Despite nothing but success in both of his sunshine state stops, Stan Van Gundy has left a blaze of unforgettable exits from his two NBA head coaching tenures.

In Miami he wanted to spend more time with his family. In Orlando (despite compiling an impressive 259-125 record, going 31-28 in the playoffs), Dwight Howard apparently wanted no part of SVG in his basketball family.

And so, the outspoken, oompa-loompa looking brother of TV Analyst/Former Knicks and Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy is gone. Fired from a job he did exceptionally well in; One could argue, almost too well. A product of a team that exceeded expectations in a run to the 2009 NBA Finals, resulting in expectations that his team was never able to match from there on out. Questionable trades that netted guys like Vince Carter and Gilbert Arenas, ultimately cost the free-wheeling Magic the flexibility to improve a very flawed roster, and despite a beautiful palace of an arena in downtown Orlando, the Magic eventually maxed out, culminating in this season’s grand fiasco: a first round 5 game ouster to the Pacers with Dwight Howard saddled with back surgery.

2008-09: 59-23 / 1^st in Southeast / Defeated by Lakers in NBA Finals 4-1
2009-10: 59-23 / 1^st in Southeast / Defeated by Celtics in East Finals 4-2
2010-11: 52-30 / 2^nd in Southeast / Defeated by Hawks in First Round 4-2
2011-12: 37-29 / 3^rd in Southeast / Defeated by Pacers in First Round 4-1

The downward trend from championship caliber to first round fodder is easy to spot, as Orlando has dropped down at least a notch every season since their surprise 2009 Finals run. In 2011-12, a lockout shortened season, they just about dropped off the grid and if Howard leaves, they might not even contend for the playoffs at all.

So Van Gundy is gone. GM Otis Smith is gone. The last power broker left in Central Florida is ’so called’ Superman, who has put himself in an unenviable position. He can’t win any longer, unless he wins… in Orlando. But once again, despite supposedly getting his wishes for new leadership accommodated, Howard still reportedly wants out.

Good luck with that Dwight.

If he truly cares what people think, and if loyalty really matters, Dwight will stay. If he’s chasing a ring as his Twitter so adamantly suggests, then he’s gone too. The Magic have the league’s second largest payroll and they’re a franchise in total disarray.

But the way this mess has panned out in the public, ending in debris of blue and black scattered about, Howard has officially left himself as the last possible savior on a sinking ship. And an outstanding suspect for ruining a previously well run franchise. You can’t help but get the feeling he’s ready to jump.

But when he does inevitably skip town, he better be ready for the ridicule. If he thought this season was bad, wait till he goes somewhere else and faces LeBron like pressure. Everyone is already drinking the “Dwight can’t win a title as the go-to guy of a franchise” kool-aid. Just wait till he teams up with someone else’s star and the first time he falls short.

***

After those 2009 Finals, I wrote an article posing the question of whether Howard could make that next step: the step towards an unstoppable offensive game. I asked whether he was mature enough, whether he could be a true leader, whether he would take on the blame when things went wrong (and this was well before any sign of future turmoil was in sight).

Yes, he’s only 23, and yes, he didn’t even go to college, so he’s still relatively new to this whole “handling the pressure” thing, but if I had to give Howard a grade as a team leader, it wouldn’t be all that high.  What bothered me most is it was never anything he could have done better.  It was always someone else or the team.  The great ones take it upon themselves, but you never seemed to hear from Howard during this surprising playoff run that he would, “work harder” or “play smarter” or that his foul shooting “cost the team the game.”

For a player who has so much talent, and so much potential, it was somewhat disheartening to see that Howard still has a lot of growing up to do.  Even though he didn’t pick up a technical in the Finals, Howard needs to learn to control himself better.

3 years later those questions are as pertinent as ever.

Howard has yet to take that next step. And his likability and leadership skills have regressed to the point where some Magic fans want to run him out of the city. The same fans who were ready to erect a statue for the guy had he just kept his yap shut and gotten better.  While he’s improved his short shot, he’s still a two-trick offensive pony that is limited in his ability to take over games.

That contagious smile of his evolved into a sarcastic one, and all that good will behind the once great kid (doesn’t smoke, doesn’t drink, has strong faith) developed into diva-like tantrums and repulsive amounts of drama, unbecoming of a true ‘leader.’

The Magic were built around Howard and he is simply not good enough to anchor a championship team. There I said it.

He needs help. He needs a good support system that gives him advice which doesn’t run his once sterling reputation into the ground. Eh, it’s probably too late for that.

***

Back in January 2011 I interviewed Magic Director of Player Personnel, Adonal Foyle (who allegedly has interviewed for the GM position, though he denies it). I asked him at the time about Otis Smith’s decision to pull the trigger on getting rid of Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis. This is what Adonal told me:

“Nothing surprises me with Otis, because unlike most GM’s he’s constantly there.  He’s always present, he’s at every shoot-around, every practice, he travels with the team, he watches every single game that these guys play.  I think in many ways, when he does something it’s because he sees something.  He knows that something needs to get done.  He’s seen it.  It’s not theoretical, it’s very basic in practicality.  Obviously when you have guys that you’ve been with awhile, you’re emotionally connected to them and you obviously become a part of their inner circle of who they are.  But when things aren’t working and you make a change it doesn’t make it easy.  It just makes it business that you have to do.  Things that you don’t normally want to do, but it may be in the best interest of the team.  So I think those decisions have been very difficult to kind of lookout and watch, but at the same time I understand them.  I understood them in a way, just by being there, seeing how diligent he is, that he’s earned the right to make those decisions because of how he is as the general manager.”

