Orlando Magic NBA Season Preview

One of my favorite thing about religiously following any team in sports is the fact that I live their events just as they do through the span of each year. Their successes become my own, and their failures mine too.

As a fan, you ride the peaks and valleys with your team, and there are plenty of them. It’s easy to forget the bad times when things are good, and the opposite is just as true. Despite the ups and downs, the everlasting loyalty you give to your team is always present.

Being a fan of each team is unique on its own, and any fan of the Magic last year had an experience that is rare and cherished in the sports world. Defying the odds as an underdog is one of the most gratifying experiences any fan can live through, and the Magic did just this in 2009.

Once they miraculously succeeded past the Celtics in seven games, they were once again the underdogs against the Cleveland Cavaliers who not only had the full support from their fans (since they owned the best NBA season record) but literally each and every NBA analyst on ESPN. (Click here and go to the middle right if you do not believe me, 10 experts chose Cleveland to win). Defying all odds, Orlando headed to the NBA Finals for the second time in their 20 years existence. They obviously had the patronage of their fans behind them, but once again, absolutely no love from the media. After losing in five games, the Magic went into the off-season with their heads up and their confidence at an all time high.

With the obtaining of Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson, and the signing of Brandon Bass and Matt Barnes, Orlando certainly expanded their bench, emerging as the deepest roster in the league. Now with Rashard Lewis suspended for the first 10 games of the season due to breaking the drug policy, the Magic have once again found themselves in an “underdog-type” situation.

Many might see this as a major problem, but all is calm in Orlando. The team will be just fine without him.

As Lewis will miss about 12% of the season right out of the gates, the team will increasingly depend on its newly acquired role players in Lewis’s absence. Its supporting cast, which includes Barnes, Redick, Pietrus, Bass, Anderson, Gortat, and others, will see some extra playing time in Lewis’s absence and should gain quick experience that will be invaluable through the course of the rest of the season.

Now how many other contending NBA teams can genuinely say that if they lost one of their starting All-Stars for 10 games, there team would not be heading for disaster? None.

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