Tagged: orlandomagic

Don't let what happened last summer in South Beach or what could potentially occur in Los Angeles or New York fool you. "Super teams" are nothing new in a league [...]

Photos from Getty Images The recent success of the Mavericks proves it pays to be competitive in the NBA. The latest NBA champs currently have the second highest payroll in the league at roughly $90 million. Granted, plenty of the franchise's contracts subside on July 1, but they'll still have to re-sign important members like Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea to potentially build their trophy case. Talks of the new collective bargaining agreement and it's proposed "adjusted" salary cap will put the clamps on spending and player movement for more than a few [...]

This just appears like a situation that isn't going to end on a positive note. Now that the NBA season is officially over, the wacky, fun-filled, TMZ-dominated personality of the league will begin to show its face all over again. Dwight Howard is single-handedly doing his part to keep the terror alert in Orlando near code-red with his impending free agency looming over the city Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse built. In an interview following his appearance at an adidas Eurocamp, D12 validated the notion that free agency was in his future. He [...]

Stop me when this sounds familiar. The Orlando Magic draft an amazingly gifted center first overall. He develops over the years to live up to his potential adopting the nickname "Superman." That center leads the Magic to the NBA Finals. Then, at the first opportunity, said center bolts out west to transform into a pop culture icon. The previous four sentences obviously define the career path of Shaquille O'Neal and possibly Dwight Howard . The perennial All Star and part-time coroner has already gone on record saying debating his future long before his contract expires in the [...]

Either that or Dwight Howard is just a big bully. I'll usually drop qualifying statements about Jrue at this juncture of the post before I get to the point. This time's obviously different. "Wrong place, wrong time" is an understatement on this play even though he "tried" to stop the oop. All I can say is he's a braver soul than me. I'd probably pull a hot Amar'e sidestep shuffle and act like Howard wasn't my assignment. Howard's onslaught at the rim jump-started a 21-4 run in Orlando's favor. The Magic utilized [...]

This Sunday, a day ritually reserved for football, belonged to basketball. The TV scheduled proved such. 1. The two powerhouses of the ACC, Duke and North Carolina, ran into each other again. This time with the conference title on the line. Again. 2. The revealing of the brackets and the subsequent arguments about teams who were snubbed. 3. The "Fab 53 documentary on ESPN, which, might I say, more than lived up to its billing. [...]

The way most harbor either extreme hate or love for Duke does not apply to me. I hate Kansas, always have & always will. But credit due to former Jayhawk Hinrich as he broke down J.J. Redick something awful in last night's game, so much so that Redick's Magic teammates felt compelled to laugh & mock him afterwards. Since the clip below marks his second victimization this week, dare I say the former Dukie could be a close second to Stephen Curry in the ankle assault department. [...]

Here we are folks. The first full Sunday sans football. Here's to your and yours holding up and August getting here quicker than a Charlie Sheen high. I say August because I refuse to believe the owners and players will leave potentially billions of dollars sitting on a table because they cannot come to an agreement on how rich they'll be for the next few seasons. Thankfully for myself and others, the NBA is here (and March Madness is looming) to remedy my football woes. Valentine's Day Eve afforded a pre-Grammys double-header worth [...]

For as important as yesterday was to the NFL, Sunday NBA basketball takes me back to my youth nearly as much. It had it all: the NBA on NBC, the flawless trailers which left the feeling each game was literally life or death and, of course, Bob Costas with the play by play. Now I'm an adult with the league as exciting as it has been in years, Sunday basketball still gets me going. Granted, it isn't the same habitual feel as football on Sundays, but I'm a junkie and I'll [...]

Ask any person in or who follows the NBA closely and they'll tell you the Oklahoma City Thunder crowd is one of the loudest in the league and at times can act like a sixth man on the court. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook notwithstanding, the team is built top to bottom with young and athletic talent. Yet, those factors may not be the only reason opposing teams have such a difficult time leaving OKC with a win. You see, the Skirvin Hilton - which usually houses the away team - is said to be haunted. [...]

