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Aaron Gordon Returns to Lineup to Finish Season

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

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By John DentonApril 13, 2016

CHARLOTTE – For Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, there never was a decision to make regarding his status for Wednesday’s regular-season finale once he was officially cleared to play.

A week after suffering a concussion and going through the NBA’s concussion protocol, Gordon was back on the floor Wednesday night for the Magic against the Charlotte Hornets. Gordon, 20, received final clearance from a NBA-appointed independent doctor on Wednesday afternoon, clearing the way for him to play in the finale.

With the Magic being out of the playoff picture, Gordon could have easily skipped Wednesday’s finale. But he said that was never even considered once the doctors told him that he was good to go physically.

``It was a lot of emotion (last Wednesday) because I thought my season was going to be over, but I’m back and I’m ready,’’ said Gordon, who was accidentally elbowed in the head as the Magic were playing the Detroit Pistons. ``I love playing. There’s no reason not to play.’’

While Gordon returned on Wednesday after a three-game absence, teammate Victor Oladipo wasn’t as lucky. Oladipo sustained a concussion and a laceration above his left eye last Friday when he was hit by a Hassan Whiteside elbow. It’s Oladipo’s second concussion in five months after he collided with a teammate on Nov. 11 and was groggy for a couple of days.

``I’m feeling better and I’ve still got to go through the NBA protocol, but my eye still hurts a little bit,’’ Oladipo said earlier in the week. ``But overall I’m feeling pretty good.’’

For the season, Oladipo averaged 16 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.6 steals in 72 games (52 starts). He made 43.8 percent of his field goals, 34.8 percent of his 3-pointers and 83 percent of his free throws.

Nikola Vucevic, who was out on Monday because of a bruised leg, returned to the starting lineup on Wednesday night.

KOBE TRIBUTE: To honor retiring legend, Kobe Bryant, several of the Magic players who have sponsorship agreements with Nike wore a special version the shoe on Wednesday in honor or ``The Black Mamba.’’

The low-top shoes were black mash with a gold Nike swoosh and Bryant’s personalized Nike logo. Power forward Jason Smith, who is Orlando’s most experienced player in his ninth NBA season, said it won’t be the same facing the Lakers without Bryant’s fiery passion being there.

``I have watched him since I was in high school, I watched him while in college, I’ve played against him and I’ve played against him in the playoffs and there are just countless memories there,’’ said Smith, who wore the black Bryant shoes Wednesday morning but wasn’t going to wear them in the game because of fear of a sprained ankle. ``He’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player to me. Just the way that we are remembering him and giving him this farewell tour, I think it’s a true honor for him, us and the sport as a whole. The NBA has done a great job of remembering the great things about Kobe and it’s kind of sad seeing the superstar fade into the sunset, but Father Time is undefeated with all of us. But Kobe’s had an amazing career.’’

Gordon grew up in Northern California and even though he occasionally attended Warriors games as a kid, he said he was always a Lakers fan. A big part of the reason was his infatuation of Bryant.

``When you are on the playground and shooting fade-away (jumpers) and you’re saying, `Kobe!!!’’’ Gordon said. ``I always aspired to be like him and I aspired to have his killer mentality. It’s sad that it’s his last game, but he’s done a tremendous amount for this game.’’

Asked on Wednesday if wearing Bryant’s shoes could help him score 81 points, as the Lakers legend did in 2006, Smith said: ``I don’t think I could do that in six, 10 or 20 games. He’s truly amazing player and I’m happy to say I played against him.’’

HORNETS’ PERSPECTIVE: Charlotte forward Marvin Williams, one of the players who has helped the Hornets get back in the playoffs this season, said he really expected to see the Magic in the postseason considering how they were playing early on.

En route to a 19-13 start to the season, Orlando whipped Charlotte 113-98 on Dec. 16. Then, on Jan. 22, the Magic led the Hornets by 19 points before Charlotte rallied for a 120-116 overtime victory. Williams, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after averaging 11.7 points and 6.5 rebounds a game while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range, said at one time he thought the Hornets would be challenging the Magic in April for a playoff spot.

``They looked great early, as did a lot of teams,’’ said Hornets forward Marvin Williams, who has had a strong season for Charlotte as a 3-point specialist. ``Throughout the course of a season, sometimes you get hot early and sometimes you get hot late and you have rough spots, but that’s the beauty of a NBA season. (The Magic) have a great team over there and I definitely expect them to be there (in the playoffs) in the future.’’

Williams also had kind works for Hornets head coach Steve Clifford, an assistant coach with the Magic from 2007-12 and a part of the 2009 and ’10 Orlando teams that reached the NBA Finals and the Eastern Conference Finals. Charlotte’s 14-win improvement heading into Wednesday night has Clifford in the running for the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.

``One, the guys love playing for him. Everybody supports him and believes in him,’’ Williams said of Clifford. ``He makes basketball fun. He’s very meticulous about the things that he does, he’s always locked in and he’s always trying to push you to get better as a team and individually. He definitely should be in that (Coach of the Year) conversation, no doubt.’’