{"id":249562,"date":"2026-04-28T12:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249562\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T12:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:59:08","slug":"nba-fans-react-to-orlando-magic-duos-stunning-pre-game-handshake-going-viral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249562\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA fans react to Orlando Magic duo\u2019s stunning pre-game handshake going viral"},"content":{"rendered":"

Orlando Magic<\/a> took a decisive step in their playoff series on Tuesday night, extending their lead over the Detroit Pistons<\/a> to 3-1 with a 94-88 victory.<\/p>\n

However, the attention was not focused solely on the outcome inside the Amway Center. Before tip-off, an unexpected moment between two Magic players quickly spread across social media.<\/p>\n

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Footage captured outside the locker room showed Goga Bitadze<\/a> and Noah Penda<\/a> sharing an unusual pre-game handshake, which immediately sparked debate online.<\/p>\n

Goga Bitadze and Noah Penda handshake leaves fans stunned\"Photo<\/p>\n

Photo by Ronald Cortes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The viral clip of Bitadze and Penda caught supporters off guard, largely due to the nature of the handshake. Many viewers suggested it appeared to reference drug use, which added to the intrigue surrounding the video.<\/p>\n

Even if that interpretation is misplaced, and both players were simply joking, the routine between teammates became a talking point across X. The reaction was swift, with fans expressing surprise at the gesture.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNot even a full year in the league and doing s\u2014 like that,\u201d one fan wrote about Penda.<\/p>\n

Another questioned, \u201cWhat does Noah Penda know about that life?\u201d while a third added, \u201cYou can definitely tell where that handshake came from\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Quiet night on court contrasts viral moment<\/p>\n

Despite dominating conversation online, both players had limited impact during the game itself. Bitadze featured for 13 minutes but struggled to influence proceedings in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n

He finished with two points, six rebounds and two blocks, while shooting just 25% from the field.<\/p>\n

Penda, meanwhile, did not feature at all. The young player has seen minimal involvement in the series, having only recorded minutes in Game 2 so far.<\/p>\n

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Read more:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Orlando Magic took a decisive step in their playoff series on Tuesday night, extending their lead over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5834,5833,109325,5812,139,141,1239,140,109327,109326],"class_list":["post-249562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-goga-bitadze","tag-magic-players","tag-noah-penda","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-magic","tag-orlando-news","tag-playoff-series","tag-unexpected-moment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}