Orlando Magic: All-decade most liked starting 5

The Orlando Magic may have suffered a lot through the years 2010-19, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t grow attached to some of the guys who suited up.

If you’ve been an Orlando Magic fan since at least 2010 onwards, then you’ve certainly known more heartbreak than joy. A finals run in 2009 being as good as it got, before a team that was a legitimate contender there for a minute was torn apart and only got back on its feet to close out the decade.

Despite there being not a lot of good times as the Orlando Magic continued to return to the lottery every year without ever landing a superstar, there were still a number of players who endeared themselves to the fans with not only how they played, but how they carried themselves playing for one of the worst franchises in the NBA.

Already we have looked at the guys from the decade who would make up their least-liked starting five, which as a result of all the losing and lack of caring that was done, was a good deal easier to put together than this list. Still, if you’ve been an Orlando Magic fan from 2010 right through to now, not only do you deserve a medal, you can now look back on these painful times and reminisce.

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This is because the organization is in a better place now, and they say that nothing galvanizes or validates a fan’s support like sitting through the bad times and continuing to wear the team’s jersey and go to the games where possible. This has certainly been Magic fans, and the fact their attendance never dipped much lower than league average during this period is a testament to how some people managed to hang in there over the years.

What follows are the five most-liked players from the last decade. Not the best, although for a lot of seasons there wasn’t much of that going on either. Just the individuals who, through their play or how they settled in with the franchise, endeared themselves to fans.

Center – Khem Birch

A surprising place to start, but the criteria of most liked dictated that Khem Birch should be here over anybody else. Dwight Howard burned his bridges when he left in 2012. Nikola Vucevic has been the Orlando Magic’s most consistent player since around 2014, and the fans that support him (including this writer), do so passionately.

But Vucevic is too divisive a character, with just as many fans believing that he is the reason the Magic have not been able to take the next step. As your best player and having his best season personally he can get you back to the playoffs, nothing more. Birch, on the other hand, is beloved by all, because of how hard he worked to get his opportunity with the Orlando Magic.

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Brought back from overseas in the summer of 2017, Birch spent some time in the G League while struggling to get any game time in a crowded frontcourt. Birch continued to work away, like he always has, eventually getting a real opportunity once Mohamed Bamba went down with a leg fracture just before the All-Star break last season.

From there he was the defensive anchor off the bench that helped power the organization back to the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. He was the ideal backup to the more offensive-minded Vucevic, setting hard screens and protecting the paint. His motor and will to get up and down the court infectiously spreading to his teammates too.

The Orlando Magic finished the 2018-19 regular season with a defensive rating of 107.6 (eighth in the NBA). With Birch on the court? That number shrunk to 102.7. From there he went to the FIBA World Cup with Canada, stepping up for his country at a time when so many other top-level players decided not to play.

Inserting him into the starting lineup alongside Vucevic on occasion during this season hasn’t really worked but it doesn’t matter. Birch will do whatever is asked of him, however big or small, and he never kicks up a fuss either way. He embodies what team spirit should be about, and will forever be known as a cult hero in a run to the playoffs. In the last 10 years, nobody at the center position has brought teammates and fans together in the way that he did.

Power forward – Aaron Gordon

A really tough position to call. Some fans would have liked to have seen Hedo Turkoglu in this spot, and there’s no doubt be was the kind of player who was ahead of his time and was a big help to those contending Orlando Magic teams. But his time with the team is split in two as a result of leaving for the Toronto Raptors (and having a 25 game pit stop with the Phoenix Suns too).

You could make the case for Rashard Lewis as well, and even Tobias Harris. In the end though, fans have been through a lot with Aaron Gordon, even if it feels like we are still yet to see his best consistently. He was their best player to come out of their prolonged rebuild (Victor Oladipo was cut loose too soon), and has grown in front of our eyes.

Those All-Star Dunk Contest losses only brought Gordon and fans closer as they rallied behind the injustice of him never winning that trophy, despite clearly being the winner on at least one occasion. The on-court play has been mostly good too, even if the power forward position isn’t really his preferred spot.

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Previous head coach Frank Vogel tried to fit him in here, and while we’re doing the same now, the league has evolved to become position-less. Offensively Gordon is more like a small forward, but on the defensive end he is often tasked with guarding all manner of bigs, so we’ll get away with keeping him here.

Somehow Gordon is still only 24, and at that age is already the Orlando Magic’s best two-way player. The encouraging 34.9 percent he shot from deep last season has been replaced with 30.1 percent this year, but there was still time for Gordon to improve upon that, and other, numbers.

He was there when the organization was at its lowest point, and since then has only tried to become of a leader, even if his consistency hasn’t always been there. Gordon figures to be a key player for them this decade as well, with the six seasons he’s already had and how he has carried himself during this time, despite persistent trade rumors, making him the right choice here.

Small forward – Arron Afflalo

Stick with us here, because fans can sometimes have short memories. Arron Afflalo had two stints with the Magic over the course of the decade, and that second run with them was poor. Afflalo was past his best and did not help what was supposed to be a genuine playoff push to materialize.

