Orlando Magic have had a bone to pick with the NBA for a long time.
The team got the number one pick in Paolo Banchero and a player that seemed destined for stardom even before he took the league by storm early in his career, only for the league not to pay him much mind. The Magic had just two scheduled national TV appearances in his first two seasons (and one was taken away because No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren broke his leg).
The Magic winning 47 games and claiming the five seed earned them five national TV games in the injury-filled 2025 season. They got two more added thanks to the NBA Cup quarterfinals and a late addition against the conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers -- a huge breakthrough win for a team beginning its run to the Playoffs.
Meanwhile, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama and his struggling San Antonio Spurs were a fixture on the national TV schedule throughout his rookie year. Boosted by veteran stars Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks will get 23 national TV appearances this year, the same number as last year.
Attention is earned in the league. But the Magic were feeling a bit slighted.
Maybe they still will after the league announced its 2026 schedule. But the Magic are gaining more attention. Orlando will get its share of national TV games -- 14 in total, including six on ESPN and NBC. The team will be in the spotlight more this year.
Now the question is: What will the Magic do with this spotlight?
Orlando is expected to take a step up this season, climbing into contention in the Eastern Conference. The team will get a stage to prove they belong there. And ultimately, the Magic will have to prove they deserve more attention.
The Magic have a strong national TV schedule
The Orlando Magic are going to be found on the national stage a whole lot more.
Overall, the Magic are sixth in the Eastern Conference in national TV appearances. They trail the Detroit Pistons, who went from being invisible on the national schedule to 16.
The Orlando Magic have the same number of national TV appearances as the Philadelphia 76ers.
It is worth noting, for comparison's sake, that there are significantly more national TV games on the schedule this year with the expansion of the NBA TV deal to include Amazon Prime and NBC adding a full slate of games, including their streaming service, Peacock.
Regardless, the Magic will be on TV more and in more games that are designed to feature them.
What matters is the Magic win those games
One of the recurring storylines throughout last year was that the Orlando Magic struggled when the spotlight turned to them.
In their seven national TV games last year, the Magic went 1-6 with some embarrassing losses -- the two worst being the team's NBA Cup flop against the New York Knicks and a 40-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home.
On top of this, the Magic went just 12-25 against teams with winning records last year. That was the fewest such wins among all postseason teams last year. Orlando had the second-fewest wins against teams with records better than .500 during the team's breakthrough 2024 season.
The Magic need to beat the best teams in the league.
They will get that chance to do so on national TV this year.
Three of the teams' four games against the Cavaliers -- Jan. 26 in Cleveland on Peacock, March 11 in Orlando on ESPN and March 24 in Cleveland on NBC -- will air on national TV.
The Orlando Magic also get an early trip to Madison Square Garden to face the New York Knicks on Nov. 12 for a small sense of redemption for that NBA Cup defeat (it is not an NBA Cup game).
Additionally, the Magic will get featured matchups against up-and-coming teams expected to be at the top of the Western Conference. They face the Houston Rockets on Feb. 26 at Kia Center on Amazon Prime and visit the Minnesota Timberwolves for a Saturday matinee on March 7 on Amazon Prime.
These are not must-win games. But these are the kind of games that the best teams win regularly. And the Magic need to win them more often.
The Magic will be a featured player
Those are not the only times the Orlando Magic will be on national TV. Many of their games in the national spotlight are set up for the Magic not only to win, but to be a featured story for the evening.
The Orlando Magic's two games in Europe against the Memphis Grizzlies will both air on Amazon Prime. The game in Berlin should have plenty of focus on the Magic and the impact of the Wagner brothers on German basketball.
You could say the same too about the NBA Cup game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 12 in Philadelphia. The Sixers are a more established brand, but not likely to be better than the Magic this season. It is a major showcase on regular TV for the Magic to show how good they can be.
Indeed, three of the Orlando Magic's games against the Atlanta Hawks will be on national TV -- Nov. 4 in Atlanta on NBC, March 16 in Atlanta on Peacock and April 1 in Orlando on ESPN. The matchup should feature two of the teams most hopeful to take their place at the top of the East.
They also host the Chicago Bulls on Dec. 1 in a Peacock game -- one of just three national TV appearances for the Bulls.
The Magic will get plenty of opportunities to showcase themselves. But the games against the other contenders will be the ones that mean the most. Those games will be the ones that prove the Magic are ready to win.
They will be the ones that show the Magic are ready for the spotlight.