Orlando Magic: Thoughts on Aaron Gordon the musician

Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic has seen himself turn into a bit of a musician recently, but is this a welcome distraction or something more?

With the Orlando Magic and the rest of the NBA on hiatus right now, players have been taking to social media and online gaming to connect with fans and stay in the public eye. This has already given us some great interviews, like John Wall on the “All The Smoke” podcast recently, as well as Josh Hart losing his cool while playing Call of Duty online and proving he’s just like us regular folk.

One NBA player who is exploring a different kind of avenue is the Orlando Magic‘s Aaron Gordon, who has put out some tracks since the lockdown started. So far he has dropped two songs, “Pull Up” and “9 out of 10“, with the second song, in particular, making him the talk of the league for a couple of days.

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This is because the song is essentially a diss track aimed at Dwyane Wade for taking his moment as Slam Dunk champion away from him at February’s All-Star Weekend in Chicago. Although Gordon has been quick to speak with Wade publicly to ensure this feud doesn’t get out of hand and compliments the Miami Heat in the track itself.

It’s catchy and the words are cleverly written and put together, but once the games begin again will this be the kind of distraction that is a good thing, or one that can be used to deride Gordon if he has a poor game (and the career of Gordon to this point has certainly been inconsistent).

Beginning with why this is a good thing, and really the people who may have a problem with it need to relax and lighten up. Gordon can only do so much practice in one day, and if in his spare time he wants to make music, then what’s the problem? Damian Lillard and Victor Oladipo have done the same thing in recent times, and neither of them are NBA champions either.

Although both are better players than Gordon, letting loose creatively from the confines of his own home is no bad thing. This is a basketball website, not a place to preach about mental health, but there is no doubt that Gordon is passing the time productively and keeping busy. You can’t hate on somebody for that.

The songs have been pretty well received, and seeing him actually do a song with Lillard in the future would be a cool thing to see. The Magic aren’t exactly a well-known organziation right now to casual fans, and Gordon is doing all that he can to raise brand awareness without actually being on the court. A verse on a Lillard track, or vice-versa, would add to that. Ironically though, it is for some of the same reasons that Gordon doing what he is right now could be a negative.

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The Magic are as good as they’ve been in a long time, but even that is only good enough to get knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. At this point, they are becoming known more for who their players are off the court and during dunk contests than for what they actually do for the Magic.

If you know casual basketball fans, ask them what they think of Gordon. It will extend to “that guy from the dunk contests”, and not much more. Once the games resume, those same fans will know him as Gordon the rapper who can dunk the ball really well, but not have much of a clue about how he plays or what he means to the Magic.

This is a problem because although he still has future All-Star potential, being known as this guy and nothing more is not what the Magic would want as they continue trying to improve. To make matters worse, and this is through no fault of Gordon’s, they have another player who a lot of people don’t even realize is an NBA player at all.

Center Mohamed Bamba has had a modest start to life in the pros, yet even before he’d gotten going in Orlando, there was a song called “Mo Bamba” by Sheck Wes which went viral. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the player, and he doesn’t appear in the video.

But it is another reason that casual fans know who an Orlando Magic player is because of hearing their name off the court, which for a franchise that is by no means used to winning, is not a good thing to have happen. It’s ok when LeBron James does it because, well he’s LeBron James. For two young guys who have done nothing of note in the league, however? Different story.

If you’re asking me personally about Gordon’s burgeoning musical career? Put me down as somebody who is not only ok with it but enjoying what he has done so far. “9 out of 10” in particular has a catchy beat and if you’re well versed on what happened that night in Chicago, you understand everything Gordon is trying to get across.

But if the music continues to be pumped out during the season, with his play stalling, then that could change. Lillard is the best musician in the NBA today but also carries a franchise and plays at a high level consistently. Gordon is going to need to come closer to doing the same before he can think about selling out concerts. He might even get Sheck Wes to support him.