Orlando Magic

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac, who suffered a torn ACL in Sunday's win over the Sacramento Kings, is confident he'll be able to come back better than ever. 

"IT IS WELL!!! 2 Kings 4! Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns. I'm encouraged. Remember our God is not just a God of the hills but a God of the valleys! (2 Corinthians ch 4 vs 9!) MY COMEBACK WILL BE GREATER THAN MY SETBACK!!!! I STILL STAND IN JESUS NAME!!!!" Isaac tweeted Monday.

IT IS WELL!!! 2 Kings 4! Thank you for all of your prayers and concerns I’m encouraged. Remember our God is not just a God of the hills but a God of the valleys! (2 Corinthians ch 4 vs 9!) MY COMEBACK WILL BE GREATER THAN MY SETBACK!!!! I STILL STAND IN JESUS NAME!!!! pic.twitter.com/9Icv0WULQ6

— Jonathan Judah Isaac (@JJudahIsaac) August 3, 2020

Isaac went down on a non-contact play in the fourth quarter of Orlando's 132-116 win. He was later diagnosed with a torn left ACL, the same knee he hyperextended in January. While Isaac had long been cleared for action, he was wearing a heavy brace on the knee.

Isaac averaged a career-high 11.9 points and 6.8 rebounds during his third NBA season, making strides offensively while playing at an All-Defensive team-level on the other end of the floor. His 2.3 blocks per game would have been fourth in the NBA if he had enough minutes to qualify among league leaders, and his 1.6 steals per game would have tied for 10th.

The Florida State product made headlines at the Orlando restart when he did not take a knee with players, coaches and game officials in protest of racial injustice and police brutality against Black people. He also did not wear the "Black Lives Matter" shirt provided by the league, citing his faith in his reasoning.

"Absolutely. I believe that Black lives matter," Isaac told reporters. "Kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt [doesn't] go hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives. So I felt like, just me personally, standing on the stance that I do believe that Black lives matter, but I just felt like it was a decision that I had to make.

"I believe that, for myself, my life has been supported through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that everyone is made in the image of God and that we all fall short of God's glory. Each and every one of us do things that we shouldn't do, or say things we shouldn't say. We hate and dislike people that we shouldn't hate or dislike, and sometimes it gets to a point where we point fingers at whose evil is worse, and sometimes it comes to a point of whose evil is most visible."

While a timetable for his return has not been determined, it's unlikely he returns to the floor before the 2021-22 season. He will be a free agent in 2021. 

Orlando Magic forward Jonathan Isaac suffered a torn ACL during a 132-116 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, the team announced.

Ugh. The Magic say Jonathan Isaac has torn his ACL pic.twitter.com/PbdJKwqYJM

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) August 3, 2020

The injury appeared to occur after Isaac jump-stopped past two opponents and planted on the floor in an awkward fashion:

Jonathan Isaac went down with an apparent knee injury and left the game in a wheelchair

Hope he's okay 🙏 https://t.co/MZHoy9rqy2

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 3, 2020

Magic forward Jonathan Isaac wheeled out after suffering a leg injury against the Kings. pic.twitter.com/JegXQti6Ta

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 3, 2020

🙏 J.I. 🙏

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) August 3, 2020

"It looked bad, obviously," Orlando coach Steve Clifford said after the game, per ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk. "Until you hear anything, I am just hopeful, that's all." 

An MRI performed after the game revealed the full extent of his injury.

Once word of Isaac's diagnosis broke, the Magic forward received an outpouring of support from his peers:

@JJudahIsaac prayers up!!🙏🙏🙏

— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) August 3, 2020

Prayers to Jonathan Isaac.

— 🏁 Jamal Crawford (@JCrossover) August 3, 2020

Prayers up for my brother @JJudahIsaac 😔🙏 https://t.co/DjuJ62bRo5

— Enes Kanter FREEDOM (@EnesFreedom) August 3, 2020

Prayers @JJudahIsaac

— τobias Harris (@tobias31) August 3, 2020

The loss of Isaac is a major one for Orlando. The 22-year-old is averaging 12.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1.3 assists in his third season, all career highs, while shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from three. 

Isaac's offensive game remains a work in progress, but he's been a defensive difference-maker for the 32-35 Magic, who beat the Kings 132-116 on Sunday and currently hold the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference standings. 

