By John Denton Sept. 1, 2016
ORLANDO – Last April, when Orlando faced the Miami Heat in South Florida, the Magic started five players from five different countries – a first for the franchise in its 27-year history.
This season, following a busy summer in which they dramatically upgraded their roster with the additions of some veteran talent, the Magic could potentially take the international flavor a step further by starting five players who all hail from outside the United States.
With five international players on the current roster – Nikola Vucevic (Montenegro), Evan Fournier (France), Serge Ibaka (Congo), Bismack Biyombo (Zaire) and Mario Hezonja (Croatia) – the Magic's locker room could have the feel of a United Nations summit what with all of the various languages being used. All five of the Magic's international players speak clear English, and it's the shared love of basketball that should bridge any communication gaps that might arise.
“We all speak pretty good English, so communication is actually pretty good,'' said Fournier, who started alongside of Elfrid Payton (USA), Ersan Ilyasova (Turkey), Vucevic and Hezonja last spring. “To be honest, you don't really care (where someone is from). When you are on the court, you don't care if a guy is from Australia or the United States. This just shows that the league is changing.''
The Magic are an accurate portrayal of just how the NBA is changing what with them expected to once again be among the league leaders in the number of international players on their roster. Orlando opened last season with four international players and finished it with five, which was the third highest total in the NBA. Only Toronto (seven), Cleveland (six), Minnesota (six), San Antonio (six) and Utah (six) had more players hailing from outside the U.S.
Across the NBA, there were 100 international players from 37 countries and territories on Opening Night rosters last season. It was the second straight year that the league opened the season with at least 100 international players.
Additionally, it was the second straight year that all 30 NBA teams opened a season with at least one international player on the roster.
Canada had the most international players on NBA rosters for a second straight season with a record 12. France wasn't far behind with 10, while Africa also had 10 NBA players. Brazil (nine) and Australia (eight) weren't far behind, while Croatia and Spain each had four NBA players.
MAGIC GLOBETROTTERS
Keeping with the international feel, the Magic were one of just two NBA teams – the Boston Celtics were the other – to play both a preseason game and a regular-season game outside of the United States or Canada last season. The Magic played an exhibition against Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Oct. 17 and then faced the Raptors in London, England on Jan. 14. Both trips gave the Magic a chance to broaden their brand around the globe, while also playing before large fan bases that often visit Orlando because of its theme park amenities.
The Magic showed their dedication to playing internationally by taking more than 150 staffers on both trips to Brazil and England. While there, the franchise eagerly mixed business with basketball, sight-seeing and strategizing and talked tourism – both internationally and domestically.
“We now look at Brazil as a secondary market for us,'' said Magic CEO Alex Martins, whose staff joined with Amway to completely refurbish a basketball court for Brazilian schoolchildren while in Rio in October. “Us being here is more than just lip service about how important Brazil is to us. This is far more than us just sending a couple of people down here to develop relationships. Bringing the entire team down here shows how important we consider Brazil to be and the impact that we think that we can have here.''
As for the U.K., Martins said there are plenty of reasons why the Magic were eager participants in the NBA's Global Games for a second time in their history.
“This is a big market for us. The U.K., in terms of visitation to Orlando, it's always been first, second or third,'' said Martins, whose staff sends sales and marketing leaders to England on a yearly basis. “When you are talking more than 65 million visitors last year (to Orlando) and the fact that the U.K. represented a big chunk of that, from a business standpoint this is an important market to us. We want to cultivate this market so that when they come to Orlando, an Orlando Magic game will be a part of the experience.''
SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGES
One particular section of the Magic's locker room at the Amway Center features the dressing stalls of Vucevic, Fournier and Hezonja – “the European zone,'' Vucevic joked. In that “zone,'' one is likely to hear Vucevic – who was born in Switzerland and raised in Belgium – speaking French with Fournier, who grew up in suburban Paris. Or one could hear Vucevic and Hezonja speaking a particular dialect of Serbian.
This season, the language possibilities could be endless with Hezonja speaking English, Spanish and Serbian and Ibaka and Biyombo both capable of speaking English, Spanish, French and several African languages.
Ibaka, 26, and Biyombo, 24, have never had the chance to play together, but they will do so in Orlando. The Magic traded for Ibaka on draft night in June and then signed Biyombo in free agency in July, giving them two of the league's most fearsome shot-blockers and rim protectors.
Ibaka and Biyombo were always friendly upon meeting one another before NBA games and joked about possibly being on the same team together. Both said their dreams of playing in the NBA would likely have never happened had it not being for the trailblazing success of African-born Hall of Famers such as Hakeem Olajuwon (Nigeria) and Dikembe Mutombo (Congo).
“I've had a chance to talk to both of them through the years and their influence went a long way for me,'' Biyombo said in July after inking his new contract with the Magic. “Where we came from and the way we were raised the amount of opportunity is not as much as one would expect. But to be able to be in this situation now you're thankful and excited about the future. Being on this team with Serge, and there's a lot of young African guys in the NBA now, it's really great for our country.''
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