Well, he’s not there any longer and that trade ultimately did Smith in, who had a few chances to reshape Orlando’s roster to elite status but failed. Bringing back Hedo flopped. Taking on Gilbert Arenas’ massive remaining contract was an epic fail. That trade brought on the demise of the team.

But Howard could’ve signed a contract extension for years, which would have in turn given the team superstar stability. Then maybe another star would have been interested in Orlando. He didn’t. No superstar washed up in the Magic Kingdom, and Howard was left with spare parts that shot themselves out of the playoffs. You already know about the on-again off-again trade rumors that persisted this past season, and that epic Van Gundy media shakedown was as awkward as it gets.

So now, after one of the strangest seasons one franchise has dealt with in some time, the Magic are starting anew, hoping their front-line center sticks this time, because they’ve bowed to his every need. The Magic are on their hands and knees worshiping at the altar of Dwight, fearing another decade of irrelevance if he bolts like Shaq.

Everyone is to blame for this epic disintegration of the team hierarchy, but Dwight is the poster-child.

The Magic have done everything they can to appease their centerpiece. Now the ultimate question becomes, does he really care?

Or is this all just one giant game for Dwight the puppeteer.

With the Magic literally on his strings.

Photo: AP

The short term and possibly long term future of NBA franchises hang in the balance.  Reload or rebuild. Take a chance or blow it up and start anew.

Dwight Howard is available.  Rajon Rondo is being dangled as trade bait.  The Lakers already tried to ship Pau Gasol out of town but David Stern had other plans. These guys must be sitting there in their workout rooms, with their dumbbells and maybe even their boxing equipment, ready to take out their fluid uncertainty onto something.

While suspense movies are a popular genre, generally the people in them, don’t exactly lust for the question mark that is their fate as they bounce around room to room not knowing whose behind the next door or behind them for that matter.

Howard has asked for a trade, even giving the Magic a list of teams he’d like to be dealt to, but Orlando has yet to oblige to their superstar’s wishes. Instead Orlando is trying to deal for another guard or wing guy to pair with Superman, to convince the larger than life defensive monster to stay.

The Magic don’t want to slip into irrelevance after being one of the NBA’s contenders for the past 5 or so years. They don’t want to go from talked about title contenders to playoff-locks to lottery-locked.  And if they trade Dwight they want to get something they can build off of.  They want picks, players, and they most desire another marquee name to sell tickets.

But really, they just want to keep Dwight.

Any trade they make of him, could blow up in their face, whether it be picks or salary crap contracts they might bring in. They certainly don’t want to be Detroit, where they unload the old guard (Chauncey Billups was the first domino to fall and then came Rip Hamilton, etc.), and end up with a bunch of over-priced mismatched nothing. It’s a tricky situation for the Magic who want to win, and believe they can bring a title to the city of magic with a little sly maneuvering.

But if Howard leaves and Orlando gets nothing, then the Magic end up with another Shaq like gap in their franchise, and it took a long time and a lot of mediocrity to land Dwight Howard. Or in laments terms, a fall to the very bottom to land the number 1 pick.

In this economy, with fans careful about how they spend, we’ve seen how trading your star can annihilate a fan base’s zeal. The Hornets dealt Chris Paul and the no name team they field on a nightly basis struggles to draw any kind of buzz in the Crescent City. While some cities like Portland are hard-core NBA towns no matter what, there are more cities that only show up for winners.  With D-Wade and no one else, the Heat were a middling team struggling to draw fans.  With LeBron, Bosh, and Wade Miami has sold out every game since.

So you have to have stars and you have to win if you want to stay afloat and in the limelight in the current economical landscape. The Nets know this, with their Brooklyn departure in 2012 their big chance to start over.  But really, they’re just hoping to have a machine in place, the dream scenario pairing Deron Williams with another star. The nightmare of course is Deron bolting a listless Nets team for a team like Dallas, or anyone else already winning right now.

The Suns were a hot ticket with their Seven Seconds or Less showcase and sold out games season after season. A number of bad personnel decisions later, and even with Steve Nash in tow, the Suns are a struggling franchise stuck in neutral, struggling to draw butts to the seats. They too have the difficult decision of whether they want to keep the 38 year old fan favorite or if they want to trade him while his value is still high. It’s certainly not a fun position to be in.

The Celtics are an iconic franchise with the most banners in the sport, but Danny Ainge realizes that their aging Big Three can no longer carry the load that led them to 2 NBA Finals appearance and one championship. While uber-popular and unbelievably successful as a unit, the demise of the Big Three has been swift, and as they currently stand, Boston would barely make the post-season if the season ended today. While potentially scary as a post-season spoiler, Boston is old and slow, and expecting them to make another title run is silly and short-sighted. Hence, their best asset, Rajon Rondo is up for grabs. While he can’t shoot, and he’s probably not a franchise player, Rondo has proven to be elusive, dynamic, and clutch. Anyone would take him.  But what is he worth?  That’s the question Boston is feeling out.

In this shortened season, this year’s trade-deadline isn’t so much about getting that extra piece, but it’s about figuring out the future. Do the Lakers believe they can win with their current cast of players, or is breaking the bank for someone new, the way to go?  Owner Jerry Buss is on record saying he’s not looking to up the ante on the team’s salary, so any move they make is likely to be some kind of swap of pseudo stars.  What is Pau Gasol worth?  Can he be the linchpin to a title team not linked to Kobe? Is trading him and Bynum worth it if you can get Dwight?

