takes. It takes everybody dedicating themselves to playing with heart, hustle, fire and desire every practice, every game, every possession. Good NBA players commit to playing that way every day; bad NBA players do it once in a while.
You’ve gotta believe, truly believe, in yourselves. Even though you’re only 18-24 record, you’re still just 1½ games behind Charlotte for the final playoff spot in the East. It can be done. In fact, you’ve shown you can get it done. You’ve beaten the Celtics twice this season to win the season series for the first time since Dwight Howard was on the team. You’ve beaten the Sixers. You’ve beaten the Spurs and the Raptors.
I’m telling you, you can make a playoff push if you put your mind to it. There’s a poem called “It’s All in a State of Mind” that one of my old high school coaches gave me decades ago. I still have it hanging in my office at home.
Let me read you a couple of verses.
“If you think you'll lose, you're lost,
For out in the world you'll find,
Success begins with a fellow's will,
It's all in a state of mind. “Life's battles don't always go,
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later, the man who wins,
Is the fellow who thinks he can.” What about it, guys? For whatever reason, your fans have shown they still believe in Magic.
But unless you believe in yourselves, the win over the Celtics will soon be forgotten and you’ll be destined for yet another lost season.