Kentavious Caldwell-Pope spoke to the Orlando Magic's team media after shootaround in Detroit on Wednesday. He was speaking about what it meant to be back in Detroit—although not in the building he played in—and then added his New Year's resolution was to be more aggressive.
As is so often the case at Magic practice these days, it was hard to pay attention to who was talking with what was going on around the team. It feels like every time someone speaks during practice availabilities, Paolo Banchero is going through his work on the court. And with the Magic All-Star forward so close to returning from a torn oblique, everyone is watching his every move.
Even covering remotely and watching the video the Magic posted online, it was hard to pay attention to Caldwell-Pope.
That was because moving quietly in and out of frame in the background was Franz Wagner. Wagner had a belt strapped across his chest allowing a trainer to pull back on Wagner and give resistance as he slowly walked across the frame behind Caldwell-Pope.
It is not much. It is hardly any basketball activity, but it is something.
Because this is the most frustrating part of Wagner's injury: It does not hurt. You would not otherwise know Wagner is hurt except that he is not playing.
The progress to return even to simple activities can be a long one. It takes patience. And Wagner, like Banchero before him, is waiting for his body to give him the clearance to get back into action and begin working back toward a return.
The waiting is indeed the hardest part.
"Just kind of staying patient even though I feel really good," Wagner said of his approach to the injury after Sunday's game. "After the first couple of days, I felt totally normal. Normally when you have an injury and you are out with a foot or knee or something, you have trouble walking. It was nothing like that. Having that is mentally a little weird. Nothing really hurts. You can't really go yet. It's just staying patient."
That has to be jarring, especially for a player like Wagner. Before this season, Wagner missed only 15 total games in three seasons. Wagner was noted for his resilience to even minor injuries. He played through almost anything. His dependability was one of his best traits.
Injuries are random though. And while it is not clear when it happened against the Philadelphia 76ers, it was clear he was grabbing at his side throughout the second half of that game.
That was four weeks ago, putting Wagner within the re-evaluation period the Magic set out when he initially got hurt. Wagner is still going through rehab. He said he and the Magic staff want to make sure they don't take any jumps too soon because of the nature of this injury.
Still, Wagner said he feels pretty good about where he stands.
"Honestly, mentally I was fine," Wagner said after Sunday's game. "The first couple of days are always tough. But I felt like I had a good kind of mindset. Then the thing with my brother happened. I would say that had more of an impact. It's always tough seeing anyone go down like that. Seeing it very close how it impacts one's life. I would say that is tougher."
Moe Wagner, to that point, has not yet had his surgery for his torn ACL. That is expected either this week or next week so he can begin his own rehab process.
The blow of his injury in addition to Franz Wagner's injury was softened by the Wagner's parents being in town for the holidays. There was a lot of support for the family as they went through these shocking injuries.
Franz Wagner though is on the path toward healing. It is just about waiting for his body to heal and getting that clearance to return to the court. Then with a month on the shelf, he has to regain his conditioning. As the Magic are seeing with Banchero after his two-month absence, that can take some time.
Until then, like Banchero, Wagner is getting a different perspective on the game being able to watch from the sidelines. And he knows the team will ultimately benefit from having to go through these trials.
"I think as a team we learned a lot," Wagner said after Sunday's game. "I wouldn't say I learned too much about my team. I knew we were a really talented group and we always fight no matter what the score is. We knew with my injury and the same with Jalen [Suggs], it's a tough stretch.
"At the same time, these things happen. All we can do is go one possession at a time. There are a lot of opportunities that other guys might not have gotten. It's about using that as best as you can and also being OK with making mistakes knowing it is really the first time a lot of these guys have played a lot of minutes. From that standpoint, it is beneficial for us as a group to have a lot of guys play a lot of minutes."
Wagner had that approach when Banchero first went out. He knew he would have the ball a lot more and the decision-making would rest with him. It made him a better player in the end. The question will be how quickly Wagner can pick things back up when he returns.
That is still off in the distance. Wagner cannot afford to get too far ahead of things. He has to be patient with each step.
But steps are being taken. Even if they are slow and deliberate.