With so many big names’ status unknown with the deadline upcoming, it also leaves teams like Houston and Golden State in interesting positions. The Magic want Monta Ellis reportedly, but rumor has it that Golden State is trying to put together a package to get Howard. The Magic want to pair Howard with Ellis, so you can see why the math doesn’t add up. The Rockets are enamored with Gasol, and the Nets know they have to appease their star point guard or he’s off to the races with another team.

Bit players will be dealt, they always are, but their trade deadline could determine futures of franchises. The move you make (or don’t make) now could burn or boost your team for years to come. The Nets and Magic could end up with dynamic unstoppable duos, or empty-handed come season’s end. The pendulum could swing one way or another.

People forget that Miami could’ve been left at the altar had Wade left for New York or Chicago.  Bosh was only going if Wade was there, and LeBron was only going if both were locked in.  The Heat could’ve been New Orleans, star-less, young, and hoping for a high draft pick to rebuild.  They could have been Cleveland after LeBron left them.  But the balls bounced beautifully for the Heat who landed all 3, and in essence had a title team over night. Had the Suns gave in, and locked up Amar’e Stoudemire, despite his checkered injury past, maybe they too could be a limelight team.  Instead, they passed, choosing to fill the void with Hakim Warrick and more Channing Frye.  The Suns later traded for Marcin Gortat, a trade that led to the demise of Orlando’s title chances.

Had the Suns kept Amar’e, the Knicks don’t get him, and if New York doesn’t land that big star, they probably don’t draw Carmelo, and if they don’t draw Anthony, most likely Tyson Chandler stays in Dallas.  It’s a ripple effect in sports. One move can make a franchise.

That’s what makes this deadline so intriguing is the ramifications it has on everyone. Once one piece falls, the others will follow. The NBA’s power structure cold be staring at another restructuring.

So no pressure NBA general managers.

None, whatsoever.

Photo: AP

SHANE SMITH

Cousins has just begun his second season with the Sacramento Kings and has created some of the most underreported locker-room turmoil in the NBA.

Cousins, who was known as a problem child whilst playing for the god-father John Calipari at Kentucky, has demanded a trade(allegedly)  from the Kings who invested the 5^th overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft on him.

The Kings knew what they were getting themselves into when they drafted Cousins ahead of Greg Monroe, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Paul George to name a few, but they could not have fathomed that one year into his rookie contract he would be (allegedly) demanding out. This isn’t some situation where a player is griping over playing time or production. Cousins has played in over 28 minutes per game and has started the season averaging over a double double. This demand just seems to be about a lack of connection to the team’s culture and Cousins’ character.

“Kings coach Paul Westphal released a statement before Sunday’s game against New Orleans, saying when Cousins “continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.””-ESPN.com

The Kings seemed to be heading in a great direction, with Cousins at the core of the team. Now they have to regroup and may be set back immensely due to Cousins inability to control his ego. Teaming up Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thorton, JJ Hickson, Chuck Hayes, and Jimmer Fredette,  Cousins and company was primed to be a force in the future of the Western Conference.  Now the Kings have to see what best offer they can get for this freakishly talented cancer.

Cousins is a player of immense talent, and immense stupidity. It doesn’t take more than googling “DeMarcus Cousins fight” to find dozens upon dozens of different incidents where Cousins takes a cheap shot at a smaller player (poor Luke Ridinour), cries about a call, or gets ejected for his second technical. It is pretty remarkable to actually see a team be willing to remove its top 5 pick from a year ago and give up working with him; that alone speaks to the self-centered bonehead Cousins truly is.

Now the question remains, who takes a shot on DeMarcus? What teams can handle his idiocy to be able to see a return of investment with his talent for the long haul?  Will someone be willing to deal a first round pick for him or will the Kings be forced to take back next to nothing for a player with all-pro potential? With all the trade chatter lately focusing on Dwight Howard maybe the potential of sending Cousins to Orlando opens up a three team trade chat, or maybe an aging team lacking an inside presence like the Celtics gives the kid a chance.

Regardless of who the Kings end up selling Cousins off to, all I know is this… Cousins will not succeed in the NBA unless he moves to a no non-sense team. Cousins best shots would be in Boston with seasoned veterans and Doc Rivers, San Antonio with Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich, or maybe as a rebuilding piece in Cleveland under Byron Scott. Who knows where Cousins ends up, but honestly if this guy can’t survive a year with his talent on a team like Sacramento, I think his lack of maturity is going to cost him an incredible career. (and honestly I hope it does and his childish behavior sets an example for future players to not follow)

Photo: AP

SCOTT JACOBS

Miami and Boston have been neck and neck in the Eastern conference standings, and aside from those surprisingly good Chicago Bulls, have clearly pulled away as the class of the Eastern conference.  And that’s not much of a surprise, considering that Boston is coming off Finals appearances in 2 of the last 3 years, and Miami has a Tri-nasty.

So when we asked you back in October to this very day, who do you look to claim what was once called the lesser conference (not any more) we expected a close race.  We just didn’t think it’d be dead even.

Boston may have won the season series, but your love for Miami and Boston is equal.  37.3% to 37.3%.  Doesn’t get any closer than a tie, now does it?  The Magic collected 16.4% of your vote, with the field garnering just 9.0%.  No love for Chicago eh sports world?

Considering we’re now at the All-Star break this seemed like as good a time as any to retire this poll and move onto a new one.

Some quick fun facts before we wrap this puppy up:

> The Heat got votes from Germany, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, and India

> Who likes the field?  At least one person from Lima, Peru does.

> As for the Celtics, well they got some votes from Bangladesh, Taiwan, and even Australia.

