At the end of Orlando Magic practices, the group often gathers near midcourt and lets the players do the talking.
One player will break down what the team just saw. Others jump in.
Sometimes it turns into a boost of encouragement, a way to lock in the lessons and carry the right energy forward. Other times, it becomes a blunt correction session, with players calling out when the standard slips.
Either way, the point is the same: keep each other honest.
That has been a defining feature of this camp, and it has made the atmosphere feel noticeably different. The tone is tighter.
The urgency is sharper. The group looks like a team that understands it has something to prove after last season’s disappointment.
Desmond Bane described the mood after practice Monday with three words: "Attention to detail, intensity, togetherness," Desmond Bane said after practice Monday to describe the team's training camp. "I think we are reaching another level of togetherness and accountability. It's going to serve us well throughout the course of the season."
That combination has come up again and again around camp. The Magic keep talking about accountability, urgency and precision.
They keep stressing the need to get things right and to call one another out when they don’t. And so far, they’ve bought into what new coach Sean Sweeney is teaching.
The practices have had the kind of edge you’d expect from a team trying to build something real. Players have described the work as intense, physical and focused, and the post-practice meetings have included voices from both younger and veteran players.
Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner have taken on bigger leadership roles, and Sweeney has made a point of praising both for the work they’ve put in and the example they’ve set throughout camp.
Bane has also become a central voice. Sweeney has called him "leadership personified" for his offseason work and the way he helped bring the team together throughout the offseason. Jevon Carter and Nikola Vucevic have brought steadiness from the veteran side, Bane said.
It has all added up to a collaborative setup, with plenty of players making themselves heard. For the Magic, that has created optimism.
Of course, camp is always a place where hope comes easy. There’s no opponent yet, no live test forcing the group to solve problems on the fly. Nobody has had to withstand a bad stretch and resist slipping back into old habits.
That changes Wednesday, when the Magic play their first preseason game. It will be the first real chance to see how the habits from practice hold up against another team.
"I think it is just keep developing our habits and identity," Bane said after practice Monday on the approach to the first preseason game. "We get the chance to do what we've been doing for the last week and a half against other players and other teams. It's exciting to get out there and have the opportunity to compete against somebody else."
There is plenty of curiosity about what that will actually look like. The talk around camp has centered on defensive physicality and offensive spacing, but the roster is basically the same as last season’s. So what, exactly, will look different once the games start?
That’s what the preseason opener is for: not conclusions, just a checkpoint. A progress report.
The Magic are still learning Sweeney’s approach. They are still sorting through their strong days and their rough ones. They are still shaping the team’s identity.
"I like the level we're at," Bane said after practice Monday. "I think we're extremely connected.
We are building an identity. Teams that have that strong identity are the ones who usually have long, long seasons."
For now, Orlando is still in the early stages of that process, still figuring out exactly who it wants to be this season.
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