Catching Up with...Pat Garrity
As the season approaches and with training camp slated to start October 4, orlandomagic.com has been catching up with some Magic players as they return to Orlando to see what they’ve been up to this off-season. Recently, we got the chance to chat with forward Pat Garrity outside of the Magic practice court following one of his personal practices/rehab sessions. The off-season was a busy one for Garrity…
"The first part of my summer was consumed by having a baby and having ACL reconstruction surgery. So between icing and trying to get back on my feet in May and helping my wife out obviously with her recovery and the baby, I was extremely busy doing those two things.” Garrity said. Henry Joseph was born into the Garrity family on April 12, 2005 and Pat has taken an active role as a new father.
“Early on, I was up trying to help with those early feedings before he was sleeping through the night.”
Being a new parent is hard work for anyone to adjust to, but Garrity also had the important work of rehabbing his knee.
After spending two weeks on crutches following surgery, Garrity was back moving around. He put his energy into rehabbing on and off the court and was even spotted taking spinning classes alongside members at RDV Sportsplex.
“I really like spinning because it is a way for me to get some conditioning in and be off my feet and not running, it’s easy on my whole body. It’s something I’ve found that I can do and stay in shape and recover at the same time.”
On the court, Garrity is making his way back to full-strength.
“Right now I am pretty much free to do everything, although it’s going to take a little time to build up to the five-on-five full court stuff, but I’ve gotten to the point of playing one-on-one.”
Now that his teammates are returning to Orlando, Garrity has been happy to get the chance to get on the court and play with them, but realized he will still have to push himself to be in game form.
“I think I saw how much I have to go to get ready for the season, but I think it was nice to finally take that first step rather than just coming in and doing drills.”
There are a lot of changes for the Magic this season, one of those being the hiring of Coach Brian Hill. Garrity is looking forward to what Hill and his experience will bring to the Magic.
“He’s one of these guys that have just been in the league for such a long time that he has the experience and he has the knowledge to deal with any situation, any kind of team, that’s the kind of guy we need.”
The Magic have brought in some new players, which has Garrity looking ahead to the start of the season.
“I’m excited about our team. I think the addition of Keyon Dooling and Travis Diener is going to help us quite a bit, but more than that we just have a great coaching staff that really wants to work with players, and really demands a high level of commitment.”
Garrity has high expectations for himself as a player as well. After completing a summer of rehab he knows that it will take time to get back to 100 percent.
When he wasn’t rehabbing, as secretary/treasurer of the Player’s Association, Garrity was heavily involved in the negotiations surrounding the collective bargaining agreement which took place in late May and early June.
“I went out on the road with our attorneys from the union and we visited probably four or five cities and talked to guys and just got a general feel from everybody. At the time the players that we talked to were ready to stand up for what we thought was beneficial for the players, and obviously up until the last point the league was pretty adamant about their demands, so I’m just happy that we found common ground and kind of continued under the same kind of system with just a few modifications.”
Despite the close call, Garrity was happy to be part of the negotiations, “It was probably the best off-the-court experience I have had relating to the NBA. I really enjoyed being a part of it.”
Megan Miller is an intern in the Magic's Communications department.
"The first part of my summer was consumed by having a baby and having ACL reconstruction surgery. So between icing and trying to get back on my feet in May and helping my wife out obviously with her recovery and the baby, I was extremely busy doing those two things.” Garrity said. Henry Joseph was born into the Garrity family on April 12, 2005 and Pat has taken an active role as a new father.
“Early on, I was up trying to help with those early feedings before he was sleeping through the night.”
Being a new parent is hard work for anyone to adjust to, but Garrity also had the important work of rehabbing his knee.
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| Pat Garrity hosted the Police Athletic League's 3-on-3 basketball tournament this off-season to help raise funds for the organization. |
“I really like spinning because it is a way for me to get some conditioning in and be off my feet and not running, it’s easy on my whole body. It’s something I’ve found that I can do and stay in shape and recover at the same time.”
On the court, Garrity is making his way back to full-strength.
“Right now I am pretty much free to do everything, although it’s going to take a little time to build up to the five-on-five full court stuff, but I’ve gotten to the point of playing one-on-one.”
Now that his teammates are returning to Orlando, Garrity has been happy to get the chance to get on the court and play with them, but realized he will still have to push himself to be in game form.
“I think I saw how much I have to go to get ready for the season, but I think it was nice to finally take that first step rather than just coming in and doing drills.”
There are a lot of changes for the Magic this season, one of those being the hiring of Coach Brian Hill. Garrity is looking forward to what Hill and his experience will bring to the Magic.
“He’s one of these guys that have just been in the league for such a long time that he has the experience and he has the knowledge to deal with any situation, any kind of team, that’s the kind of guy we need.”
The Magic have brought in some new players, which has Garrity looking ahead to the start of the season.
“I’m excited about our team. I think the addition of Keyon Dooling and Travis Diener is going to help us quite a bit, but more than that we just have a great coaching staff that really wants to work with players, and really demands a high level of commitment.”
Garrity has high expectations for himself as a player as well. After completing a summer of rehab he knows that it will take time to get back to 100 percent.
When he wasn’t rehabbing, as secretary/treasurer of the Player’s Association, Garrity was heavily involved in the negotiations surrounding the collective bargaining agreement which took place in late May and early June.
“I went out on the road with our attorneys from the union and we visited probably four or five cities and talked to guys and just got a general feel from everybody. At the time the players that we talked to were ready to stand up for what we thought was beneficial for the players, and obviously up until the last point the league was pretty adamant about their demands, so I’m just happy that we found common ground and kind of continued under the same kind of system with just a few modifications.”
Despite the close call, Garrity was happy to be part of the negotiations, “It was probably the best off-the-court experience I have had relating to the NBA. I really enjoyed being a part of it.”
Megan Miller is an intern in the Magic's Communications department.