> The Magic apparently haven’t quite developed that global presence yet, so maybe Dwight Howard isn’t quite Superman after all.

Photo: AP

You’ve read the interview (or maybe you haven’t) but here for the first time in it’s entirety is my chat with former NBA center Adonal Foyle.  Yup, now you can listen to the entire conversation, catch all the laughs, the highs, the lows, and any “umm,” I may have said.  The emotion always gets cut out when you can’t hear something.  But that is a problem no longer.  Listen away my sports fan minions!

Photo: Life

SCOTT JACOBS

Missed part 1 of our chat with Adonal? Read it here.

And now, here’s part 2.

JS:  Speaking of memories, what would you consider your favorite NBA memory now that you’re retired or a good story that you’ll always be fond of.

AF: I think that was definitely one of them.  I think my first year of being drafted.  Just making it.  I think spending 13 years in the league.  Most people didn’t think I’d be there that long and I managed to take my play and make it work for me, and make my things that I do work for me.  I’m very proud of that.

JS: How hard of a decision was it to retire after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery?  Have you ever second guessed your decision ever since?

AF: No.  I mean, I was in so much pain that it wasn’t even a question.  Once I got the surgery I thought everything was going to be fine, but it wasn’t.  It actually felt terrible.  I felt a lot of pain. So I was like, ‘this has to be the time.’  If I had knees I would be playing until they literally took the uniform off of me and threw me out of the league.

JS: Shortly after your retirement you landed a role with the Magic as their team’s director of player development. What kind of transition has it been for you, going from an NBA player since 1997 to a front office position with Orlando?

AF: I think it was probably a bit quick in terms of getting a job right away.  I went to school that summer and then straight out of school I went to do this job.  I think in many ways you’re never really prepared for this kind of transition.  I think I’ve been more prepared than most.  I finished up my college degree.  I’m a few credits away from my Masters degree.  I thought extensively and wrote extensively about retirement experiences of NBA players.  So I think I put myself in the absolute best place to take advantage of retirement.  Yet, it’s something that’s so difficult.  After 20 years of playing one sport and really becoming very good at it you have to give it up and to start something else that you’re not very good at.  So I always find that to be an interesting thing.  If a golfer becomes great in his prime he literally can enjoy the benefits of that until he’s like 70, he can still be playing.  Basketball, when we’re done, we have no knees, no nothing.  When we’re most brilliant, as far as mentally, is when we’re most vulnerable.

JS: What does the Director of Player Development do? What kind of job responsibilities do you have with the Magic?

AF: I basically think of myself as a mentor.  I look and see what happens on the court.  If something is happening on the court I can talk to the guy about it.  Lifting your arms when you rebound, holding the ball 10 inches higher.  I can talk to them about stuff that happens on the court but I can also talk to them about stuff off the court.  They want to do something, like a charity.  They want to figure out a way how to do something off the court.  I can put them in touch with the right people and help them to figure it out.  It’s both on and off the court and I think in terms of mentorship and being there, and lending a hand, and lending them an opportunity to talk and to feel out what they want to do.  Just trying to help them figure out what they want to do after basketball, and that is really looking at the arch of a guys career.  How does he fit into this thing, the way he is now, into retirement.  So that’s pretty unique.

“Basketball, when we’re done, we have no knees, no nothing.  When we’re most brilliant, as far as mentally, is when we’re most vulnerable..” – Adonal Foyle

JS:  That sounds like an interesting position.  You hardly ever hear about the after-NBA life unless guys go into the front office or join the broadcast team or whatever.  So that’s a very interesting position that you have.  Speaking of players what was your initial reaction when GM Otis Smith pulled off those two mega deals to reshape the Magic?

AF: Nothing surprises me with Otis, because unlike most GM’s he’s constantly there.  He’s always present, he’s at every shoot-around, every practice, he travels with the team, he watches every single game that these guys play.  I think in many ways, when he does something it’s because he sees something.  He knows that something needs to get done.  He’s seen it.  It’s not theoretical, it’s very basic in practicality.  Obviously when you have guys that you’ve been with awhile, you’re emotionally connected to them and you obviously become a part of their inner circle of who they are.  But when things aren’t working and you make a change it doesn’t make it easy.  It just makes it business that you have to do.  Things that you don’t normally want to do, but it may be in the best interest of the team.  So I think those decisions have been very difficult to kind of lookout and watch, but at the same time I understand them.  I understood them in a way, just by being there, seeing how diligent he is, that he’s earned the right to make those decisions because of how he is as the general manager.

JS:  What kind of relationships did you have with the guys who were traded: Mickael Pietrus, Marcin Gortat, Vince Carter, and Rashard Lewis? Was it tough to see them go?

AF: I  played with Mickael at Golden State so I already had a pre-existing relationship with him, and I played with all these guys in the last few years at the end of my career here.  It does make it a bit difficult, but one things guys are starting to understand is that it’s part of the business of the league.

JS: On September 24, 2009 you were inducted into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame, becoming just the 8^th NBA player ever to receive such an honor. What was that experience like for you?

AF: It was so amazing to go up there and meet all these amazing people and they were so generous and I got to meet some of the other award winners.  It was really an amazing time. My mom was there. My stepmom was there.  It was really a cool experience just to be there and to really be given something so unbelievable. I obviously didn’t feel worthy of it, but it was so amazing that I’ll spend the rest of my days trying to live up to what this award meant and means.  I was floored.  I really had a great time.

JS:  Off the court you’re a guy who has a love for poetry. Where did that passion for poetry start and what other non-sports things are you passionate about?