"My whole heart goes out to him. He's such a great guy, such a great person," Isaac's teammate Aaron Gordon told reporters after the game. "... I hope it's nothing serious. I hope it's just something that kind of shocked him. But it was sad, man. It brought tears to my eyes."

Isaac's 2019-20 season has been hampered by injuries. He missed 31 games with a left knee injury before the NBA was shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the same knee he injured Sunday. 

Isaac was already wearing a large brace on his left leg after missing a large chunk of the season with an injury in the same leg. He just was taken away from the court in a wheelchair. https://t.co/21NFEn5QkQ

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) August 3, 2020

There's now a possibility that he'll miss a large chunk—if not the entirety—of the 2020-21 season, which is expected to begin in December. That would be an enormous setback for him.

Forward Jonathan Isaac was the only Orlando Magic player to neither kneel during the national anthem nor wear a Black Lives Matter shirt prior to Orlando's game against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.

According to Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks, Isaac said after the game that while he believes Black Lives Matter, "kneeling or wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt don't go hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives."

https://twitter.com/GwashburnGlobe/status/1289313163591086080

Isaac says he doesn’t condone racism on blacks by not wearing BLM T-shirt. “I believe Jesus is the answer. I didn’t think wearing a message on the jersey was the answer,” Isaac said. Added he prayed during the anthem “and there wasn’t a stake in the anthem or the flag.”

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) July 31, 2020

Isaac added that while he doesn't view kneeling or wearing the shirt as the answer, "Black lives are supported through the gospel. All lives are supported through the gospel."

Isaac confirmed that he told his teammates about his decision before the game, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press.

As seen in the following photo, all other Magic players, coaches and staff members knelt during the anthem:

I’m very curious about — and will be patient for — Jonathan Isaac’s explanation here.

Standing for the anthem is one thing...

But seeming to be intentional about *not* wearing a Black Lives Matter shirt.... I dunno, man... pic.twitter.com/CFBJ98tOKG

— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) July 31, 2020

Per ESPN's Marc J. Spears, Magic head coach Steve Clifford noted "himself, the players and the franchise support Jonathan Isaac's decision to stand during the anthem and not kneel."

Magic guard Evan Fournier said, "That's his choice and he doesn't need to [explain]," according to Spears.

On Thursday, all players in the Utah Jazz vs. New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers vs. Los Angeles Clippers games knelt during the anthem.

The NBA has offered its support to players in providing them with a platform for social issues. The NBA has also placed a Black Lives Matter decal on its courts in Orlando during the NBA restart and has also allowed players to wear social justice phrases on the back of their jerseys in lieu of their names.

Isaac registered 16 points and six rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for the Magic in their 128-118 win over the Nets.

With the victory, the Magic improved to 31-35 and moved ahead of Brooklyn for seventh place in the Eastern Conference by a half-game.

Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon offered a message to anyone who might criticize the team if they decide to protest during the national anthem.  

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Gordon said that while some people "frown upon kneeling" during the national anthem before games, "we frown upon kneeling on other people's necks."

Aaron Gordon said the team will talk about kneeling before the national anthem and see if that is the gesture that will speak the loudest. I asked what message he hoped it would convey, if they did that. He said this: pic.twitter.com/KgQcWU6Gea

— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) July 24, 2020

The comment is clearly a reference to George Floyd, who was killed on May 25 after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin when Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. 

Gordon did note that the Magic haven't decided if they will kneel during the national anthem when games resume next week, but they will meet at some point to see if that's something they would like to do. 

Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday that multiple teams have decided to take a knee during the national anthem before the first two games of the restart on July 30. 

Even though the NBA has an official rule that requires players and staffers to stand when the national anthem is played, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported no one will face discipline if they protest "peacefully and respectfully."

The New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz will play in the first game of the season restart, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers next Thursday. 

Gordon and the Magic will play their first game on July 31 against the Brooklyn Nets. 

In May 2017, after missing the playoffs for a fifth straight season, the Orlando Magic overhauled their front office. Jeff Weltman, a longtime and respected NBA executive, was hired as president of basketball operations. To serve as his general manager, he tabbed John Hammond, a former Milwaukee Bucks colleague of his and another veteran NBA mind.     

