Moe Wagner not about the Orlando Magic's individual award noise

The Orlando Magic are having their moment while on their nine-game win streak. The league is talking about the hottest team in the league and trying to figure out if this Magic team will last.

Paolo Banchero took home the Eastern Conference Player of the Week. The team got featured on several podcasts and power rankings posts throughout the weekend.

The team had a lot of fun in Wednesday's win over the Washington Wizards, capped off with Jalen Suggs and Cole Anthony paying tribute to Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.

Friday before the Orlando Magic defeated the Washington Wizards was spent discussing the Sixth Man of the Year raise and giving praise to the Magic's unsung heroes.

Moe Wagner though is not here for these award discussions. Not yet. And that is certainly not his style.

While there are plenty of Magic players who are already getting some early buzz for postseason awards -- that comes naturally with the success they are experiencing -- there is still a long way to go. And the focus for the team, as it is for Wagner, is on their daily work.

Wagner does not want to hear any of that award noise at this point.

"Honestly, for my focus, it's not good," Wagner said after shootaround Friday. "It annoys me a little bit. It takes me off my performance approach. I don't play for an award. We didn't grow up that way in Germany. I never got an award. I was always the best team camper and the nicest guy on the field and best teammate. I never really grew up with that mindset. It never had any value for me. I'm just happy the stuff I work on translates in games and translates into wins. Those awards are great, but that conversation goes by me."

There is no doubt Wagner has been an extremely valuable player to the Magic coming off the bench. And he has done his best to keep his head down and just keep building the work.

Entering Saturday's game in Brooklyn, Wagner is averaging a career-best 12.7 points per game with 4.4 rebounds per game. He is shooting 63.1 percent from the floor and has proven to be a perfect pick-and-roll option for any number of players off the bench.

Orlando entered Saturday's game with the top-scoring bench in the league at 47.2 points per game. A lot of that focus has turned to Cole Anthony, who is averaging 14.9 points per game (third on the team in scoring).

There is a lot of focus on this team. And the Magic's bench has been among the team's superpowers this season. Wagner has been a big part of that. So nobody would blame him for trying to keep his focus and attention on the work.

Still, it is hard not to notice the attention the Magic are getting. Especially since it feels like something fans have been thirsting for -- and demanding -- as the team has gotten off to this scorching start.

And there was a lot to break down and share:

Zach Lowe featured discussion of Cole Anthony, Joe Ingles and Moe Wagner as unsung heroes off the team's bench and the unique chemistry they have displayed so far. Lowe then had Anthony on his podcast to mine everything else about the Magic's sparkplug off the bench.

Anthony got some attention and love from Alberto Del Roa of HoopsHype, who named Anthony the front-runner for the award at this point. Per FanDuel Sportsbook, Cole Anthony is fourth at +900 with the Dallas Mavericks' Tim Hardaway Jr. sitting in the "pole position" at this early stage of the season.

On the award front then too, FanDuel currently lists Jamahl Mosley as the co-favorite for Coach of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder's Mark Daigneault.

Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce shared a very not-safe-for-work approval of this Magic team's progress -- even if they still doubt whether the team can make it travel.

The Magic may not be on national TV yet, but they are getting their share of national attention now. And, as always, the national recognition and award for individuals follow team success. It is safe to say the team is experiencing some collective success right now.

But the team is doing its best to keep its head level and focus on the work. They are certainly enjoying the wins. But everyone has tried to stress that it is about the work they have put in to get to this point.

As the attention on the team grows, the Magic will see if they can handle that pressure -- Mosley has talked about the shift in intensity that comes when teams are looking up at you in the standings and take your game a bit more seriously.

They will need to take the approach that Wagner is taking and focus on the work and not the outside noise.