AF: When I was in high school I was in AP English and I was asked to write a poem and I was stressing out about it.  It was freaking me out, because I had never done anything like that.  I was like, ‘okay, I have to do this,’ and I wrote it.  I like the idea of compacting your thoughts into some kind of formula and making it not very wordy.  Making it very concise. Every word is strategic and every word is important.  And every word has a meaning or a meaning beyond a meaning.  So I like the idea of the restraint.  Everybody if you’re emotionally upset can scream or howl, but there’s something to be said when you can take a dramatic event and make it beautiful or make it poignant or make it a little bit more than sadness.  There is a way to make it more visual, more dark.  You can get to a point where you can really paint yourself and you do it with such a little amount of words.  I like the idea of the restraint of that.  I like playing around with words. I like the diction.  I like the choices that you make when you’re writing poetry, so that’s pretty cool.

(On his hobbies)

In terms of other things I do, I love the movies.  I love going to the theater.  I love traveling.  I travel to different countries. I travel globally.  I love to read.  I love wine.  I love going to Napa and trying different wines.  Trying to figure out what I like.  What are the characteristics of making a wine great, or good, or not good.  I love doing that.

JS:  Wow, that was an impressive list.  The wine thing, that was pretty cool.  Obviously being in Golden State for as long as you were, you weren’t very far away from Napa Valley.

AF: 35 minutes!  I had it down pact.

SCOTT JACOBS

Adonal Foyle was never an NBA superstar.  The casual sports fan might not even know his name.  But behind the stats of every professional athlete is a story, and boy does Adonal have one heck of a tale.  Born in the Caribbean islands, Foyle didn’t take up the sport of basketball until the age of 15. He turned his god-given gift of height into a long NBA career as a defensive specialist and a shot blocking machine.  I had the privilege of meeting Adonal at an Orlando Magic game back in December and I knew right when I met him that I wanted to interview him.

But what you may not know about the longtime Golden State center is that he has a great sense of humor, he’s incredibly articulate, and he’s just a really great person.  We talked for so long (20 minutes plus) that I decided to break up this interview into two parts.

So without further delay, here is part one.  Enjoy!

Juiced Sports: Your story is a really interesting one. You were born in the Caribbean and you only learned about basketball when you were 15. What did you do before basketball and how did you get so good at basketball so quickly?

Adonal Foyle: Well, I tried a lot of different sports. I started off with track and field. I was terrible at that. Then I went to cricket and I was too tall, so I did not like that. Then I tried goalie.  I was a goalie for while and I thought that they were trying to kill me, because they were kicking balls at my head. So I thought that my sporting career was probably null and void until I came across basketball on another island.  I started playing and I was terrible at it. But I was tall, so I was definitely pretty stoked the sport more than any other, because height is a prerequisite for most of basketball. I started playing and I was lousy, but I was good enough to get a scholarship to come to the United States to go to high school.  From high school I got a scholarship to go to college and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

JS:  I read that two professors actually adopted you when you came to the states. Tell me about that.

AF: In Dominique they were doing a tournament there and they asked me if I had ever thought of using my basketball skills to get an education. Two weeks after that they were asking me to come to the states with them.  It was absolutely surreal how quickly it happened: Two people, really going out on limb and taking a tremendous opportunity and risk by bringing somebody they hardly knew and me leaving the island, the only home I ever knew to come to this country, not knowing what to expect.

JS:  How difficult of a decision was it for you to leave for the U.S.? Or was it something you knew you wanted to do right away?

AF: It was something that I wanted to do, but there’s no kind of cure I suppose for leaving your family and everybody and everything you knew, to come to another country to pursue a dream.  I mean it’s one of those things you felt compelled to do, yes, but at the same time it was so different in that you were literally leaving everything behind that you had been used to, that you got used to: your family, your friends, and everything.  That was tremendously difficult.

JS: In college you broke the NCAA record for blocks in a college career with 492. (That record has since been broken and you’re now third).  You’re also the all-time leading  shot-blocker for Golden State as well. How did you become so good at shotblocking? What are the secrets to your success?

AF: I think one of the first principles of shot-blocking is that I’ve always liked the idea of dominating a game defensively, as most people like to do it offensively.  I always felt that everybody can score, but the person who can find a way to determine the game defensively more than that will win the game.  One of the first things is you have to be willing to get dunked on.  It’s one of those things that nobody in their right mind would say, ‘I’m going to do something, but it’s always going to be one milliliter away from being a hero or a goat.’  When you’re trying to block a shot the margin of error is so small, so you literally could get dunked on or you could make a spectacular play. So the first thing, is you have to be the guy who’s not afraid to get dunked on.  Then you have to worry about your body and being able to block with both hands: being ambidextrous when it comes to shot-blocking. Then it’s being able to come off on the weak side, reading and doing your homework on a guy’s inclinations and tendencies.  Always sizing up the floor and your opponent, knowing how he jumps, how he likes to dunk, how he turns his body in the air, what’s his lifting ability is he a floater? All of these different things, and when you see a guy you make a combination and most of the time I was right because I did the homework and really learned about the guy.  There’s a lot of things that go in it, but I think those things are the most important.

JS:  I think that’s the most in-depth story I’ve ever heard about shot-blocking.  That was impressive.

AF: (Laughs)

“When Baron (Davis) was with Charlotte, I ran him down on a fast break and he was about to tomahawk it home, and I remember pinning him against the basket.  He was still mad at me years later when we played together in Golden State.” – Adonal Foyle

JS:  Is there any guy that dunked on you, any specific guy that you got dunked on that sticks in your memory?

