How Hurricane Milton allowed the Orlando Magic to focus on more important things

Time off is needed.

The players on the Orlando Magic squad needed time off to make sure that their loved ones were safe during a hurricane, which made landfall as a dangerous Category 3 storm on Wednesday.

According to Emily Mae Czachor with CBS, Hurricane Milton sustained winds of 120 mph at landfall, but its strength diminished to Category 1 as it moved inland across the state. Many residents in the Central Florida area are without power. It was reported that more than 3.2 million customers have lost power due to Hurricane Milton.

This major hurricane prompted NBA officials to cancel Friday's matchup inside of the Kia Center against the New Orleans Pelicans, giving the players time to reflect on the things that are way more important than playing professional basketball.

"There's always things bigger than the game of basketball and that's what we have to keep our perspective on, "Magic head coach Jamahl Mosely said. "Knowing that there's families and homes and situations that are going through a tough time right now, we need to be mindful of that and conscious of it."

Fox Sports reported that Hurricane Milton damaged the Tampa Bay Rays stadium, which is one of the nicest baseball atmospheres in the entire sport. This is also one of the reasons why the preseason game against Zion Williamson and his team was canceled and will not be rescheduled.

This time away from the game of basketball will provide the players time to reach out to their loved ones to make sure that they are safe. The players need peace of mind at this time and kudos to the NBA for recognizing the importance of these players' mental health. The last thing you want is athletes worrying about their loved ones while trying to perform at the highest level of professional sports. This time away will give the athletes a moment to realize that their lives could be completely different with a snap of the fingers and that natural disasters are serious business.

The NBA got it right.

Making sure that the families of these athletes are safe and sound should always be the NBA's number one priority because the players need to be in the right head space before they compete in games. The last thing the NBA needs is for their players to think that they only care about making a profit from what they put out on the court.

This time will also give the team time to bond and spend time together that they might not have spent. This Magic team is a tight-knit group and any extra time together should only help them grow in the near future. The storm made this group closer as many players and coaches checked up on each other after the storm passed.

Those conversations held were probably emotional and met with a lot of anxiety and gratuity. It's a lot easier to be thankful for the things you have in life when a natural disaster like this takes precedence. Not only were the players thankful that they had a night off to relax their minds, but they also were happy that their loved ones were safe and sound.

The Magic's final preseason game will be on October 18th inside the Kia Center against Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:00 p.m. Hopefully, recovery efforts will be completed by then and the team can refocus on playing basketball.