Orlando Magic’s push earns Oklahoma City Thunder’s respect

Oklahoma City Thunder leaders see a bright future ahead for the OrlandoMagic while a fan base yearns for a team headed in the right direction.

The story of the Orlando Magic right now seems to follow an old axiom. When watching this precocious team, “You have to learn to crawl before you can walk.” is a phrase that comes to mind.

There is no question the Magic have been in position to win late in each of their first two home games. While many fans might be feeling deja vu back to last year when Orlando blew numerous fourth quarter leads, there is a different side of the coin to look at with this season’s squad.

It is a glass half full tale that key members of the Oklahoma City Thunder would also like you to understand. In new head coach Billy Donovan and his superstar Kevin Durant, you have two men who have been through the proverbial basketball foxhole.

Donovan may be a newcomer to the pro scene, but he crafted two national titles from a blank University of Florida basketball canvas. Durant has brought a young team to the brink of NBA Finals glory and a few years later cemented himself further among the league’s greats with an MVP trophy.

These two giants of the sport would tell Magic fans not to fret.

“I just thought their team played really, really hard,” said Donovan on Orlando. “I think I said before the game with coaching (Aaron) Gordon and (Elfrid) Payton, they’re great competitors. They’ve got a good nucleus of guys. They’re good players. I think what they’re running on offense is really effective for them because it takes advantage of their speed and their quickness.”

The coach who was once the Magic’s head man for a moment in time told anyone and everyone during his brief return back in Central Florida just what he thought the potential of Orlando could be. Durant started out with his effusive praise during shootaround too, making the now familiar Victor Oladipo comparison to future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.

After seeing that Orlando squad push, prod and rally deep into two overtimes against his Thunder however, Durant gained an even deeper respect for what could be a basketball resurgence starting this year in The City Beautiful.

“Scott Skiles is a tremendous coach,” said Durant. “They’ve got a lot of great young talent. I think they can be a playoff team this year if they keep grinding. I don’t want to put too much pressure on them, but the way they play the game is hard to guard.”

Pressure is what Durant knew in the NBA from a very young age and it is what he still knows today as he tries to lift a nascent franchise to their first championship. He intimately understands the sort of itch this Magic roster now feels to return the franchise to relevancy.

That experience Durant has faced like other greats comes with a final reminder for the Magic of how to weather the storm of growing pains.

“I was in that same spot,” said Durant.  “I can remember when we played in Denver when they had Carmelo [Anthony] and those guys. We hit shots back and forth and Carmelo hit a game winner on us. We were up eight, nine points in the fourth so I know how that feels. They just have to keep grinding.”