When you get the chance, do me a favor.
Turn on your television, switch to ESPN, and watch SportsCenter. Have a pen and piece of paper handy, you'll need it for this experiment.
Every time they mention LeBron James or his Cleveland Cavaliers, make a tally. Whenever the Boston Celtics or one of their players is mentioned, make another mark on your paper. If the Pistons are mentioned, do the same. Make sure your marks are small so you don't run out of ink.
Now, take out a separate piece of paper and keep a new tally. Every time the Orlando Magic are mentioned during the broadcast, make a tally. Chances are, your paper will have a single mark—if that—by the end of the hour.
Why is it that the Celtics, Pistons, and Cavaliers get all of the attention in the Eastern Conference?
"When they start talking about the Eastern Conference [on TV], all I keep hearing about are the Celtics, the Pistons, even the Cavaliers. I want to change that," says Orlando's Dwight Howard.
The most attention the Magic have received this season came over All-Star weekend when Howard donned a Superman costume and easily won the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Then he returned to Orlando and has led the Magic to an 8-3 record since the break.
The big man receives tons of attention as Superman but barely any when he succeeds in his day job. Dwight can relate to Clark Kent an awful lot right now.
Let's look at some reasons the Magic deserve some attention:
- As of today, the Magic are 41-24, and have already surpassed their win total for last season (40). They are on pace to win over fifty games and have a 3.5 game lead over Cleveland for the third seed in East.
- They are only trailing Detroit by six games and have a shot at securing the second seed in the conference. They are also the only team in the entire NBA to defeat both the Pistons and Celtics twice this season.
- They have many weapons at their disposal including a very impressive big three of their own in Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis (who are averaging a combined 59.9 points and 25.8 rebounds).
- They are tied for most road wins in the league with twenty-two and have a very comfortable lead in the Southeast Division with a nine game lead over the Washington Wizards.
One positive for Orlando is that they thrive as underdogs. When they aren't receiving attention or respect, they go into an "us against the world" mode where proving people wrong becomes more important than breathing.
Just take a look at some of the recent quotes from Orlando's players.
Last week, Lewis told a reporter, "A lot of the talk is about Boston and Detroit and even Cleveland some, but we want to try and make our statement come playoff time"
"Go ahead and sleep on us, label us as underdogs, and we'll be the team to surprise you in the playoffs,” he added.
Howard had something similar to say. "Keep on overlooking us, and we'll keep on playing like we have all season. Nobody is looking at us, and we're trying to feed off of that. It'll motivate us come playoff time."
Based off of those quotes, the Magic players have one thing on their mind:
Boston, Cleveland, and Detroit can get all of this press and airtime they want right now, because come April, the Magic will have all eyes on them when it matters most.
Have a question or comment concerning this article? Shoot Alex an email at swishkennedy@yahoo.com
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16 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Anonymous about 1 year ago
good read man! its basically all true.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Great article. I completely agree with you, the Magic are being so underrated right now. I think they're going to make some serious noise come playoff time though.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thanks for the comments!
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Mike Owens about 1 year ago
Psh, what're you talking about, the Magic are BEYOND overrated. Ok, so maybe that's some exaggeration, there. I do agree with you though, they're being severely underlooked and I'd have to say they're the 3rd best team in the conference. The Cavs are so overrated it's not funny, and the only reason they get all that attention is because LeBron James, whom I'm beyond sick of hearing about.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Exactly. The guy is having a great year but I don't think Cleveland has enough to compete with the likes of Boston, Detroit, and Orlando. If Orlando were out West, they would end up with the sixth, seventh, or eighth seed. If Cleveland were out West, they would currently be the number ten seed. Just something to keep in mind.
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Steve Resnick about 1 year ago
Great article! I've been saying since the off-season that the Magic are going to make some noise this season and everyone looked at me funny. The funniest thing is that I said something to the same effect as Howard and Lewis did a few days before Dwight was quoted. The Celtic's have a great team, Detroit is a formidable opponent and Cleveland has an All-Star...but that's it. The Magic have a record of 1-1 against the Celtics with the Big 3 playing and won an additional game against them when they were without KG. Detroit usually owns the Magic during the regular season, but are 2-2 against them this season. Then there's Cleveland. The Magic are 1-1 against them with 2 games still remaining. If Stan "The Man" Van Gundy uses his bench effectively (Redick, Gortat, Augustine and Garrity have looked useful in spurts) then the Magic should be able to surprise a lot of people come playoff time.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thanks for the great comment! I've been saying this team is going to be great since Van Gundy was signed as well. I think how SVG uses his bench will be very important. This is a team that could just play some amazing basketball come playoff time if their shot is falling. They love the three ball so anything is possible (just ask Golden State) as long as it's going in.
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Heather Stidham about 1 year ago
I wrote a similar article on the respect the Rockets can't seem to get. I love ESPN and SI, but they are so slanted to certain teams that it makes me sad! Great article!
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Yeah, I saw that! The funny thing is, my original title for this article was The Orlando Magic Want Some R-E-S-P-E-C-T but I changed it when I saw your article. haha And yeah, ESPN and SI are very slanted to certain teams. Kobe and LeBron could have a cold and it'd be a top story.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
I believe the Magic have enough talent to make noise, but not enough to win the East.
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Nice article, I agree, the Magic aren't getting enough love and I'm tired of hearing about Boston and Detroit espesically, the Lakers aswell now to a degree.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thanks for the comments guys. It'll definitely be interesting to see what Orlando has come April.
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BigReg about 1 year ago
WHAT A Bunch of whiners on here. Orlando is a good team w/o a SUPERstar player. Reminds me of Detroit. Orlando is currently 3rd, Detroit is second neither of these teams will get any respect because they don't have the Boston 3-party or LaBron. Get over it, watch your local FSN coverage for that, the national papers will always follow a Superstar as opposed to a Super team. Just deal with it.
PS. Heather has a much better case for Houston then you have for Orlando. 19 in a row is AMAZING!!
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Nino Colla about 1 year ago
Shut up seriously, I'm a Magic fan living in Ohio, so ESPN is the closest someone like me can get to them.
Fact is ESPN is obsessed with LeBron that they talk about him way too much. First Take has a topic on him every single day. It's garbage.
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Steve Resnick about 1 year ago
Regan, this comment just shows that you obviously don't really pay any attention to the NBA and you are, most likely, a bandwagon Houston Rockets fan. Why? Well, not only did Dwight Howard win the Sprite Slam Dunk Competition, but he was also named the starting center for the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. Superstar? I'd say so. Yes, Detroit is second in the standings and they get plenty of press. Also, FSN is a crappy sports station that no one in Florida really watches for Basketball except when the game is on. People really only watch ESPN, ESPNews and ESPN2 for sports coverage. Also, according to your statement, Tracy McGrady gets more news that the Boston Celtics. Incorrect. T-Mac is, by all means, a superstar by doesn't even come into the same half-hour special as the Celtics. Yes, Boston has now won 20 in the row for the the first time since the 1970-1971 season...however it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't get any respect. They are playing great basketball and T-Mac has stepped up just as he did in Orlando when he had no one around him...only he has role players in Houston. Oh and besides all the facts that I just presented, its spelled LeBron, not LaBron.
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Alex Kennedy about 1 year ago
Thanks for all of the comments guys.
From now on, I have to post half of my article and then link to RealGM for everyone to read the rest. It's just a rule we have there. Hope you continue enjoying my work!
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