Even in the moments leading into Game 7 at Little Caesars Arena three weeks ago, everyone could feel the weight of the moment.
The end of Game 6 was so disastrous that it was impossible to avoid the elephant in the room (and there is still at least one more thing to say). It felt like that final game was already decided on emotions.
The Orlando Magic fought in Game 7. Paolo Banchero had a standout 38-point effort. The team was tight deep into the second quarter. But they gave up a big run after taking a four-point lead late in the second quarter and the game and season finally got away from them.
The Magic went into their offseason understanding change was imminent -- beginning with the dismissal of Jamahl Mosley. The team is still waiting for its new head coach.
But the team is still moving on. Offseason preparations have begun -- just check Paolo Banchero's Instagram -- and there is still activity inside the AdventHealth Training Center.
The team has begun to turn the page to look forward to next season. The focus internally is on improving. The team is moving on and trying to be ready whenever the new coach arrives.
"I'm just trying to stay ready for whatever," Anthony Black said at a Planet Fitness event Tuesday. "As of right now, it's mostly the same dudes in the building team-wise. I'm trying to do what I feel I need to do to help us keep taking steps. I feel that is more important than the next coach."
Black is at least among the players who have remained in Orlando -- not that he has been here the whole three weeks, going to Kansas City for an EYBL session to support his brother, Beckham Black. The work for next season has already begun internally.
And the focus is clearly on improving to make good on the team's potential and move forward from last season. There is a hunger to put last year behind them. And a hunger to put the focus back on winning.
As Jeff Weltman said in his exit interview, the Magic feel they are not far from contending in the East. When healthy, in their playoff series, they were knocking on the door for the second round.
That is a lot of conditions though. And limiting those conditions will be the task for this offseason.
Everyone is trying to figure out how to contribute to winning now.
Focused on winning
Anthony Black took a break from those offseason preparations Tuesday to promote Planet Fitness' program offering teenagers free access to their gyms throughout the summer.
Joined by his brother Beckham Black, one of the top high school prospects in the country, Anthony Black has continued to make Orlando his home.
That is one of the big storylines for this offseason. The Magic will be negotiating an extension for Black heading into the final year of his rookie contract.
Black is hopeful that he can continue to make Orlando his home. But a lot of that will happen between the team and his representatives ahead of the October deadline.
Black knows his path is to continue to improve and show how he can help the team win. That is all he tried to do when he arrived as a rookie as he slowly grew.
That was the best advice he gave to his brother.
"Trying to figure out ways to win on a new team, walking into a new situation," Beckham Black said at the Planet Fitness event Tuesday. "Just trying to do whatever you can to help the team and help people who have been there longer than you and just find any little way you can impact winning."
Black took a major step forward last year, averaging 15.0 points per game. That included more 20-point and 30-point games than he had in his first two years combined to that point. Black took over several games in December and January as injuries overtook the roster.
He had a big part to play.
His playoffs were hampered by the abdominal injury he was recovering from, which cost him nearly the full final quarter of the season. If anyone felt like he had something left on the table, it was Black.
A Magic team even with a fully healthy Black would have been much more competitive. He feels that important to the team.
That absence has left him hungry. The team still feels like it is really close. It is about getting over that hump
"It would mean a lot being able to play here for years," Anthony Black said at the Planet Fitness event on Tuesday. "Obviously, I want to win a lot too. I feel we are in a great position to do that, and we came really close to doing that. That would be ideal. It's the NBA, and it's a decision that has to be made."
The Magic still feel like they are in a position to win. That was certainly the feeling, even in the aftermath of the series loss.
To get there will take some work.
The front office is busy searching for the next coach. The players are busy trying to make good on the disappointments of last season.
Everyone will wait for September to see how the whole puzzle comes together.
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