{"id":226792,"date":"2026-04-10T20:43:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226792\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T20:43:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T20:43:07","slug":"wendell-carter-jr-seeks-more-consistency-for-orlando-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/226792\/","title":{"rendered":"Wendell Carter Jr. seeks more consistency for Orlando Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO \u2014 Growing up in Atlanta, Wendell Carter Jr.<\/a> played wide receiver on the gridiron before fully focusing on basketball.<\/p>\n

That experience, paired with wearing goggles to protect his eyes on the court in the past, makes wearing a mask for the broken nose he suffered Monday against the Pistons less of a foreign concept for the Magic<\/a> center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like the vibe I\u2019m getting from it,\u201d Carter said with a grin, referring to his youth football days. Inside the United Center after the shootaround ahead of Friday\u2019s game against the Bulls<\/a>, he added: \u201cIt\u2019s cool though. I\u2019m getting used to it. It\u2019s just another roadblock to my success.\u201d<\/p>\n

His success this season includes playing in at least 70 regular season games for the first time in his eight-year NBA<\/a> career.<\/p>\n

Having already played a career-high 76 games entering Friday, Carter\u2019s averaged 11.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2 assists in 29.4 minutes per night for Orlando<\/a>. He\u2019s proud of the accomplishment but understands there\u2019s still room for improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was something that\u2019s been a goal of mine for the past two or three years,\u201d he said. \u201cSo for it to actually come to life and me to able to be available for these games, it means a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now it\u2019s about being a little bit more consistent,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019ve had stretches throughout this year where I haven\u2019t been playing my best basketball whether that\u2019s from tiredness, injury or whatever. It\u2019s just about being better while I\u2019m out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he returned to Chicago for the second-to-last game of the regular season, Carter was asked about his relationship with the franchise that drafted him seventh overall in the 2018 draft. Last month marked five years since the Magic acquired him from the Bulls in a blockbuster trade that included former Orlando big Nikola Vucevic and marked the start of a new era for both franchises.<\/p>\n

Time has passed and a lot has changed since then. Vucevic was shipped off to Boston ahead of this year\u2019s trade deadline and earlier this week, Chicago fired the front office personnel that conducted the 2021 trade.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the day, it\u2019s still the city that took a chance on me coming out of college,\u201d Carter said. \u201cSo, I\u2019ll always have love for this city, this organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the guys that I played with that were here before I got traded aren\u2019t really here,\u201d he added. \u201cProbably like one or two guys, some of the training staff, but other than that, I don\u2019t really know anybody else that\u2019s here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Entering Friday\u2019s game against the Bulls, the Magic sat seventh in the East, one game behind No. 6 Atlanta and a game in front of No. 8 Philadelphia. Seeds 7-10 in each conference compete in the Play-In for the Nos. 7 and 8 seeds in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Orlando survived the Play-In to reach the playoffs a year ago before it fell in the first round to the Celtics. Carter and the rest of the group don\u2019t want to suffer the same fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can be as good or as bad throughout the whole season, then when the postseason comes, that\u2019s when you want to be at your best,\u201d Carter said. \u201cSo that\u2019s something that since I\u2019ve been in the league I\u2019ve always understood that. Now, a lot can happen throughout a year, but all that matters is you being at your best both mentally and physically when it comes to the postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a second season,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Orlando wraps up it\u2019s \u201cfirst\u201d season Sunday at Boston in the regular season finale when the Magic continue to make a postseason push in a crowded East.<\/p>\n

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Up next \u2026<\/p>\n

Magic at Celtics<\/p>\n

When: 6 p.m., Sunday, TD Garden<\/p>\n

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