Battie Wants To Return To Orlando
Florida Today - 12/27 - 3:17 AM EST
Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos was making the rounds in the locker room recently and before center Tony Battie could offer his greetings, DeVos cut him off.
"We have to talk this summer, right?" DeVos said to a shocked Battie.
The question was in reference to Battie's pending free agency. Battie said that he desperately wants to re-sign with the Magic because he is happy with his teammates and he has grown to love Central Florida. But he also pointed out that DeVos' devotion to his players is also a strong selling point in wanting to return to the Magic.
"I've played for four different teams and I've never had an owner like Mr. DeVos, who comes around and talks to you the way he does," Battie said. "He'll sit down and talk to you like a neighbor, and not just about basketball. He invites you to his house. I had never been to any other owner's house, but he let us come to his house and look all around. He talks to you about managing money and that's something different."
Battie is making a strong case for the Magic to re-sign him, playing some of the best basketball of his career. He had 13 points and nine rebounds last Monday against Toronto, 13 points and 10 rebounds against New Jersey and nine points and eight rebounds against the Lakers. Battie is averaging seven points and 5.6 rebounds for the season.
Battie, who is making $5.2 million this season, said he is trying to not think about the fact that his play this season will likely determine the length and worth of his next contract.
"You just go out and play. When you are thinking about it too much. then you're getting nervous," Battie said. You want to play well, but mentally it can give you the jitters when you think what's on the line. My motto is just play hard and whatever happens happens." No captain. Magic head coach Brian Hill said the Magic haven't named a captain for this year's team yet -- and that's by design. Because he's in his first season with the team, Hill wanted to get to know his players better first before a captain was chosen. He said he hasn't decided yet whether he will allow the players to vote for the captain or whether he will name the captains.
"We just haven't done it yet, but it might be something we do as we move further along in the season," Hill said. "I want to get a better feel from the guys. It's not something you have to have, but your leadership can usually decide it."
Grant Hill was voted the Magic's captain last season by his teammates. Unlike Milwaukee's captain, Michael Redd, Hill did not wear the 'C' on his jersey, signifying his captaincy. Tracy McGrady was the last Magic player to wear the 'C' on his jersey, doing so during the 21-61 2003-04 season. Etc. Orlando's 34-point first quarter Monday night was its highest scoring quarter of the season. The Magic previously had 33 points in the fourth quarter on Dec. 14 against the New York Knicks. The Magic's high for a first quarter this season was 27 against Toronto last week. . . . Magic reserve center Kelvin Cato played Monday night for the first time since Dec. 5. Cato has been out the past three weeks with a badly sprained ankle that he hurt in practice. Like Battie, Cato is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end. . . . Brian Hill said that he prefers that rookie Travis Diener remain with the Magic -- as opposed to being assigned to a Developmental League team -- because "it allows him to get more used to defending NBA caliber guards and running a team" in practice. . . . Monday's game was one of four this season not to be televised in Central Florida.
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