Weltman and Hammond were inheriting a roster plagued with holes. Some of them were of the previous regime's doing—the Magic had spent two years fruitlessly chasing a low playoff seed—and others were, more than anything else, the consequence of poor luck.

Victor Oladipo, who the Magic drafted second overall in 2013, waited five seasons and two trades to blossom into an All-Star in Indiana. In 2015, the Magic had hoped to grab a Latvian teenager named Kristaps Porzingis with the draft's fifth pick, only to see the Knicks snag him at No. 4.

"Think of it like this," says a former Magic executive. "When you're building through the draft, there are two things where you need luck more than anything else: in winning the lottery, and in winning the lottery in a year when there's a transformational talent."

This is the irony at play in Orlando, Florida, as it hosts the NBA's bubble in the coming weeks and months: The city has become the NBA's epicenter, a proud display of how a "transformational talent" like Ja Morant or Zion Williamson, or a precisely executed team-building strategy like Miami's or Indiana's, can put a franchise right in the mix with established powers anchored by superstars like LeBron James and James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. But as an NBA city, Orlando has long been known for the exact opposite.

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30 teams, 30 days: The biggest story from each NBA team ahead of the league's return.

Atl | Bos | Bkn | Cha | Chi | Cle
Dal | Den | Det | GS | Hou | Ind
LAC | LAL | Mem | Mia | Mil | Min
NO | NY | OKC | Orl | Phi | Pho
Por | Sac | SA | Tor | Uta | Was

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If you were looking for an example of why winning in the NBA is so hard, and dependent on so many variables, the Magic are as good of one as you could find.

With this as the backdrop, you would have expected Weltman and Hammond to come in and institute sweeping change. At least that's what typically happens in the NBA upon the hiring of a new regime.

Under their guidance, however, the Magic have taken a different approach. Steve Clifford replaced Frank Vogel as head coach, but much of the roster has remained in place.

Not only that, but much of the core has received extensions. Aaron Gordon, the No. 4 pick in 2014, was signed to a four-year, $80 million one in the summer of 2018. A year later, starting center Nikola Vucevic and wing Terrence Ross each inked lucrative four-year deals.

"They've basically taken the default position on their roster," a Western Conference executive says. "They have not been aggressive in searching for chips. From a rebuilding standpoint, they've really done the bare minimum."

The lack of turnover, combined with some internal growth and Clifford's smarts, did allow the Magic to end their playoff drought last season. And, unless things go awry during the seeding games once the NBA restarts July 30, Weltman and Co. will soon have a second playoff berth added to their Orlando resume. But at 30-35, the Magic are in the worst place you can be in the NBA: the middle. They're far from a contender but also not bad enough to chase stars in the lottery.

Over the past decade or so, they've become irrelevant to the larger NBA story, more defined by embarrassing stories like last week's layoffs than by anything that's happened on the court. We're at the point where it takes the combination of a worldwide pandemic and a Disney World bubble for Orlando to rate on a national NBA scale.

Vucevic is a nice player but not a franchise cornerstone. Weltman and Hammond have made two lottery picks since coming in; one of them, Mo Bamba, has looked shaky through two seasons. Meanwhile, marquee free agents haven't seriously considered the Magic for at least a decade.

So are they destined for more of the same, indefinitely? The good news for Magic fans is that some around the league say better days are on the horizon.

"They're definitely trending in the right direction," one prominent agent says.

It starts with the market the team plays in. Orlando might not be a destination on par with the likes of Miami or Los Angeles, but it does offer warm weather and no state income tax, two incentives that rank it above the majority of NBA landing spots. That, league executives and agents say, makes the Magic believe they could one day get in the room with free agents—if they can offer a partnership with a strong young core.

On that front, the cupboard might not be as bare as it seems. In Jonathan Isaac, who Weltman selected with the sixth pick in the 2017 draft, the Magic appear to have a future Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Isaac is tall (6'11") and long (7'0" wingspan) and quick on his feet. He's not much of a creator, and his shot is shaky (33 percent from deep), but he's athletic enough that if he can improve his stroke, he should be able to grow into a third option on a good team.

Some around the league have their questions—"He's hurt all the time. It's impossible to know what he is," one Eastern Conference executive says—but Isaac's someone most teams would bet on.

The same cannot be said about the player the entire plan might hinge on.