However during his first period with the team, from 2012-2014, he averaged 16.5 and then 18.2 points per game, the two highest season averages he would ever have in the league. Afflalo was the Orlando Magic’s leading scorer, and light, at a time when there was nothing else to cheer about. Vucevic was still only beginning to come into his own.

Victor Oladipo was frustrating fans with his one step forward, two steps back, approach. Afflalo came in as a guy in his prime (was 27 and 28 during that first run in Orlando), who could be a veteran leader to the young guys while also scoring consistently on the court. Yes, you can argue that the point at that stage in the Magic’s rebuild was to lose games.

They still did a lot of that, even if Afflalo tried his hardest for that not to be the case. He also played more as a two-guard during his second season (when he would average 18.2 points), but much like Evan Fournier after him he had the ability and skill-set to move between both defined positions.

It wasn’t always great when Afflalo was on the court, but that was usually not all down to him. He shot a sizzling 42.7 percent from deep during that second season, in what was really a career year for him. He said all the right things, and was eager to come back in 2017-18 to try to help an improving roster get back to the postseason.

Afflalo failed, playing 53 games (starting only three) en route to average 3.4 points per contest. He was only 32, and he threw down for the cause, but it would be his last stop in the NBA. This flame-out is what fans remember more than the fact he was the only good thing about Orlando Magic basketball there for a minute. He also wanted to be that too, which is just as important.

Looking back, Afflalo was a similar kind of player to Terrence Ross in his ability to be a two-way kind of guy, although he was more comfortable creating his own shot and setting up others. If he were on today’s roster in the place of Ross, he would be remembered more fondly. Afflalo was asked to do a lot while with the Orlando Magic, and he did what he could. Looking at the rest of the players who lined out at that position for the franchise over the decade, and that alone was enough.

Shooting guard – Evan Fournier

This one is sure to raise a few eyebrows. After all, Evan Fournier makes up one half of the “Euro Bros” combo with Vucevic, and is as divisive a figure as his Montenegrin teammate. Unlike Vucevic however, who would have made this list if not for the last 18 months Birch had, Fournier’s path to this position is more clear.

Afflalo could have slotted in here as already mentioned, but really there is nobody else who can take this spot away from him. Victor Oladipo? If you think he should have been here, then you have an even shorter memory than you thought. Many fans were happy to see Oladipo traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016, they just weren’t happy with what they got back.

Fournier came over in a trade from the Denver Nuggets in 2014, that sent Afflalo the other way. The transition for Fournier was a bumpy one, but in the time he has been in Orlando, he has mostly done exactly what has been needed from him. The roster has always lacked an offensive spark to create for themselves and others.

This was Fournier’s strength, although when things weren’t going well it was easy to scapegoat him as the reason as a result of holding onto the ball too much or insisting on taking the big shots. When Fournier got on hot streaks, however, and he certainly has, then he has been pegged as a franchise savior.

Alongside Vucevic no two players get graded on a more strange curve. If Gordon has a rough couple of weeks, fans take longer to call him out on it. Markelle Fultz could have a bad year, and a lot of people wouldn’t have anything bad to say about him. If Fournier has an off night, then Magic Twitter wants him traded.

Yet despite this he too has always shown the right attitude around getting the team to be as good as it can be. In truth too much is probably asked of Fournier. Imagine if he was the third-best player on a playoff squad. He would be lethal. Instead with the Magic, like many others, he is put into a bigger role than perhaps his skill-set allows for.

Of all the players to suit up for the Magic between 2010 – 2019, Fournier is the only one who could have conceivably made the most and least liked starting five in equal measure. That’s what you get with him. But when he’s on, then he’s unlike anybody that the organization has had, going back to their days of contention with Howard.

Point Guard – Jameer Nelson

There could never be anybody else for this position. Which is a shame because D.J. Augustin hit the biggest shot of the decade for the franchise, and he played any other position on the court he would have made this list. But how can it not be Jameer Nelson? Yes, his time with the Orlando Magic during this decade was brief.

Most of his good work had been done by that point, and in fact, the Magic did the right thing in trading him away in 2014 as they were starting into the worst years of their rebuild. Every time Nelson came back to play against his former team afterwards it felt weird, and really how could you exclude somebody who has this to say about his time in Orlando?

Nelson goes down as one of the most beloved players in franchise history, period. He holds this title despite somehow only averaging 12.6 points and 5.4 assists in 10 seasons with them, but there was that All-Star appearance in 2008-09. We can’t include that here though as it was a different decade, but it still doesn’t matter.

Nelson seemed unfazed by the prospect of knowing that his chance to win a title with the Magic had come and gone. Once other keys guy had left, he transitioned into being a leader for the young players on the team, and in the community. You’ve absolutely forgotten that he played for the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, but that’s the beauty of Nelson anyway.

Orlando was home for him, and he gave fans something to smile about as they faced into dark days and uncertain times earlier in the decade. Augustin did a lot of this stuff too and had a career year that helped the Magic get back to the playoffs. He too is rightly loved by all, but he’s not on Nelson’s level.

He never could be either, and if you get a better response out of fans than guys like Dwight Howard, you know you have done something right and connected with the fan base in a real way. It is just a shame we can’t turn back time, to watch him do it all again. If we do this list again but move the parameters so that it is all-time most liked starting five, Nelson still makes the list.