For the last six years, many Orlando Magic fans have reversed their conventional rooting interests this time of year. Instead of cheering the Magic on to victory, the hope is that Orlando will do what they have done best over recent years and "Just Lose Baby!"
This tanking strategy has become commonplace in the NBA, where even this year a handful of franchises, including Orlando, are battling it out to get the league's worst record and earn the highest odds at landing the number one pick in the NBA Draft lottery.
407 Area's own David Baumann has argued that the Magic need to lose as many games as possible. I can only imagine that he was yelling at his television set Wednesday night as Orlando breezed by the playoff-bound Milwaukee Bucks 126-117.
On the contrary, I was sitting inside Amway Center nodding my head in approval. At some point, a team needs to grow up and start collecting victories.
The bad habit of losing can continue to fester if an organization is content with resting players and giving minutes to guys who do not deserve them. With no guarantee of being rewarded with the top pick for losing the most games, why even subject your organization to the arduous tanking process?
As legendary coach John Wooden said, "Winning breeds winning." Organizations like the Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Cubs, and Cleveland Browns had losing cultures for years and were never able to break the cycle.
The latter two have found the answers to what ails them and the Browns are still trying to find their way out of the wilderness. The Magic are also efforting to find the right formula, with new people in the lab making decisions in president Jeff Weltman and general manager John Hammond.
Those are two guys who are confident in their ability to draft a star at any position, especially in this upcoming talent-rich draft. They do not need to wait with bated breath while seeing if Orlando gets a ping pong ball to bounce their way.
Grabbing the top pick is great if that year's draft can net you a player like Shaquille O'Neal or LeBron James. While there are several great prospects available, no one profiles as that kind of can't miss star right now.
The Season's Not Over Till It's Over For The Orlando Magic
Good talent evaluators can find stars all over the board. Some current names like Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors, pick #7), Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers, pick #6) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (pick #15) prove that point out.
The problem with Orlando has been that wherever they have picked in recent draft history, they have not gotten the right player. Former general manager Rob Hennigan's first draft netted a future All-Star in Victor Oladipo, which was good considering how weak the player pool was that year.
Even Aaron Gordon, who was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, has had a better career than anyone chosen after him in the first round. The problem started when Orlando traded back up in that same draft to select Elfrid Payton with the tenth pick.
The following year, the Magic erred again when they drafted Mario Hezonja over players like Myles Turner and Devin Booker. If they were slotted one pick higher that year, they likely would have taken current New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis.
A little bit of luck and smart decision-makers can take a franchise a long way in the NBA. In fact, with the bouncing ping pong balls determining the order of the lottery, the entire system is a crapshoot.
The Magic believe they have the right guys making the team's picks, now they just need to get lucky.
Carson Ingle has been a sportscaster and sports talk radio host in Orlando for the past ten years. He can currently be seen several times a week on Spectrum Sports 360's Face-Off segment at 10:30 p.m. on Central Florida News 13, channel 1013. Follow him on Twitter.
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