The beginning of training camp for the Orlando Magic is just days away, and newly acquired guard Desmond Bane is already feeling the love in the community, even in troublesome situations.
Recently, Bane experienced car troubles which caused him to break down on the side of an express way in Orlando. While dealing with an otherwise frustrating experience, Bane was met with love from passerby fans.
“A car breakdown on a busy highway usually generates intense frustration for the car’s driver and for anyone else caught in the resulting traffic jam,” Josh Robbins of The Athletic wrote. “But for Desmond Bane, whose vehicle conked out Wednesday on the side of an Orlando expressway, the experience offered an unmistakable sign of how happy Magic fans are now that he’s on the team.”
After spending the first five years of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, Bane made his way to Orlando in June via a blockbuster deal in which the Magic shipped off Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks and one first-round pick swap to the Grizzlies in order to acquire the 27-year-old.
As a fresh face in the community, Bane hasn’t had any public sightings. However, Wednesday proved how palpable the excitement is for him to be in Central Florida.
“As Bane sat in his vehicle waiting for help and traffic plodded past,” Robbins added. “Other commuters caught a glimpse of him and yelled “Bane!”
“I haven’t been to the grocery store yet, honestly,” Bane told The Athletic. “But my car broke down on the side of the road today on the highway. There was a decent amount of people screaming my name outside the window. So I think that it’s safe to say that Orlando fans are excited.”
It is likely the most excitement the fan base has experienced in years. The Magic have slowly been constructing a roster with a lot of potential, but not enough to earn consideration as one of the upper echelon teams in the NBA.
Now, adding Bane to an already talented core of Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs is putting the national media on notice. Many believe the addition of Bane with catapult Orlando to the Eastern Conference Finals in a conference landscape enveloped in uncertainty.
The Magic have not yet reached the status to be considered a favorite, but Bane’s ability to provide efficient scoring, especially from the perimeter, is enough to keep them in the kind of conversation fans haven’t witnessed since Dwight Howard’s prime days.
“I don’t think that there is any limit to put on what this team can do,” Bane said. “I mean, we are a new team, adding some new pieces and things like that. But we have a very good roster in place, a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. So it’s very exciting from that standpoint.”