It’s been eight months since Alex Martins stepped down as Orlando Magic CEO and moved into a new role as vice chair of the organization, signaling the start of a new leadership structure for the franchise.

But don’t get it twisted.

Martins, who served as CEO for 14 years, still does plenty of work for Orlando while serving as a senior advisor to the Magic board of directors and as a resource to team executives, including president of business operations Charlie Freeman and president of basketball operations Jeff Weltman.

“I’m probably working more than I thought I would be,” Martins said Saturday during the Orlando Wine Festival at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando. “To think that we were going to step back a little bit was probably a little blind faith there, but I’m loving it.

“I’m still involved with the DeVos family, still involved with the board (and) work very closely with Charlie and Jeff,” he added.

Martins also still attends games at Kia Center and has watched closely as Jamahl Mosley‘s squad has battled through a second consecutive injury-plagued season.

Ahead of Orlando’s home matchup with the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, the Magic sat 1 1/2 games back of No. 6 Philadelphia but only half-a-game ahead of No. 8 Miami.

“I’m really proud of them,” Martins said about the Magic. “Obviously we all struggle with the fact that we can’t get healthy, and we need to get healthy. Hopefully, that’ll come sometime soon. It’s really been two years since we had our entire roster together, right?

“But I’m proud of them and the way that they’ve grown together,” he added. “They’re such a close unit. They love playing with each other. They love being in each other’s company, not just when they’re playing basketball or practicing, but in the evening together or off the court. They’re a great group of young men … and we’re getting better and better. Hopefully we get healthy at the right time so that we compete at the right time come playoffs.”

As the Magic have gone through the evolution of shifting from a team pushing for a better draft pick to battling for a stronger spot in the NBA playoffs over the years, the reputation of both of the franchise and the city of Orlando has reformed back into a location that could host major events for the league once again.

That includes NBA All-Star Weekend, which the Greater Orlando Sports Commission announced in early January it would be bidding for to host in 2030.

Martins, who shared he’s played a leading role in the local organizing committee that’s working to attract the event back to Orlando, said the group will submit it’s bid in April and mentioned a three-year window to host.

“That’s been a large percentage of my time, working with that group and working with the NBA to prepare our bid, and our goal is to bring NBA All-Star back to Orlando,” he said. “Hopefully we can do that sometime between ‘28 and ’30.”

The city has hosted the league’s All-Star Game twice before: Last in 2012 and first in 1992.

This year’s event took place in Los Angeles at the Intuit Dome, the new home of the LA Clippers. Next year’s will take place in Phoenix from Feb. 19-21, 2027. From there, no future locations have been set by the league yet.

“We’ve been fortunate enough that we’ve held it in Orlando twice,” Martin said. “But the event has grown tremendously since 2012. We just got back from LA and it’s not just All-Star weekend anymore. It’s not just the All-Star game anymore. Over the last couple of years, it’s been like All-Star week.

“But now, LA showed us they really made it a year-long event, preparing for it and doing things for their community to uplift the community because of All-Star coming there,” he added. “That lasted an entire year. So, it’s a much bigger event than the last time it was in Orlando.”

Although it’s been almost 15 years since Orlando last hosted All-Star festivities, that doesn’t mean it’ll just be handed the chance to host a third time.

There is a variety of criteria that the league looks at when evaluating host cities for All-Star Weekend.

That criteria includes the following:

* Infrastructure, including ample hotel rooms, facilities, etc.;

* World-class event venues with the necessary amenities;

* Proven ability to organize large-scale events on a global stage;

* Interest by the city and fans in hosting the game;

* And city support in services like transportation and security.

The league works with all interested teams to help them meet the necessary criteria.

Martins shared some of the feedback Orlando has received from the league in its efforts putting together a bid.

“It’s a much bigger undertaking, but I’m proud of our community,” he said. “The NBA has already said this to us: As a community, we’ve collaborated so well thus far in putting our bid together that they say that amongst most of the other cities that they work with that this community comes together in a way that they haven’t seen in most other cities. So, we’re confident, but we’re not over-confident.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he added. “We’ve got to make sure that we submit the best bid and put our best foot forward, but hopefully sometime in that window between ’28 and ’30, we’ll have All-Star back in Orlando.”

Jason Beede can be reached at jbeede@orlandosentinel.com

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Magic vs. Wizards

When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Kia Center

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