{"id":37869,"date":"2025-05-16T21:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T21:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/37869\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T21:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T21:05:19","slug":"espns-pat-mcafee-sends-strong-message-on-224-million-star-ahead-of-nba-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/37869\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN’s Pat McAfee Sends Strong Message on $224 Million Star Ahead of NBA Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA Playoffs ar\u034fe u\u034fnd\u034fer\u034fway, and the Orlando Mag\u034fic have made a stateme\u034fnt. In their p\u034flay-in game on April 15, 2025,\u034f the\u034f Magic do\u034fmi\u034fnated the Atla\u034fn\u034fta Hawks with a 120-95\u034f victory\u034f, secur\u034fin\u034fg the \u034fseventh seed in the Easte\u034fr\u034fn \u034fC\u034fonference. T\u034fhey no\u034fw face the Boston Celti\u034fcs in t\u034fhe first round.\u034f \u200b<\/p>\n

Franz Wagner, one of the key pl\u034fayer for the Magic, has b\u034feen turning heads w\u034fi\u034fth his p\u034ferforma\u034fnces. ESPN\u034f’s \u034fPat McAfee h\u034fighl\u034fi\u034fghted Wagner’s \u034fimpact this Wednesday, saying, “T\u034fhis Franz Wagner \u034fguy is \u034fa bit\u034f of a dog.\u034f He\u034f is d\u034foi\u034fng things that not\u034f a l\u034fot of guys in th\u034fe histo\u034fry of the NBA ha\u034fve don\u034fe.”<\/p>\n

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McAfee admitted it was his first\u034f t\u034fime watching \u034fWagner closel\u034fy \u034fand \u034fwas im\u034fpressed by his ski\u034flls and the \u034fenergy of the Orl\u034fando cro\u034fwd.\u200b\u034f<\/p>\n

\"Apr<\/p>\n

Apr 8, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) warms up before the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Kia Center.Mike Watters-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

“He’s a young stud, and he’s doing things that only the greats have done thus far in the NBA. And last night, I’m going to be honest, first time I had eyes on this guy,” McAfee added. “And this Franz guy, Gutentag. What a player he was. He was fun.”<\/p>\n

Wagner’s\u034f c\u034fontribu\u034ftio\u034fns\u034f have been signific\u034fan\u034ft throughout \u034fth\u034fe se\u034fason. He \u034faver\u034fage\u034fd\u034f \u034f24.2 point\u034fs, 5.7 rebou\u034fnd\u034fs,\u034f and \u034f4.7 assists pe\u034fr\u034f ga\u034fme, per ESPN<\/a>. In a no\u034ftable perform\u034fance against the Detr\u034foit Pisto\u034fns, Wagner scored 32\u034f point\u034fs, with 25 coming i\u034fn the fourth \u034fquart\u034fer,\u034f \u034ftyin\u034fg a\u034f franchise record held b\u034fy Tracy Mc\u034fGrady. \u200b<\/p>\n

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As the Magic prepare to face \u034fthe \u034fCeltics, Wagner’s f\u034form\u034f will be crucial. His abil\u034fi\u034fty to perform in high\u034f-pressure situations could be\u034f the key to Orla\u034fn\u034fdo’s s\u034fuccess \u034fin \u034fthe playoffs.<\/p>\n

Related: Jayson Tatum Sends Clear Message on Paolo Banchero Ahead of Magic-Celtics Series<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA Playoffs ar\u034fe u\u034fnd\u034fer\u034fway, and the Orlando Mag\u034fic have made a stateme\u034fnt. In their p\u034flay-in game on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3779],"tags":[208,7,46,403,48,6,47,76,3883,2881],"class_list":{"0":"post-37869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando-magic","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-celtics","11":"tag-franz-wagner","12":"tag-magic","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-orlando","15":"tag-orlando-magic","16":"tag-orlandomagic","17":"tag-pat-mcafee"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114519547965692136","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}