By now, Markelle Fultz's journey is well-documented: dominant as a freshman at the University of Washington. Chosen first overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. Derailed by a series of mysterious injuries that caused his jump shot to desert him. The Magic, in one of the few examples of Weltman and Hammond being proactive on the market, took Fultz off the Sixers' hands before the 2019 trade deadline in exchange for Jonathon Simmons and a few low draft picks. It was a savvy, proactive move, and it's already paid off. Fultz has seemed revitalized by the second chance. He’s averaging 12.1 points and 5.2 assists per game this season and has flashed many of the skills that propelled him up draft boards. His performance has thrilled the Magic.

"The way that we view him is he just completed his rookie season," Weltman says. "He's played more basketball this year than he's played combined for his other seasons in the NBA, and you know, we feel he's just beginning to scratch the surface."

"They think he's the answer," a rival executive says.

The problem remains Fultz's jumper. He's hitting just 25.4 percent of his three-point attempts this season (he shot 41.3 percent from deep during his freshman year in college). His form is disjointed. He did shoot well from the free-throw line this season—72.3 percent—which the Magic view as promising. Others around the league are less sure.

"I can only tell you that he has everything it takes to improve, and I have the utmost confidence that he is going to continue to get better and better," Weltman says.

If he's right, that will give the Magic an electric young duo to dangle in front of free agents. The Magic can bolster that young core or fortify their war chest if they trade Gordon this offseason, a move many around the league expect them to make. And multiple agents say their clients have no issues with Orlando as a city or the Magic as a franchise.

Says one, "I think Jeff and John have a plan, and we're about to see it pay off."

If it does, perhaps Orlando can once again rejoin the greater NBA conversation for reasons other than its ability to host nearly two dozen other teams.

      

Yaron Weitzman covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and is the author of Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports. Follow Yaron on Twitter: @YaronWeitzman.

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The Orlando Magic laid off 31 full-time employees Friday, nearly 10 percent of the organization's overall staff, as the result of a "dramatic loss of revenue" due to the coronavirus pandemic, per Josh Robbins and Shams Charania of The Athletic. 

Magic CEO Alex Martins confirmed a staff reduction in a statement, though the team did not give an exact number: 

“Our business, as well as many others like us, are significantly impacted due to COVID-19. We have had to make some very difficult business decisions in these unprecedented times. Due to this reality we have had to make the very hard decision to evaluate our overall structure, reorganize and reduce our headcount.

“For an organization like ours, whose mission is centered around our people, and creating the best work environment possible, grounded in family values, this is a very difficult situation to confront, and it will be even more difficult for our colleagues who will be leaving us. Please know that we do not take this decision lightly, and although most difficult for our colleagues that we must say goodbye to, please know that this is a decision that is very difficult for our organization as well. This is not the fault of any specific individual that we must part with today, this decision is purely about becoming more efficient in a post COVID-19 environment, and the requirement to be more efficient in this unknown future that we find ourselves faced with."

The Athletic noted the team has also eliminated 16 positions that were unoccupied. 

The DeVos family owns the majority of the team and has a reported net worth of $5.4 billion as of 2018, per Forbes. Ownership, including the DeVos family, and Magic players alike previously announced a $2 million fund for the nearly 1,800 hourly workers at Amway Center after the season was placed on hiatus March 11. 

Orlando had 10 home games remaining at the time, and though the team will take part in the NBA's restart later this month, individual franchises are bracing for overall revenue reductions. 

"To those who we must say goodbye to, we have provided very fair severance, health care benefits continuance, outplacement services and wellness consultation," Martins said. "We thank all those who are leaving us from the bottom of our hearts, for their dedication, work and compassion that they gave to the Magic organization."

This is the second time in the last decade a loss of games has required the Magic to lay off employees after 20 staffers and 12 unoccupied positions were cut during the 2011 lockout.   

Orlando Magic point guard Markelle Fultz has reportedly arrived to the NBA bubble at the Disney World complex in Florida and started his quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Josh Robbins of The Athletic reported the update Wednesday after Fultz skipped the Magic's arrival to the bubble July 7 because of a personal matter not related to COVID-19.

The 22-year-old University of Washington product was enjoying his best statistical season before the league halted play March 11.

