Desmond Bane’s second season in Orlando comes with a different kind of spotlight. The Magic guard is no longer just settling in and figuring out his surroundings - now he’s expected to be one of the players who helps set the tone for a team chasing a fourth straight playoff appearance.
That expectation fits the way head coach Sean Sweeney is talking about the group. He said the Magic are still building around fundamentals and habits, but he also made it clear that leadership has to show up in action first.
"Well, we're all still learning the league, you know, and any young team, you want to make sure that it starts and goes back to those fundamentals and those habits, making sure that we do a good job with them,"
"But I think as the leadership piece comes, you know, you don't get to think and talk your way into acting. You have to act your way into talking and being able to use your voice.
And when you talk about Dez, you know the proof is in the pudding. He backs up.
What he says, he does. I think that goes for every guy on our team.
We want a team full of leaders, and we want to lead by our actions and that our voices resonate."
Bane’s first year with the Magic came with plenty of adjustment, both on and off the floor. Now that he’s more settled in, there’s a clearer opening for him to take on a bigger leadership role with teammates who are also still growing together.
Bane sees it the same way. He wants to set the standard by how he works, not by claiming a title.
"I think that it's an incredible, you know, thing to hear from a guy like that who's been around so many players, but you know, the things that I was talking about, like today, like it really speaks to that," Bane said. "Like, you don't become a leader by saying, "I'm the leader," or "I'm going to be a leader." You know, it comes by the way you approach the game and the way it's to work."
That kind of approach has been part of Bane’s path from the start. He wasn’t heavily recruited in high school, didn’t land a Division 1 offer until his senior year, and wound up with just one scholarship offer from Furman University. He passed on that chance and chose TCU, where he spent four years.
NBA attention came slowly after that, but Bane kept climbing. By his senior season, he was averaging 16.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game for the Horn Frogs, and that production helped push his reputation forward. In the league, he has continued to build his name through steady work and consistency.
For a Magic team trying to move beyond just making the playoffs, that matters. If Orlando follows Bane’s example, it could be the kind of push that helps the franchise get out of the first round for the first time since 2010.
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