AF: I remember a few times.  I remember one in which Kobe and Shaq were coming down on the fast break and I had to decide between the two, and I think I took Shaq.  Kobe came in, and I thought I could get back in the air, and he moved the ball while he was in the air, and I thought, ‘o boy that’s going to be ugly’ and you know, he dunked it over me.  Derek Anderson, he was on a fast break once, and I thought I could chase him down, but I didn’t quite catch up to him.  There’s a lot.  Amare got a few in, where I had my hands up, and he literally took me to the basket. As I like to say, ‘if you do this, you remember the ones that hurt.’  Those hurt.  But those are certainly ones where you’re like ‘o crap.’

JS:  Let’s put you on the other side of the equation.  Any favorite blocks that you’ve had that just have been like, ‘wow, I can’t believe I blocked that?’

AF: I think when Baron (Davis) was with Charlotte, I ran him down on a fast break and he was about to tomahawk it home, and I remember pinning him against the basket.  He was still mad at me years later when we played together in Golden State.  That was one that I definitely remember.  There’s so many.  I also got Ray Allen going in for a dunk when he was with Seattle.  So I had my share and I’ve certainly got my share.

JS:  Baron Davis played for the Warriors, let’s talk about the Warriors.  You were drafted by Golden State and you played for them for a decade.  What’s it like to play for the same team for such a long time?

AF: I remember one thing you do get. You get to really enjoy the community and you get to enjoy being in that community for a very long time.  The Bay Area is an amazing city.  It’s an amazing place to be. So I think that part, that was great, but we had a pretty terrible team for many years so that was very difficult.  I think, just being there for so long you really learn to  appreciate the fans, you learn to hang with them, and you see the desperation they have for winning. But you also see the facts.  I think the first year I got there we won 16 or 17 games.  I mean, it was really, really difficult.

JS:  You talked about Golden State and how they had some troubles, but they did have that one year where they shocked the Mavericks in the first round as an eighth seed. I believe you were on that team. That’s correct right?

AF: Yeah I was, and I think for me, I didn’t play very much that year, but just seeing the hunger and satisfaction of finally making it to the playoffs and finally having a chance to win, I think that was so terrific in many ways.  I think I was much more happy for the fans than anybody else.  When you were with them, it was like a 10 year labor of love to that point. Seeing us actually making it to the playoffs and actually winning in the first round, they were like so excited and they were so proud, the fans.  They were out there before the game, hours before the game, just wanting to see us, and letting us know how appreciative they were of what we were doing.  It was just a terrific series and it was a terrific year and it was really that one shining moment.  It was really, really amazing to be a part of something that special.

Read part two of our interview with Foyle

JOSH MASER
Special Contributor

The Orlando Magic have decided to completely overhaul their roster, with news coming in this past Saturday that they made two blockbuster trades with the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards.

Orlando sent Guard Vince Carter, Guard Michael Pietrus, Center Marcin Gortat, a 2011 first round pick and cash considerations to the Suns for F Hedo Turkoglu, G Jason Richardson and F Earl Clark. In a separate deal the Magic sent Forward Rashard Lewis to Washington for the troubled Gilbert Arenas.

I’ll begin by saying that this deal was a no brainer for both the Wizards and Suns. Phoenix has accepted that they need to get some pieces in place to begin a rebuilding process in the post Amare era (might Steve Nash be the next to go?) and did a great job of that, acquiring Gortat, widely considered to be one of the best backup centers in the league, Pietrus, who is an extremely underated perimeter defender (he guarded Kobe in the Finals two years ago) and $17.5 million expiring contract of Vince Carter along with a First Rounder for pieces in Turkoglu and Richardson that are either past their prime (or not close enough to their prime) to be a part of future plans.

As for the Wizards, they did what they’ve been wanting to do for a long time: namely, get Gilbert Arenas the heck out of that locker room and away from John Wall. Arenas has been nothing but a problem for them in the past few years and that problem has not come with many wins. They got rid of him and can now officially usher in the new era of their stud point guard. Along the way they got an interesting piece. Rashard Lewis did not deserve the $120 million contract the Orlando gave him but he is a combo forward that is a tough matchup defensively for either the 3 or the 4, he can help space the floor for John Wall’s penetration and can knock down the 3 ball on a kick out.

Now let’s get to the team making all the moves happen. Vince Carter needed to go. He has been a huge disappointment in Orlando, disappearing in playoff games and playing terrible defense. He looked like a shell of the player he was in Toronto and even New Jersey; Magic fans are saying good riddance.

The Magic get back their Turkish superhero in Hedo Turkoglu, who was a vital part of their 2009 Finals team as well as Jason Richardson (Earl Clark will not see the rotation). Richardson will be an upgrade offensively over Carter and Hedo is a matchup nightmare at the 3 spot with very good ball handling abilities and has proven that he can hit big shots in the past.

At first sight, it looks like the Magic have loaded up on talent and are as deep as any team in the league. But if you look deeper into it you begin to see some mistakes they made in these trades. But what the Magic gave up might not equal what they received. Not only did they give up the best back-up center in the league (what are they going to do when Howard isn’t in the game?) but they gave up, in my opinion, the most underrated perimeter defender in the league. Michael Pietrus was the guy they went to when they needed to stop the opposing team’s best player, he guarded Kobe in the Finals and he’s the one that would have guarded Dwayne Wade and Paul Pierce in the Playoffs. Not only that but he has proven that he can shoot 3’s with consistency and can even give the opposing team trouble in isolation. Dwight Howard was already complaining earlier this week that he was being relied on too much to block shots and that his perimeter defenders needed to stay with their men more, and now you have replaced your best perimeter defender with a guy (with all respect to Jason Richardson) who isn’t going to slow down anybody.