He averaged 12.1 points, 5.2 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals while shooting 47.3 percent from the field across 64 appearances (59 starts).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3JaW5UYyxQ

Fultz, whose first two seasons in the NBA were derailed by injuries, was starting to showcase the potential that made him the top pick of the Philadelphia 76ers three years ago.

"I feel like I was getting in such a great rhythm towards the end of the season," he told reporters in June. "During the whole season, I just felt like I was steady, getting better and better, as well as our team. I just think I was in a crazy rhythm. I had a routine down that I was doing every day. I stuck to that routine."

Heading into the restart, the Magic sit eighth in the Eastern Conference with a 30-35 record. They own a 5.5-game advantage over the Washington Wizards for the final playoff berth in the East with teams set to play a shortened eight-game finish to the 2019-20 regular season.

Once Fultz clears quarantine, he'll assume his normal role as the team's starting point guard alongside Evan Fournier in the backcourt.

Michael Carter-Williams and D.J. Augustin would split time running the offense should Fultz miss any games.

Orlando is set to resume the season July 31 against the Brooklyn Nets.

Expect to see a bigger Mo Bamba when the Orlando Magic take the court at the Disney World Resort when the 2019-20 NBA season restarts. 

To hear Josh Robbins of The Athletic put it, the University of Texas product "suddenly looks ripped, with conspicuously larger biceps and shoulder muscles."

Robbins and John Denton of the Magic's official website shared some of Bamba's comments from a Zoom session in which he described what he did while the season was on hiatus since March 11 in an effort to put on more weight and muscle. In all, Bamba put on 21 pounds and checks in at 252 after previously weighing 231.

Bamba stressed how much work he put in while the season was suspended:

"It was something that I had to work at every single day, and I had to make myself uncomfortable. I had to wake up a few times at 3 and 4 o’clock in the morning just to get some extra calories and an extra fill. I had to wake up early to get that extra, big breakfast. It was definitely uncomfortable at first, but as I got used to it, it definitely got a lot easier."

He said he is still as mobile as he was before even though he needed to grow accustomed to running at a higher weight and described his routine.

"I didn't have anything to do at home and they brought in, literally, half the weight room, and I didn't have anything else to do but to lift," he said. "I got a chef early on, like midway through March, and since then I've been eating like five-to-six meals a day and lifting for an hour or an hour-and-a-half."

Bamba has flashed potential, especially on defense, but has not yet lived up to expectations that accompanied him when the Magic selected him out of Texas with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2018 draft.

He averaged 6.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game as a rookie and 5.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game this season before play was shut down.

Improved size and play from the big man would be a significant boost for the Magic, who are 30-35 and trying to hold off the Washington Wizards from forcing a play-in tournament for the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.

Washington is 5.5 games back but would have an opportunity to potentially defeat the Magic two games in a row in the play-in tournament if it pulls within four games of the final spot during the eight seeding contests.

The Magic's first game back is July 31 against the Brooklyn Nets.

NBA players have given fans a sneak peek into their bubble environment at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, which will host the remainder of a 2019-20 NBA season that has been suspended since March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Orlando Magic guard Terrence Ross joined the fray Thursday by showing fans a game room:

Terrence Ross gives a first look at the players’ lounge 👀

(via @TerrenceRoss) https://t.co/KDI6SITmJA

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 9, 2020

The room features arcade games, big-screen televisions and a ping-pong table where doubles matches are outlawed, per the league's health and safety manual for the league's restart.

The table was still set up for doubles play with two paddles per side, but the room looks like a comfortable place to hang out if they so choose.

At the least, the quality of the game room would appear to trump the first meals NBA players received in Florida, with Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles providing one notable example.

https://twitter.com/Joeingles7/status/1281010885339697152

The Magic are staying at the Grand Floridian, one of three resorts hosting a total of 22 NBA teams finishing out the campaign. Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs and the Yacht Club are the two others.

Regular-season games are officially scheduled to begin Thursday, July 30 when the Utah Jazz face the New Orleans Pelicans at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which will host all remaining games in three different facilities. Teams will train and play scrimmage games in the weeks prior to the regular-season restart.

Orlando Magic guard Markelle Fultz said the NBA's long layoff amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the unique circumstances of the late July restart to the season in Orlando—with just 22 teams coming together in one central location to finish off the season—has the feel of an "AAU tournament." 

Fultz further elaborated on the AAU analogy, per Nick Friedell of ESPN: