Culture is easy when everything is going well.
A culture looks good when starts are rolling and the team is winning. It seems second nature because everything is aligned how everyone always imagined. That is the peak of joy.
That is not culture though. That is not what measures how strong a team is.
Culture is more difficult when things are hard, when players are absent with injuries and when adversity hits. This is when a team begins to understand its culture. This is when a culture is made.
The Orlando Magic have been working on building a culture of togetherness and good vibes for four years. The team has progressively improved as their young players improved and came into their own.
Orlando has had a few hiccups on the road. Maybe a few minor injuries here and there. But their growth was inevitable and proven. They made the Playoffs for the first time and were on track for an even better season because of the culture they had carefully cultivated.
The Magic believed they were building a culture that could last and could lead them to a title. But it has not been tested. Not truly. Not until now.
Saturday, the team learned Franz Wagner had torn his right oblique, the same rare basketball injury that All-Star Paolo Banchero suffered a little more than a month ago. If there was a test of just how good this Magic team and its culture is, it is here now with the season at a critical inflection point.
How are the Magic supposed to survive without their top two stars? That is what culture is about. A team with a good culture fills in and steps up. Their style does not change dramatically. It does enough to keep winning.
The Magic will find out just how ingrained their culture is.
After one game, the results are promising.
Orlando defeated Phoenix 115-110 in the team’s first game since Wagner’s injury. And what was astounding about the game was how little it felt the Magic were different.
They still defended and forced turnovers – 21 for 23 points. They still attacked the paint (48 points in the paint) and got to the foul line (30 free throw attempts). They still were opportunistic with their 3-point shooting. They still quieted their opponent in the fourth quarter (23 points allowed).
Jalen Suggs scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half and 14 in the fourth quarter, hitting big shots to put the game away and bring the Magic into the lead. Goga Bitadze had a season-high 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds.
The Magic did not do anything special. Suggs said his breakthrough did not come until he stopped trying to do too much as he was in the first half.
That is what it will take to win while both Wagner and Banchero is out. The margin for error might be smaller, but the Magic can still be a pest and put themselves in a position to win.
They can still play Magic basketball.
Orlando went 13-7 in the 20 games since Banchero’s injury. Wagner stepped up into a starring role and put himself in a position to make the All-Star team.
Orlando, in other words, filled in and stepped up. The team’s culture was not just words or a nice tagline to describe a team that was winning. The Magic’s culture was something real. And it is the reason the season is not over despite the bad news of another star forward down to injury.
