House Party! Magic rout 76ers in final regular-season game at Amway

DeVos Stands Strong

October 29, 2009

He took in all the frantic energy from his seat caddy-corner to the Orlando Magic bench Wednesday night: The pregame pyrotechnics, the screaming fans and rock anthems from Queen and Phil Collins.

At 83, Rich DeVos still stands strong, despite the cane he uses to get around. It marks the resilience of a man who needed someone else's heart to stay alive. The transplant took place on June 2, 1997. Every day since then has been a gift.

There is an unspoken sense of purpose for the Magic as they begin another chase for the championship.

To a man, from the executives in suits to the guys in baggy shorts sweating it out in the paint, they want to win one for the patriarch of this organization.

Starting out with a 120-106 beatdown of the Philadelphia 76ers is as good a start as anyone could have scripted.

"We've been close," DeVos said. "But we know who we are now and we know what it takes. They have a different spirit than they've ever had before. I've never see this kind of conviction. ... Let's go do it."

Now in his 21st season as a Magic owner, DeVos has been there for the exhilarating rush of two ping pong balls that gave us Shaq and Penny, the breakup of a potential dynasty when Shaq bolted for Los Angeles, the rough years that followed, and now the new surge keyed by another kid they call Superman.

"Mr. D," as some in the organization call him, may seem a little out of place in the NBA. Hip-hop, tattoos, and bouncy cheerleaders have never been part of his family-friendly Amway vision.

He and Mark Cuban are hardly blood brothers. Cuban starts his day on the Internet surfing Twitter. DeVos and his wife Helen begin their day with devotionals to their four children and 16 grandchildren, praying for them by name.

Then there's his extended family. He invited the whole team to dinner Monday night at his Palm Beach mansion. Coaches and front-office types, too.

It's a yearly tradition, where everybody can sit down casually, relax, and not say a word about basketball. There's dinner, ping pong and billiards between the players and his grandchildren. Mr. D tells them about the importance of faith and family, stresses on personal conduct, and doles out advice. He tells stars like Dwight Howard to save a million dollars every year for 10 years, and then watch what interest can do to that stash of money.

DeVos knows a little something about fiscal management, turning a $49 investment in 1959 into a multi-billion-dollar-a-year industry.

"It puts things in perspective for them," Magic general manager Otis Smith said. "He doesn't necessarily say it, but it's, 'You guys work for your money, my money works for me.' I was as impressed by him this last Monday as I've ever been."

Not everyone is equally impressed. To some, DeVos is never going to be able to shake the reputation of a tight-fisted billionaire who should have kicked in a lot more to help build the team's new playground set to open next season.

Perhaps it's fair commentary. But it's also fair to mention that DeVos is one of the most charitable people you will meet. Nearly $15 million has been raised through the Orlando Magic Youth Fund, impacting more than one million children.

And he undoubtedly cares about the people he employs. DeVos once gave former Magic Coach Doc Rivers use of a yacht, the 125-foot "Freedom," for a week after Rivers was honored as the NBA's Coach of the Year. Rivers took his staff and their wives for a tour of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the Hamptons, anchoring close to a golf course every day.

On the flip side, DeVos isn't too pretentious about dropping by Wendy's for lunch (I know this for a fact, having a Combo Meal with him eight years ago). But he certainly isn't a cheapskate. This team went deep into the NBA luxury tax to put together this talented core group of players.

"As an owner he's done everything he's supposed to do, including opening up his pocketbook," Smith said. "Year after year after year he's done what you want your owner to do: Give you the resources to your business and then step out of the way and allow you to do it. Yes, there's been challenging times but he's been phenomenal.

"And now that he's 83-years-old, I just want him to experience being on top of the profession."

With 81 regular-season games to go, odds are looking good for Mr. D.

"We're struggling right now to stop people, and that's concerning," the Orlando Magic head coach said, his downcast eyes scanning a stat sheet. "I would've thought we'd be further along this close to the playoffs."

Never mind that the Magic clinched their division this week, or that they're the No. 2 seed, or that they trail the Los Angeles Lakers by a half game in the standings, meaning that if the two teams meet again in the NBA Finals, the Magic might secure home-court advantage.

And, oh, while we're at it, never mind that Wednesday night at the Amway Arena, Orlando spanked the Washington Wizards 121-94 in a game that saw 66 points come from its bench players.

Never forget that Van Gundy is a coach, and as such it's in his DNA to never be totally happy or completely satisfied.

With coaches, if it isn't doom then it's gloom.

The glass is half empty.

Always.

So, a little perspective.

This team is very good. Scary good. Someone asked Van Gundy to compare this team at this point of the season, with four regular-season games remaining, to last year's team -- the one that went to the NBA Finals.

"I'm not interested in making comparisons because we don't play last year's team," he said. "I'm interested in the teams we're going to play going forward. We have great confidence, but I still want to get better. I don't think there'll be an easy round in the playoffs."

Maybe not.

But, really, this is a three-team race.

It's the defending-champion Lakers, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Magic.

Though, perhaps, not necessarily in that order.

Again, Van Gundy is a coach, so he isn't interested in revisiting past glories. He's too wrapped up in current concerns. That's understandable. So is his reluctance to make comparisons.

That's where we step. We in the media. We're not only professional second-guessers, we also thrive on comparisons.

So allow me.

This Magic team is better than last year's. It's deeper, more balanced and if Vince Carter keeps peaking toward the playoffs, it's going to be fun to watch them. Jameer Nelson should be healthy for the entire postseason, too. And, keep in mind that Dwight Howard is a year older, wiser and better.

He is, in a growing number of people's opinions, the league MVP.

That doesn't mean he'll win the MVP. In fact, he probably won't. It'll likely go to LeBron James. That's because what LeBron does on a basketball court consistently makes ESPN's highlights. Meanwhile, what Dwight is doing will only make history.

Last year, Howard became only the fifth player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounds and blocked shots. It put him in some pretty good company. You know, guys like Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeen Olajuwon and Ben Wallace.

This year, he'll become the only player to do it in back-to-back seasons. Ever.

But rebounds aren't sexy, and blocked shots only make the highlights when there is something thunderous about them. In other words, as great as Howard has been this season, he's still a smaller blip on the radar screen of recognition.

Sort of like the Magic.

Put it this way, Howard has nine 20-rebound games. Meanwhile, the rest of the NBA has 20 combined.

He's been good.

Scary good.

Sort of like the Magic.

They showed it again last night.

Even if Stan Van Gundy doesn't want to see it.