Before this season started, I asked former Orlando Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, now an analyst for TNT and NBA TV, to give me a prediction on how the Magic would do this year after finally making the playoffs a season ago.
Stan said something that has unfortunately turned out to be profoundly prophetic. He pointed out that the Magic led a charmed existence with injuries last season when their top six players missed only 15 combined games. As Stan pointed out, that kind of good fortune is almost unprecedented in today’s NBA.
Now fast forward 11 months to Saturday when Stan was the TNT color analyst for the Magic’s 121-107 blowout loss to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks.