The Orlando Magic and coach Stan Van Gundy will apparently continue playing the ‘no respect’ card well into the NBA offseason.
In a news conference, Van Gundy used the recently released NBA television schedule as evidence that his team is still not getting respect by the national media. “Normally on Christmas Day,” Van Gundy noted, “you get a rematch of the teams that played in the Finals. But instead, we get a Christmas Day matchup of the teams that they (ABC) wanted to see in the Finals.”
The Lakers and Cavaliers — the teams to which Van Gundy referred — will indeed play on ABC Christmas Day, in the featured 5 PM ET timeslot. However, the Magic will also play on ABC Christmas Day, in a home game against the Celtics (2:30 PM ET).
This will mark the second year in a row, and the 5th time since 2000, that the Magic have played on Christmas. By contrast, the San Antonio Spurs — who have won 3 NBA titles since 2000, compared to the Magic’s 0 titles — have played on the holiday only twice in the decade.
Additionally, Van Gundy was wrong about Christmas Day typically featuring a rematch of the NBA Finals. Only four times since 1965 has there been an NBA Finals rematch on Christmas: 1995 (Rockets/Magic on NBC), 2001 (76ers/Lakers on NBC), 2005 (Spurs/Pistons on ABC) and 2008 (Celtics/Lakers on ABC).
The Magic have 24 national TV appearances during the 2008-09 season, one short of the maximum. The Magic are just one of 4 teams to have at least 24 appearances, and just one of 4 teams to have at least 5 appearances on ABC. The Magic will play on national television Thanksgiving night (at Atlanta on TNT), Christmas Day (vs. Boston on ABC), Martin Luther King Day (at the Lakers on TNT), Super Bowl Sunday (at Boston on ABC), St. Patrick’s Day (vs. San Antonio on ESPN), and even on April Fool’s Day (at Dallas on TNT).
Via Slam Online
