Why Don't You Like Magic?

Why don't you like Magic?

No, I’m not talking about the creepy type of magic that you see a pizza-delivery-guy/magician/clown do at a 4-year-old’s birthday party; I’m talking about the Orlando Magic. There is zero hype around this year’s NBA Finals. Seriously, it has drawn slightly more attention than a Petty Theft concert.

I just don’t know why. The Lakers obviously own a huge following – Lakers’ “fans” come out of the woodwork this time of year. Suddenly your coworker is wearing a Kobe jersey and has “always been a Lakers fan.” Los Angeles has a storied history and Kobe is one of the best players in the league – so I get why they would attract otherwise neutral fans.

But why don’t people like this Orlando team? Dwight Howard is one of the most talented and charismatic players in the game. He entertains during the dunk-contest, he plays hard, he doesn’t get into off-the-court trouble…he is the type of superstar that you want on your team. But for some reason, people don't connect with him and I’m not sure why.

When the Spurs were putting everyone to sleep during their championship runs, I could fully understand and appreciate why no one outside of San Antonio cared. They were simply boring all the way around. Their coach was boring; their superstar was boring; their style of play was boring. Like hockey and soccer – I get why people aren’t interested (ie…it’s really boring).

Orlando is the complete opposite. Porn-Stache - I mean Stan Van Gundy - is a pretty funny coach, whether it’s intentional or not. Dwight Howard has 15-minute conversations with Jack Nicholson before games in LA. Orlando runs up and down the court and shoots a ton of 3’s. They should be the team that neutral fans gravitate to, but I honestly can’t remember a Finals series that has had less appeal for the average sports fan.

Even the Spurs and Ben-Stein-Duncan had more appeal – even if it was people tuning in simply to root against them. Why aren’t the Lakers looked at as villains – and in turn – Orlando as the saviors? Why aren’t people taking an interest in rooting against Kobe? He is an easy guy to dislike.

After thinking about this for a while, I developed an explanation that I call the “Ruined Dream Theory.” Basically, it states that all neutral fans want to see the two best and most interesting teams match up in the championship game. Celtics-Lakers. Cowboys-Steelers. Yankees-Cubs. This year, all fans - in addition to the NBA Commissioner – wanted a Lebron-Kobe finale. During the Orlando-Cleveland series, everyone not living in Orlando was pulling for the fighting Lebrons to pull out a series win leading to the dream match-up in the Finals. Orlando needed to lose for this to happen...so people began to root against them.

In a way, I believe that fans have turned on Orlando because the Magic inadvertently ruined this NBA season. All year, everyone has talked about how great it would be to see King James face off against Kobe - but the dream has been ruined and Orlando is to blame.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more I am beginning to hate Orlando. Kobe vs. James? It doesn’t get better than that…and it was all flushed down the drain by the stupid Orlando Magic.

Based on this newly found theory – please join me in boycotting the remaining Finals’ games. If the viewer-ship remains low, Commissioner David Stern will be forced to, once again, resort to “fixing” the NBA Playoffs…and we will all be better off for it.