2 weeks Ago By Jason Beede
Franz Wagner has never been the main star. In his two years at Michigan, he didn’t lead the Wolverines in scoring and as a sophomore played alongside All-American center Hunter Dickinson. Coming out of the NBA draft, he was perhaps overshadowed by other more well-known prospects at the time.
Even when Orlando drafted him No. 8 overall in 2021, there was Jalen Suggs, whom the Magic selected three spots sooner. A year later came No.
1 pick Paolo Banchero , who instantly became the face of a franchise that had been searching for one in the years since the departure of Dwight Howard. But Wagner likes it that way. He doesn’t mind playing second fiddle to the Rookie of the Year and first-time All-Star in Banchero.
“I knew I wasn’t going to have the same notoriety as some of the top draft picks,” Wagner said. “It’s just the way it goes when you’re from a different country. “I really don’t have a problem with that at all,” he added.
But Thursday night in Los Angeles, and for the last three weeks without Banchero (torn right abdominal muscle), Wagner showed he too can shine just as bright as his higher-drafted teammates and perhaps anyone else in the league. In a town known for its stars, Wagner was the biggest when he sank a game-winning 3-point basket with 3.1 seconds left to hand the Lakers their first home loss of the season while snapping a Los Angeles 6-game win streak despite 39 points from Anthony Davis and 31 from LeBron James.
“That’s crazy. That’s like a movie moment,” Suggs said. With 37 points and 11 assists, the 23-year-old Wagner became the youngest player in Magic history to record 35-plus points and 10-plus assists in a game and just the third player in franchise history to record such a statline, joining Penny Hardaway and Tracy McGrady.
Fittingly, it was McGrady (37 points, 10 assists) who did it last for the Magic on March 15, 2004, on the road against the...
Lakers. When McGrady did it, however, Orlando lost in overtime to a young Kobe Bryant, who totaled 38 points that night. Led by Wagner this time, the road victory for the Magic (10-7) was just the franchise’s eighth all-time in 35 games away from home against the Lakers (10-5) in the regular season.
“He’s not afraid of big moments,” coach Jamahl Mosley said. “And that’s what we’ve asked him to do. I could not be happier for this team and for him, who puts in such an amazing amount of work.
To see that fall ...
this group, they battle. They battled this entire game. “I just can’t say enough about this group, can’t say enough about Franz and his work ethic, and this group’s grit that they continue to show,” he added.
Franz Wagner lifts Magic past Lakers with game-winner, 37 points Wagner could get some help back Saturday against the Pistons (7-10) when Orlando returns to Kia Center after going 2-1 out West. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who missed Thursday’s game due to personal reasons (the birth of his family’s fifth child), isn’t listed on the injury report. Magic center Wendell Carter Jr.
(left foot plantar fasciitis) is listed as questionable after missing 10 consecutive contests. Regardless of who’s available, the Magic’s offense will run through Wagner once again. Although it was his final shot that rightfully deserves the attention, his 37-point performance is just the latest example of why he’s earning himself a spot in the league’s All-Star game come February.
Orlando has gone 7-1 in its last eight games while Wagner has averaged 28.1 points, 6.9 assists, 6.
0 rebounds and 2.1 steals in that stretch. Banchero took to Instagram to back his star counterpart, writing, “West Coast Walk Down! ALL STAR.
” “This is one of those games where when we are done, 10 to 15 years later, we can hold onto this and talk about,” Suggs said. Wagner relied on his craftiness to drive in the paint and found his spots from distance to attack despite the Lakers’ best effort to contain him. When Los Angeles threw double teams or blitzed him, Wagner found open teammates such as Suggs (23 points) on the perimeter for a first-quarter 3 or a soaring Goga Bitadze (7 points, 15 rebounds) for a third-quarter alley-oop.
Wagner quietly recorded his career-high 11 assists on a night where it was his scoring and, more importantly, his final shot that made the most noise. But he’s not one to make much noise like that. Never has been.
And he revels in the calmness waiting to strike. Generally soft-spoken with the media, he instead lets his play speak for itself. “That’s not why I play basketball,” Wagner said of the individual attention.
“Those moments, like when my teammates are super happy for me, those types of things — that’s what every player wishes for, and not all of the fame.” Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected] Up next .
.. Magic vs.
Pistons When: 7, Saturday, Kia Center TV: FanDuel Sports Network Florida.
