When Mario Hezonja jokingly said the Orlando Magic were going for #WARLANDO on media day, he was rallying the team together. Hard to say it has not worked.
There is always a little bit of concern when the Miami Heat come to town.
Ever since LeBron James arrived in Miami, the amount of red and black that found its way into the seats at Amway Center always seemed to rise. True, Miami always brought some fans with the team up the Florida Turnpike for these games. But with the Orlando Magic at the lowest point in franchise history, the pro-Miami Heat crowd has gotten a little louder and a little bolder.
Even in the first quarter of the season opener, Heat fans made their presence known with several loud cheers and a strong chant early in the game. The Magic have a lot to do to win the crowd back.
They ultimately know to do that and defy everyone who does not believe in them, they have to win.
And as the Magic built up their 17-point lead, the Magic crowd got louder and louder, drowning out the interlopers who had invaded the Amway Center. As Jonathan Isaac rose to dunk to put the Magic up 17, the Amway Center was as loud as it has been.
Even though the Magic needed to hold on tight for the win, the Orlando crowd went home happy. And the Magic have given themselves plenty of reasons to believe.
That was the moment Mario Hezonja hoped for in a quieter moment at the Amway Center during media day.
It was on the Magic’s Facebook Live on Media Day that Hezonja created the unofficial moniker for the team this year. When Dante Marchitelli asked Mario Hezonja why he shaved his head, he said he was preparing for war.
And #Warlando was born, beginning to spread through social media as fans wanted a rallying cry for their team. It eventually found its way to Arron Afflalo, who posted a fan-made meme on the theme and gave it his endorsement.
The Magic were beginning to take ownership of their fate. They wanted to control and change their narrative. As Aaron Gordon said after the Orlando Magic defeated the San Antonio Spurs, if teams were going to underestimate the Magic, they would get blown out.
They backed those words up again and again in this early season.
This is exactly what Hezonja meant. When asked about it a bit more a few days later after practice, Hezonja elaborated:
"“Orlando is basketball city, man,” Hezonja said. “We were in the Finals a few years ago. When you go around in the offseason and people are out here they are like, ‘The Magic don’t get the calls, you’re not going to be there.’ And I am looking at them like, ‘What are you talking about? We’re going to bust your ass soon. Don’t talk like that.’“I don’t like how people treat us with disrespect in recent years. I want to change that. I would rather go home and stay in my room and lock myself in Croatia than not to succeed here. I want this team and this city to succeed and all of us to be successful and be a championship team. I want that more than anything.“War is being expressed in the way that everyone is getting hyped. I want people to spread that in the city so we start from somewhere.”"
#WARLANDO then is about earning respect around the league. It is the battle cry to fight and earn respect in a league that has stomped on and overlooked the team for a long time.
In the last five years, there have been plenty of moments where it felt like the Magic were overlooked and forgotten in the NBA landscape and even at home. Orlando has not given fans much reason to show up, it seems. Or much reason for anyone to pay attention.
This was among the many grievances for the Magic. But it is something they know they have to earn.
Getting fan respect and national respect is low on the priority of goals — something the team will accomplish by doing the other things it hopes to do.
The Magic want to make sure they are no longer the team that gets overlooked or doubted. They want opponents to have their full attention. Orlando cannot be an easy place to play or an easy team to face.
They have to earn that respect. That is step one for this season. The disrespect has to be personal.
"“We take [low expectations] personally,” Jonathon Simmons told FOX Sports Florida in mid-October. “I am trying to instill in guys that you should take it personally. You should take it personally when guys come to Orlando and take nights off.“I see a lot of young guys with great talent and great character. They want to win. It’s about making that next step of focus.”"
That hunger has been festering for some time. Talking to Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier, there is a fatigue from all the losing. They just needed the roster to help them win. The Magic want to change their fortunes and their outlook.
Their fast start to the season appears to be doing that. National observers are changing their tune on the Magic. They are watching them closely, prodding this team and trying to figure out just how real they are.
Opponents will likely do the same. The Magic will have a point where they have to adjust to the extra attention they are getting. But that is the respect that comes with winning.
Getting to this point will take a lot of growth internally.
Orlando Magic
Undoubtedly, Orlando’s desire to make the most of this roster was evident very early on. At Media Day, the focus was less on the Playoffs and more about coming together as a team. They wanted to build their chemistry and focus on themselves rather than the outside goals of the season.
"“What I am just impressed with is our building of chemistry,” Arron Afflalo said after the Magic’s preseason win over the Heat. “I know that is what it’s going to take with this team. It’s not going to be so much what we’re going to do offensively and defensively, it’s our togetherness. The more we love each other, the more we defend this home court and the pride we have in trying to win at home, the better we’ll be. I don’t see a lot of selfishness. I see a lot of guys who want to take that next step for this team.”"
A lot of that chemistry developed in the preseason has carried over to the regular season. The chemistry the team built in the preseason has even survived a few tests already. And the team seems bound together even stronger for it.
It is still very early in the season. A lot can still happen. Good chemistry can break up.
But Orlando’s unofficial battle cry — or at least the feeling Hezonja intended when he uttered it — has brought the team together. The Magic have taken the disrespect personally.
Next: Orlando Magic must rely on each other when offense fails
So far, they have done something to prove the rest of the world wrong.