Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner remains patient as he provides update on injury recovery

ORLANDO, Fla. – It’s been four weeks since Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner suffered a torn right oblique.

Given the initial diagnosis of the equipment, that amount of time is significant. His injury occurred on December 6 and he was sidelined indefinitely, similar to how All-Star teammate Paolo Banchero was when he suffered the same injury 20 games before that.

With that initial period behind him, Wagner met with reporters in the Magic locker room on Sunday night and detailed where he is in his recovery.

“I feel good,” Wagner said afterward. Orlando’s loss to Utah. “I think I’ve progressed really well. Yeah, now I’m just continuing to rehab it and making sure I don’t do any jumps too early because you don’t want to re-injure it, obviously.” So it’s a strange place, but I feel pretty good.”

The absence caused by an oblique tear is the first prolonged one in Wagner’s long career. You need rest and time away from the game – a challenge to your own self-control while you let your body recover.

“I just have to be patient even though I feel great,” Wagner said of the challenge he now faces. “After the first few days, I felt totally normal. Normally, when you have an injury and you’re out (foot or knee or something), you have trouble walking or things like that. It’s nothing like that.

“It’s just, mentally, a little strange that nothing really hurts, but obviously, you know you can’t leave yet.”

Four weeks ago, Wagner’s diagnosis was a little more than 24 hours old when he sat behind a microphone in the Kia Center interview room and faced questions about the injury for the first time.

“I think you go through stages when you get bad news.” said December 8 before the Magic’s victory over Phoenix. “I did that yesterday and I was frustrated yesterday.”

Wagner was not going blindly into the process given the similarities to Banchero’s injury. However, the freshness of the injury had not completely disappeared yet, and it was understandable. That night, he talked about finding “relative” positives in light of the situation, and teammate Wendell Carter Jr. said Magic in itself that Wagner has “a very good head on his shoulders,” ensuring that he would be good in the long run.

Now, he maintains that his period of grievance was short.

“Mentally he was fine,” Wagner said Sunday. “Obviously the first few days are always tough, but I thought I had a good mentality.”

At the Magic’s final practice before their most recent two-game trip, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley affirmed that, saying that Wagner had been in “excellent” encourages the team while “slowly moving around a little bit” and doing some conditioning. For now, there is no set timetable for his return.

But dealing with the torn ACL in his brother Moe’s left knee, which ended his season, was difficult. Taking advantage of the Magic’s three weeks at home during the holiday season, the Wagner brothers had several family and friends visiting them in Orlando. After suffering the injury on December 21 against Miami, having them around was a silver lining, allowing them to make the most of their time together. At the same time, it was also its own added element to deal with.

Franz and Moe live together. While the moe images Not being able to get up or having difficulty walking are difficult things to witness in front of the public; Franz sees him up close and personal every day at the house.

“I would say that had a bigger impact,” Franz said. “It’s always difficult to see someone fall like that, but to see very closely how that impacts one’s life – I would say that was more difficult.”

Moe’s injury was different from his teammates because he will not return this season. That’s not to diminish the absences of Banchero, Franz, Jalen Suggs or anyone else who has missed time this season and what that meant for the team. Just on Friday night, after Suggs suffered a back injury in Toronto, Cory Joseph began listing all the players Orlando is currently playing for and then, after a pause, composed himself: “Too many people, right??”

When news of Wagner’s right oblique tear first broke, the Magic were finally finding their footing. Adjusting without Banchero, they posted 13 wins in 15 games after an 0-4 start. Wagner’s play in the number one role helped continue Orlando’s strong start.

Without the frontcourt duo, Orlando is 5-7 and has struggled to generate consistent production. The aforementioned injuries piling up elsewhere (most notably to Suggs, Anthony Black and Gary Harris) don’t help either.

However, help could soon be on the way. Banchero has been listed with the “return-to-competition reconditioning” designation for several games, and when asked what his current situation is, Mosley said Sunday: “I think he’s just strengthening that cardio, strengthening his conditioning. I think he’s Those are important pieces for him to be able to be on the court, do some contact things, but little by little, he is advancing.”

Banchero has not played since late October, and the process of returning to fitness is one of his goals. he recently told reporters It is similar to a second training camp.

But in a process filled with first-time lessons, Wagner said he knew the Magic — still talented in their own right without their star power — would always fight no matter the score or opponent. When he first spoke about the injury, he recognized his impending absence as a challenge and an opportunity.

“These things happen and all we can do is take it one possession at a time,” Wagner said. “Like I said when I got hurt, I think there are a lot of opportunities that the other guys maybe haven’t taken advantage of, and I think it’s just about using that the best you can and also accepting making mistakes, knowing that it’s really the best thing.” “First time for a lot of these guys to play a lot of minutes.”

Added Wagner: “From that standpoint, it’s really beneficial for us as a group.”

You are not wrong.

But the Magic will reap the most benefits when Banchero and Wagner are healthy again. The experience gained by Orlando’s role players during their time away can prove invaluable when their role diminishes upon reintegration. If everything goes well, it will be a good problem for the team.

But until then – barring setbacks – Magic, Franz and everyone else are constantly exercising patience.

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