With his reinvigorated play as of late, Gilbert looks like he dipped in Ponce de León's pool shortly after landing in Orlando. Conjuring up a little bit of magic on Monday at the end of the third quarter versus the Nets, Arenas hit a 3/4 length buzzer beater that was all for naught because the shot clock is considered out of bounds. Since the game wasn't in doubt, this will be remembered as a trivial play for everyone but Gilbert who really wanted those two points. At least Jordan & Bird got [...]

Christmas day basketball was the only thing that kept me sane as I finished out my workday on Saturday. Thankfully I was out the door during the second quarter of the Heat-Lakers game. I caught most of the Celtics-Magic game & that shot by J.J. Reddick was clutch. I just didn't realize how clutch it was until I caught this stat provided by the cracker jack video team over at TrueHoop : With a two-point lead and under 45 seconds remaining, the Orlando Magic turned to J.J. Redick in [...]

Photo via NBA Hedo Turkoglu may be this generation's Toni Kukoc . He's quiet and usually deadly from behind the arc while still adhering to the traditional definiton of the role player. And...they're both lanky European power forwards who couldn't leap over a can of spinach. Returning to his old team , after a stink stint with Phoenix, Turk wanted to show the fans what he learned from runnin' and gunnin' with Steve Nash. Which was essentially nothing. Next time, a finger roll will [...]

The Orlando Magic were in the unfavorable situation of suffering a losing streak while two of their main rivals in Boston & Miami are in the midst of ripping off double digit win streaks of their own. Feeling the need to make a move to remain competitive, the Magic engineered a three-team deal with the Phoenix Suns & Washington Wizards. The Phoenix Suns-Orlando Magic deal (Vince Carter, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus, a 2011 first-round pick and cash considerations for Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Earl Clark) seems to benefit both [...]

Welcome Boston, we've been waiting on you. As your reward for knocking off the top seed, you've been tasked with taking on a well rested Orlando team that's gone through the playoffs so far looking like gangbusters. Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to hand the Magic their first playoff loss. Four times. With the King's coronation put off for another year , we the fans, are in for a treat with the past two Eastern Conference Finals representatives vying for another trip back for the ultimate prize. In one corner, you've got a veteran [...]

It took him 88 games, but Rasheed Wallace finally came to play for the Boston Celtics. Throughout the season 'Sheed's been somewhere between a running joke & major disappointment. The Boston Three Party thought they would be getting the Rasheed from a few years back, the one who could stretch the defense with his timely outside shooting & vast array of post moves. Instead, they got an out of shape, aging player who could've been charged for committing fraud... for impersonating a basketball player (I see you Biggga). Shoot, if it wasn't for this basket [...]

We're back again with the second part of first round preview. Hopefully today's games will follow the lead of the later games yesterday and provide a great game from start to finish. Check below for our thoughts on how we see things playing out and then let us in on yours. Los Angeles Lakers Vs. Oklahoma City Thunder Either the Thunder will give the Lake Show all they can handle or they're going to get swept. Everyone and their Mom would love to see [...]

Kobe's still the man you want to have the ball in his hand with the game on the line. But what about if the ball is coming off the rim & up for grabs? After last night's game against the Magic, Atlanta's Josh Smith gets my vote. Swooping in out of nowhere, he effortlessly cleans up Joe Johnson's missed jumper & almost gave Stan Van Gundy a heart attack in the process. The way SVG yells at his team for every little thing, I'd bet you a date with LC if he doesn't have his team working [...]

Clearly, Lamar missed his PowerBar this morning and could be in violation of any endorsement deal he had with the company. In the third, his dunk attempt was thwarted by...the rim and Odom's failed springs. Today's loss to the Magic was the Lakers third loss in a row, a first since they traded for Gasol two seasons ago. Not exactly anything to cause a panic, but worth watching to see how LA rebounds over the next few contests. In other not-so important but highly entertaining Laker news, Ron Ron dyed his [...]

Pundits will tell you Mr. Carter's athletic ability has been on the decline for years. But every once in awhile he'll hit you with a Roy Jones Jr. "Y'all Musta Forgot!"-brand dunk that puts him back on the radar. Such is true of his latest triumph over the Cleveland LeBrons Cavaliers yesterday. The Magic managed to rally and bring home the dub after Vince's throwdown. The kicker here is seeing Vareflop getting the poster treatment. Too bad Delonte " WIYAH HANGAH!! " West had to get involved .