Speaking of players that don’t play defense, where do I begin with the acquisition of Gilbert Arenas. Saying he has been cancerous to the Washington locker room is a severe understatement. He was the reason that Antwan Jamison and Caron Butler were traded away for 50 cents on the dollar. He brought guns into an NBA locker room. Not to mention the fact he’s had his last 3 NBA season cut short either by injuries or suspension.

I understand that the Magic felt Rashard Lewis wasn’t working out and that they needed to get rid of his enormous contract, but Arenas’ remaining contract is nearly identical. If you take the money away the Magic traded a matchup problem combo forward that is one of the best shooters in the league (who has also been a model citizen) for a highly troubled shot happy injury prone combo guard that will most likely come off the bench. I will admit it is possible for Stan Van Gundy to get Arenas’ mind right and to get him to buy into the team concept, but it’s not a risk a championship contender should have taken.

Photo: AP

SCOTT JACOBS

Here is the second part of my two part chat with Kimlat.  You can check out Part 1 here.

JS: You’ve said you’re a big basketball fan. I know you travel a lot, but were you keeping tabs on the NBA’s crazy off season of LeBron?
KK: I was paying attention to it. When the sports turn off I try to focus my mind on work. I think over the summer I was just so busy that I was like ‘let me rest my head, let me focus on my business and I know that once basketball and football kick back in I know where my attention is going to be.

JS: What football team are you a fan of?
KK: So many people are going to hate me for this, but it’s the Dallas Cowboys. And the reason why, is because when I came to America, the kid that taught me the rules of American football when I was nine years old was like, ‘you’ve gotta love the Cowboys.’ That was back in 1992-93, when they were just killing and so I became a huge Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith fan and I used to watch religiously. As painful as it is to watch them this season in the back of my heart I’m still rooting for them.

JS: I wrote on Juiced Sports that I think there’s a curse on teams the year that they host the Super Bowl. Think there’s anything to that?
KK: I wouldn’t say it’s a curse, I think it’s like a psychological pressure on that team. In the back of their minds it’s like oh, this would be ideal and it’s that pressure that prevents them from focusing on each game individually because they’re still thinking about that in the back of their minds.

JS: Have you had a chance to perform any magic for any of the players or coaches on the Orlando Magic?
KK: Actually Michael just performed for Dwight Howard a few weekends ago.

JS: Where were you?
KK: I was at another event and Michael was performing on the other side of town and Dwight really just happened to come in with his family into this little restaurant (they’ve got magicians around a couple different restaurants in Orlando). He did some magic for them. They just loved it and went nuts and he was like ‘hey we’re on the same team now.’ So we’ll be seeing each other a lot.

JS: Have you had a chance to meet with any of the Magic players or interact with them?
KK: I’m sure we will. I’m sure as the season goes on we will definitely have the opportunity.

JS: You started out as a kid who immigrated from Kiev. You’re 27 now, you’re a world-renowned magician, you lecture on the psychology of perception and the business of magic. Sounds like you keep yourself busy a little bit. Any big plans or dreams on the horizon for you?
KK: My goal is to wake up every morning and to continue to do what I love to do and go to sleep knowing that I have zero regrets and that I’ve done everything that I wanted to. I’m loving what I’m doing and right now I’m settling in Orlando for a year (this is the first time in 7 years that I’m actually going to be home for an extended period of time). I’ll see how this goes, so I’m kind of putting my travel plans off for next year and seeing where it takes me. I’m doing a lot of speaking right now and then my big thing is to try to promote live magic and entertainment. There’s great magicians in every city that I’ve traveled. I’ve seen performers in every city, every country. I don’t think any of us are competition. I think that everyone performing good magic elevates the whole art. So my long term goal is to maybe help other performers around the country reach a certain level in their cities and their areas as I’ve done here in Orlando. That’s my long term project.

If you love what you do, and you’re willing to be persistent then you get lucky, and luck is when preparation meets opportunity. So if you work really hard and you’re willing to meet those opportunities than you’ll get lucky every time.

If you love what you do, and you’re willing to be persistent then you get lucky, and luck is when preparation meets opportunity. So if you work really hard and you’re willing to meet those opportunities than you’ll get lucky every time.

At the end of the day it’s all about the joy on people’s faces and the smiles. I may have a really hard day at the office, but then when I get out there to perform, the moment the fans start to laugh, scream, have their eyes bug out, that’s when I know why I love my job and continue to do it every single day.

JS: When did you know you wanted to be a magician?
KK: When I saw it on television. I was 12 or 13 and I just fell in love with it. I read every book in the library and I started coming up with my own tricks. As I went through high school and college I looked at what I was doing already and I never thought I would do it, I just had continued doing it. My clients continued to hire me year after year and my business just grew steadily and so I don’t even think I ever made the decision. But I’m literally living the American dream. It’s the one thing that I’ve done my whole life every year since I was 13 years old.

JS: Did you ever expect to rise to prominence this quickly?
KK: No, certainly not. In fact, I’d rather my efforts be known and not me. I’m not a fan of celebrity and I don’t really want it in my life, but I am incredibly happy when my efforts pay off. And I think it’s part of that immigrant culture that I have where coming here and having nothing, and for my parents to start completely over, it was either you work and you do something or you’re not going to get anything. Maybe in the back of my mind, it’s that kind of mindset that’s driven me. I’ve also always surrounded myself with people who are smarter, better, and more hard-working than anyone else I know and they continue to inspire me. I try to read non-stop and watch as little TV as possible.

