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By John DentonOct. 20, 2014
ORLANDO -- The whole time that he was out on the Amway Center parquet on Monday night, 9-year-old Isaiah Davis was thinking about getting to school the next day so he could tell his buddies about racing his hero, Victor Oladipo, in an Orlando Magic practice drill.
Davis got to live out every Magic fan’s dream when head coach Jacque Vaughn snatched him out of the crowd – literally pulling him over a row of courtside seats – so that he could participate in a warm-up sprint with the team during Orlando’s Open Practice Presented by Chase. Wearing his No. 42 Junior Magic jersey, Isaiah worked his way up the line of players until he got even with Oladipo – the guard he tries to be like every time that he’s playing at Meadow Woods Rec Center on a basketball team coached by his father, Deron Davis.
Back at practice for the first time in two weeks and wearing a knee brace to protect the sprained medial collateral ligament in his leg, Oladipo playfully darted to his left and right so that Isaiah stayed behind him. Isaiah never got around his favorite Magic player, but that did nothing to detract from him getting to float around the court in a dream-like state.
``I’m a point guard and a shooting guard. Basketball is my favorite sport and Victor Oladipo is my favorite player,’’ said Isaiah, a fourth-grader at Weatherbee Elementary School in Orlando. ``(Oladipo) kept saying to me, `You’re never going to pass me.’ I was trying hard to get around him. I can’t wait to tell my friends that I got to play with my favorite player.’’
It was difficult to tell who had more fun on Monday – Isaiah or his father, Deron, who coaches one of the Junior Magic basketball league teams at Meadow Woods Rec Center – one of the community gymnasiums built throughout Orange County by the Magic in 2010. Deron said he and his family usually make it to at least one Magic game a month and he was so appreciative that the team opened up its practice so that their fans could watch dunks, drills and scrimmaging. But there was absolutely no questioning which part of the night was Deron’s favorite.
``It was a dream come true for both of us. And obviously I’m dreaming that one day he will be a star athlete out there playing for real,’’ Deron said, referring to Isaiah’s time on the court. ``This (Free Open Practice) is awesome for the community and it will help build the fanbase to support this group. It’s a young and talented group and it’s awesome for them to open the doors and allow us to be here to watch the team practice.’’
Approximately 2,500 fans took advantage of the chance to watch the Magic go through an hour of scrimmaging, shooting and dunking on the Amway Center court. Throughout the session, Vaughn pulled fans out of the crowd to shoot free throws, run sprints and pose for pictures on the Amway Center floor. Vaughn grew up in Los Angeles in awe of NBA players, and he wanted to provide the opportunity for several fans to get up-close-and-personal looks at the players on Orlando’s roster.
``It’s great for them to see us – whether it’s stretching, going through drills or going up and down live – so for them to be able to get pretty close to the guys, it’s pretty important,’’ Vaughn said. ``For me growing up, at all ages I looked up to basketball players and how they carried themselves. So for a young guy (like Isaiah Davis) to be able to get on a professional court where our guys play, hopefully he talks about that for a while and gets something out of it.’’
Oladipo got something out of Monday night, even though he was held out of the scrimmaging part of the practice and instead rode a stationary bicycle. Oladipo was wearing a brace on his knee, but he didn’t look restricted when he went up several times and dunked with authority for the fans. Oladipo is steadily ramping up his workload and is focused on getting fully back to practice before worrying about playing in games.
``It’s fun to be out there. That’s the first time that I have shot in there since last (April), so it’s fun to be back out there. So I’m just looking forward to getting back,’’ said Oladipo, who suffered his knee injury during training camp and he’s yet to play this preseason for the 4-2 Magic. ``(The knee) feels a lot better. It’s a day-by-day process. A sprained MCL is kind of like a scab. You just have to let it heal and that’s pretty much what I’m doing.’’
The Magic will be back on the practice court on Tuesday to prepare for Wednesday’s home exhibition game against the Houston Rockets and Dwight Howard.
Orlando wraps up preseason play on Friday night when it hosts the Dallas Mavericks. The game will serve as the first return to the Amway Center for Jameer Nelson, who was waived by the Magic in July so that the veteran guard could play with a contending team. Nelson is one of only two players in franchise history – Nick Anderson is the other – to wear a Magic uniform for 10 consecutive seasons, doing so from 2004 through 2014.
The Magic open the regular season next Tuesday in New Orleans against the Pelicans and emerging center Anthony Davis. The regular-season home opener is Thursday, Oct. 30 against the Washington Wizards.
``We’re going to (this week of preparation) because our beginning of the schedule has a lot of road games and any home support that we can get we need,’’ said Magic forward Kyle O’Quinn, who has been one of the team’s steadiest players this preseason. ``We all know playing on the road is tough. This (open practice) shows the support of the fans, which is always good. The reactions that we get on the court are the same ones that we get at the mall and downtown. Our fans are engaged, and with the Pure Magic (slogan), that’s really helping out. It’s good to see our fans following us.’’