Desmond Bane confirms the Orlando Magic's biggest offseason focus

The end of the Orlando Magic's season seemed to follow the same pattern as the rest of their season.

The rush of optimism and the team meeting its vast potential gave way to an embarrassing defeat and a slow march to the end. The team walked off the floor after Game 7, still seemingly in a daze after their Game 6 loss at home and losing a 3-1 series lead.

The season was unfulfilled because everyone understood they did not meet their potential.

Injuries had something to do with that, but the team needed some self-reflection. There has been plenty of time for that.

Paolo Banchero, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, Jevon Carter, Jonathan Isaac and Jamal Cain all took in the Magic's first Summer League game from the sidelines. They likely got their first in-person meeting with new coach Sean Sweeney.

But they all know, after a summer where the Magic's only change was to swap coaches, that responsibility falls on the players to deliver on this potential. They are getting something of a second chance.

And so as the players have become more available to talk about the team one theme has quickly emerged: Accountability.

"I'm super excited for Sweeney," Desmond Bane said on the Prime Video broadcast of Thursday's Summer League game. "The accountability, the discipline and the energy that he brings will really help our team. We had an up-and-down season. And a year of building chemistry, I think we're going to come back and be a better team this season."

Bane is not the first to note that Sweeney is trying to establish a culture of accountability. It may not even be a Sweeney-led thing. The players are trying to bring a new level of accountability and ownership of this team.

It was the same theme that occurred in the wake of the Game 7 loss and the end of this season, and it has carried over into reflections about what the team needs to do next season.

Everyone can sense the pressure is on this group of players to deliver or face some major consequences and changes to the franchise. And nobody seems willing to bet the Magic will deliver outside of this locker room.

Calls for accountability throughout the summer

This call for accountability started well before the offseason began.

In the immediate wake of the Orlando Magic's loss to the Detroit Pistons in Game 7, Paolo Banchero took the podium and seemingly immediately issued a challenge to his franchise, his teammates and himself.

Losing in the first round was no longer good enough.

"It's about winning habits," Paolo Banchero said after Game 7. "It's about creating a winning environment every single day from September to now. We've got to be better. It doesn't start in April when the Playoffs start. It starts in September and October when we get everybody in the building.

"You build habits. You create an environment where losing isn't acceptable. Losing in the first round is not acceptable. It's not good enough. That should be the attitude. It shouldn't be comfortable in the building. It should be everybody on their p's and q's feeling pressure to be great because this result is not good enough."

This was the first call openly for some form of accountability. It was a dissatisfaction with the results and a seeming understanding that to change things will take some personal and collective responsibility.

That is coming from the team's leading scorer.

Franz Wagner, another player who is on an All-Star track, echoed many of these statements. In interviews with HoopsHype and BASKET magazine in Germany, Wagner highlighted the need for a new approach, calling for more urgency.

He said his early impression from his initial conversations with Sweeney is that he would create a culture of accountability. It seemed like that message was welcome.

That Desmond Bane also echoed this message of player-led accountability and a hunger to do more. The first impression is they have a coach who is going to guide them on that journey and set that tone.

"It's a whole lot of accountability," Bane said on the Prime Video broadcast Thursday. "There is a clear plan and clear ideas of what we're going to be asked to do. If we're not doing it, I think he is going to let us hear about it. Which is what I think you need to be a good team and to win in the postseason, which we're trying to do."

The message is at least consistent from all corners of the roster.

That kind of togetherness means something as they do their work on their own and before they come together in two months for the start of training camp and the season.

Hungry to succeed

The Orlando Magic still have all the talent and potential that everyone saw in them last season.

They have gone from a team that was overhyped to a team that is kind of overlooked. In a crowded Eastern Conference, the Magic are in the mix even if nobody is ready to predict them to get there.

Paolo Banchero is still a handful and a potential All-Star. Franz Wagner would have been a two-time All-Star if not for his injuries in the last two seasons. Desmond Bane is one of the best volume shooters in the league and was excellent throughout last season. Jalen Suggs can still be an all-defensive team player.

There is still a lot to work with.

And now the Magic have the disappointment of last season to feed them. It has helped them seemingly mature. They have a lot to make up for and an identity to rebuild.

"I think we're going to be a hungry team," Bane said during the Prime Video broadcast Thursday. "I think we're going to impose our will on teams, and every time you come to town to play the Orlando Magic, you're going to feel it for sure."

The Magic know what they need to be about to be successful. Executing it will be the challenge.

But you cannot fix a problem without identifying it. And all the team's leaders are sharing the same message and goal this summer.

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