Two Orlando Magic Stars Looking For All-Star Seasons

On the latest episode of the Full Court Magic podcast, host Don Strouble recapped Orlando Magic's Media Day availability and spoke on both Franz Wagner and Desmond Bane looking to have all-star seasons.

On Observations of Franz Wagner: "Some things that stood out to me about media day: the level of care that Franz Wagner took to make sure that he was rehabbing properly before he even went on a vacation this summer. He made sure that he was rehabbing properly after suffering that unfortunate calf strain in game four of the first round last season against the Detroit Pistons. He made sure to get his body right and that is so crucial because the Magic need him. He chose not to play in Germany this summer. Tristan da Silva, his teammate, did, but Franz did not. He's navigating a lot right now. He's navigating the recovery of his body. He's navigating playing without his brother Mo, who is with the Brooklyn Nets. This is all an adjustment period for a young man who just turned 25 years old and is just hitting the prime of his career. But that really stood out to me: how much attention to detail and care he put into making sure he was ready to go for the gauntlet that is an 82-game season. The Magic will only be their best if Wagner is at his best, and we have plenty of proof and precedent to show us that is the case. So, hoping for a healthy season from him as he continues to do what's necessary to remain on the court."

On Desmond Bane's leadership:

"Another thing that stuck out to me was Desmond Bane's press conference. He compared last season's media day with this one. After the Magic traded for Bane in June 2025, we all remember that they were the talk of the NBA. They were the next hot team up. The expectations on the outside were deafening. There was talk of Eastern Conference Finals, especially given the state that the East was in then. But then that didn't happen for the Magic. They lost in the first round once again. They almost didn't make it there at all. It came down to that one play-in game against Charlotte when they finally woke up and showed us what they could be. They showed us what they could be through the first four games of that series against the Pistons. But ultimately that was a very flawed team last year that dealt with a lot of stuff. Now it's a new year and Bane talked about how this team essentially isn't getting too high on itself. It's just quietly working. They are quietly putting together the foundational pieces to be successful and they are letting the results do the talking. There's no more speculation. There's no more hype around this team. In fact, there have been some media members out there that have been pretty brutal when discussing the Magic, talking about how they're going to be a lower seed, their chances of missing the playoffs. So the Magic are just doing what they do and that's for the best, especially for a young group, because there's no room to get high on yourself when you haven't proven yourself yet. 

I think everybody in the building understands that, and that is going to be good moving forward, especially under new head coach Sean Sweeney, because he can just implement exactly what it is that he wants to do, how he wants this team to operate, and the standard that he is implementing within the building is what comes first. That is paramount to this team's success, not what anybody else thinks internally. I thought that was important from Bane, someone who was exactly as advertised and more for the Magic. First time in his career, he played all 82 games last season, all the postseason games, and he talked about his own recovery and his own development over the summer to be a better version of himself this year as well."