Orlando's Black Played Injured in NBA Summer League

Toughness shown in NCAA Tournament, during summer giving Magic pause to consider trading other guards

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Aug 7, 2023 5:23 PM EDT
Original:
Aug 7, 2023

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As the basketball team came down the stretch of the NCAA Tournament, Arkansas fans could easily see that guard Anthony Black was having problems with what appeared to be a leg injury. However, the future NBA lottery pick sucked it up and pushed through in hopes of making a run at a national championship, earning him the infamous "Heart of a Razorback" moniker.

A bit of time off to rest and rehab as Black prepped for the NBA combine appeared to do the trick, but according to Black in "I Played in the NBA Summer League," by the time the NBA Summer League came around, there were still nagging issues.

"[The Orlando Magic] already know I got a bum ankle, so they're not going to really trip if I don't have as much burst," Black says as he's getting his hair trimmed for his big debut. "I'm just going out there, get a couple of buckets, make a couple of shots, get some assists and rebounds."

He was able to fill up the stats box averaging a team leading 28.4 minutes, 11 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and a steal per game. Doing so allowed him to disguise what Arkansas fans suspected would be a lingering issue, yet proved to the Magic he had developed the mental and physical toughness to fight through some of the issues that naturally come along with playing a minimum 82 games per season without his game suffering.

The effort impressed the Orlando front office enough that there seems to be little effort in quieting rumors that former Gonzaga guard Jalen Suggs will be traded to create more space and playing opportunities for Black. There's enough smoke that media outlets are making their own proposals for Jalen Suggs, including one suggesting the Lakers make a move to get younger in anticipation of Lebron James' impending retirement in the next few years.

If Suggs does stick around, that leaves Black, Suggs and former Duke Blue Devil Paolo Banchero as a Who's Who of the last two Arkansas NCAA Tournament runs to bring the Magic back to respectability. Whether Suggs sticks in Orlando or not, Black has two months left to fully recover before the Magic take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Oct. 10 to kick off the preseason.

Arkansas fans will be able to find out next week when they will be able to watch a growing number of Razorbacks in the NBA with the release of the 2023-24 regular season schedule. It is currently expected to come out some time between Aug. 16-20.