JS: Sports nowadays seems like it’s almost as much entertainment, as it is athleticism. Do you continue to see this as a growing trend of the merger of sports and entertainment?
KK: Most certainly. This arena is a prime example of that. You walk in and realize that there are so many people who are coming there, because they just want to be there. It’s part of the process. There’s certainly die-hard fans that are watching the game, but as an entire process you want to bring your friends, you want to bring your family to the game, and you’ve got kids and family of all ages and different age groups, so the more entertainment you’re able to provide the greater it is. Sports is still the focus, but it’s definitely going the way of the entertainment side.

READ PART 1 here.

For more on Kimlat check out these fine websites:
www.SeeLiveMagic.com <–this lists their live performances including the MAGIC Games
www.MagicShowOrlando.com <– this is his dinner show in Orlando
www.ThinkMagic.com <–this is his corporate speaking company.

SCOTT JACOBS

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of talking to world-renowned magician Kostya Kimlat, who to say the least, keeps himself busy.  Having performed in over 200 cities across 5 continents, Kimlat is not only a hard worker, but he’s a die hard fan of magic and a big time fan of his local team, the Orlando Magic.  An immigrant of Kiev, Kostya’s success is impressive, considering how fast he’s made himself a world-wide success.

Here is the first part of my two part chat with Kimlat.  You can check out Part 2 here.

Juiced Sports: How did this partnership with the Orlando Magic come about? Did you pitch the idea to them? Did they come to you?
Kostya Kimlat: I’ve been doing magic here in Orlando for about 14 years now, and even though I travel (I spend half the year traveling) I’ve established myself here, and I have a dinner show that I do here. Different parts of the organization and different people that work there have seen me at different times over the last few years, and a couple of months ago they contacted me to see if I was interested in working with them for the inaugural opening of the arena. It was just a compliment that they got in touch with me and I was really happy. So we went back and forth for about a month and started doing it, and we just started working in the preseason, and now here we are.

JS: What was the preseason like, just getting started?
KK: The new center is absolutely gorgeous, and at first I wasn’t sure how the fans were gonna react, but they have been just tremendous and positive. We would go through the fans right before the game, and we’re hanging around fanfest, and we’d be like ‘hey, you guys want to see some magic before you see some Magic?’ And they’re like ‘yeah, show us what you got.’ We have fun and it’s just the atmosphere that’s so great. The new arena is making the whole downtown Orlando area so popular and so huge. I think it’s awesome for the whole city, for the fans, and the team.

JS: Let’s talk about you for a little bit. You’ve performed in over 200 cities on five different continents. What has it been like to travel all over the globe doing something you love? What are a few great road trip stories you can tell us from your travels?
KK: That’s probably been the best part of my life, the chance to travel so much and to see so many different places in the world and see how different people react. In every country there’s a different reaction to magic. In Japan they value skill and precision. In Scandinavia they’re a little more skeptical. In South America they love that feeling of joy and wonder and not knowing. Every country is different in the respect that I perform for the public, I perform private shows around the country, and I also do a lot of speaking and lecturing around the world. I’ve seen a lot of different magic going to many different places. My favorite places were to go to Argentina and Australia. I got to see melting icebergs. I got to pet a kangaroo and then eat a kangaroo in one day in Australia.

The fans are loving it. We’ve had people coming up to us before the game going, ‘o my god, you just made my day, we don’t even have to go to the game now that was awesome.’

JS: You ate a kangaroo? What’s that taste like?
KK: It was delicious. The kangaroo tasted like filet. It was perfect red meat, it was an amazing piece. As far as road trip stories go, I’ve probably had more lost luggage than anything else. We shipped 600 lbs of magic stuff to the Canary Islands and everything got lost. It got sent to Frankfurt instead of Madrid. And so we arrived to do a week of shows with none of our props there. After that episode (this was about 2-3 years ago) I said I’m never shipping anything again. So now I focus on the interactive aspect of the magic: being up close, seeing it live, as opposed to the big boxes far away from the stage.

JS: As a long time resident of the Orlando area what will it be like for you personally to perform at Magic games?
KK: I moved from Ukraine to Orlando with my family when I was 9 years old and so we came here in 1992, just a few seasons after the Magic had established themselves. So I’ve been watching the Magic games every year. The last two years when we’ve been in the playoffs, I’ve been overseas, so it’s been like 4 in the morning and I’m in the middle of some foreign country finding a bar that’s showing the playoff game. And I’m the only Orlando Magic fan going crazy watching them play. So now to stay home for the whole season (and this is the first time I’m staying home this long) is just going to be so fantastic. I can’t wait. To bring the magic back to the Magic games, I’m so excited to do that.

JS: When you’re performing at games, where do you perform?
KK: Well first off, it’s not just myself. They’ve brought my company. So my company has been asked to bring in magicians. I have a team of really talented performers who are going to be there with me. For like 20 of the biggest games we’re going to have 2 magicians there and for the other 25 we’re going to have 1 magician there. So it’s myself and Michael Eaton (whose an excellent, talented magician here in Orlando).

What we do is we perform for an hour during fanfest before the game. In the first two quarters we’re at all the different bars. All these great social areas and amongst the thousands of people who go to the game, you’ve got at least a couple thousand who aren’t necessarily there to watch basketball, they’re just there for the company and to have fun. During the first two quarters when there’s a little break in the game that’s when we’re at all those clubs doing magic for whoever wants to watch and hang out. The fans are loving it. We’ve had people coming up to us before the game going, ‘o my god, you just made my day, we don’t even have to go to the game now that was awesome.’

READ PART 2 here.