It didn’t take too long for six-year-old Goga Bitadze to decide that he hated basketball.

Even taking one step on that court felt like stepping on an emotional minefield. One wrong move and his coach would explode. And make him run. A lot. There was so much running, and for what? He already knew that he messed up. His heart would hurt from the mistake he had just made; did that mean his legs had to as well? How do the other kids not pass out midway through these running sessions? Do they find it fun? Do they find basketball fun?

It was hard to imagine. But not nearly as hard as it was to even process that basketball ran in his blood. Just his luck; out of all things, why did his father have to play this stupid sport? He could have chosen to play rugby, or wrestling, or football — actually, scratch football. That didn’t go so well the last time he tried it; it’s not easy having to focus on a ball perpetually on the ground when you’re taller than every kid you face.

But it had to be more fun than basketball. None of this was even remotely fun. And that coach, man. What a real jerk he was. How could someone punish six-year-olds the way he did? All that running and yelling, it was far too much for these kids to handle. Was that even something you could even do to a group of six-year-olds?

“It was hard for me at the beginning,” Bitadze told Orlando Magic HQ. “I didn't really enjoy it, but I was tall so I had to play.”

Oh well. Everyone noticed how good he was at basketball, so he knew it wouldn’t hurt to just tough it out. Besides, these punishments weren’t the end of the world or anything. No matter how bad a day could get, he could still go home to see his mom and his auntie. Or rather, they would come home to see him. Every day he could feel their exhaustion from working yet another grueling 14-hour day at the grocery store. They probably didn’t get to take that much money home again.

That’s just kind of how it was. Life was no walk in the park for the Bitadze family. It wasn’t for any of his neighbors in Sagarejo, Georgia, either. It’s not like anyone’s getting fed by a silver spoon while the soldiers around them are eating bullets fighting in the war. To make ends meet during these tough times, families like Bitadze’s developed a habit of relentless work with tireless effort. 

Bitadze couldn’t help but take note. 

It seemed like his mom and auntie, the people he describes as “his two moms,” would stop at nothing to put food on the table for him and his family. For all of that hard work, he thought it would be nice to give them a reason to at least take their feet off the gas.

“I think that’s where I get my hard work and passion from,” Bitdaze said. “It really made me appreciate my family. That’s why I’m so close with them.”

So maybe in the grand scheme of things, this basketball thing wasn’t so bad. If Bitadze’s mom and auntie can work hard to maybe provide for the family, then so can he. And again, he was good. He was slow and lanky, sure, but man, could he play. He had the basketball IQ that coaches hope to find in some professional players. Maybe, he thought, if he could continue giving it his all in games, working out and staying as healthy as he can, his family may not have to put on grocery store uniforms again.

At a certain point, basketball practices started to seem less like torture sessions. At the very least, he started to understand it more. Bitadze soon realized that the coach was only hard on the kids to help them fix their mistakes, which was his way of helping to raise them to be not just good basketball players, but good human beings.

And speaking of the other kids, a couple of them became a second family to him. They were people who grew up the same way he did: always having to fight for every opportunity. Having people in his corner who understand his personal life felt like a weight being lifted, especially when they shared the good and bad moments. It felt so good to be able to experience life together, no matter how bleak it may have seemed.

It was through those moments that Bitadze fell in love with basketball.

“Those friends being with me, struggling together and working together and gaining trophies together slowly put love in me towards basketball,” Bitadze said.

Like most people struck by true love, Bitadze didn’t want to be anywhere without his favorite sport. By the time he turned 15 years old, those feelings grew to where he longed to start a brand new life with basketball…but in a different country. He loved his home and his family, but he knew he could possibly change their entire lives by playing professional basketball elsewhere. 

And so that’s what he did. 

With the blessing and trust of his family, Bitadze left home and started playing basketball in Serbia. It was there where Bitadze received his first basketball checks, which he used to help keep his family afloat. But something didn’t feel right. As amazing as it was to be able to help his family, Bitadze wished that they were sitting right next to him in Serbia. Going through this basketball journey alone was almost never easy, but he didn’t let it stop him. He kept working hard at his game so that his family could keep the electricity on long enough to watch him. 

His family wasn’t the only ones with eyes on him. Bitadze had quickly gained the attention of the prestigious Mega Basket, the Serbian club who turned Nikola Jokic and Ivica Zubac into NBA players. It was a match made in heaven, but there’s no way Heaven could feel the way he felt after signing that contract to play for them. 

Soon, the whole country started watching his every move on the court. 

He didn’t stop there. A new market came calling for him: the United States. No one can pass up an opportunity to play in the NBA, so Bitadze put his name in for the 2019 NBA Draft. A few months later, he moved to Indiana to start his NBA career with the Pacers, who were excited to welcome their newest first-round pick.

Eventually, those basketball checks helped retire the family that believed in him. The only time that his mom and auntie go to the grocery store anymore is when they need to buy food, and they do so using money they no longer have to work tooth and nail for.

“They have done their job,” Bitadze said. “I’m so blessed they don’t have to work another day in their life.”

Bitadze’s life is certainly much different from what it used to be. He’s living comfortably in Orlando now, a far cry from his family having to spend their entire days working for what little change they can get. It’s a dream come true for Bitadze and his family now that he no longer has to worry about the struggles he did as a child.

In fact, he remembers those struggles fondly. Because without them, he wouldn’t be where he is now.

“Even though it wasn’t fun at the time, when I look at it now I really am proud that I came from there,” Bitadze said.

But now that his life, his family’s life and his living situations are so much different than they were before, has Bitadze changed along with them?

To him, not at all. He’s the same person he was back in Sagarejo, and he’ll keep being that person for as long as he’s in the United States.

“I’m just same old, same old Goga,” Bitadze said.

…

Even as he was fading in and out of sleep, Bitadze could still hear the buzzing of his phone next to him.

And it wouldn’t stop buzzing, either. This must have been important. Bitadze slowly opened his heavy eyes and began searching for his phone. He felt the phone in his hand and took a quick look at who was calling him. Even through blurry, post-nap vision, he could make out the name on his phone. Bitadze’s heart skipped a beat. This must have been important.

Once he answered the call, he was met with the unmistakable, deep voice of Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan. Bitadze’s ears began to focus on Buchanan’s words as if they were a boxer avoiding a flurry of punches from their opponent. But there was no dodging the news that Buchanan would give him: Bitadze had been waived by the Indiana Pacers.

He dropped the phone from his hands and closed his eyes again. It would be the first time he would do so as an ex-Pacer. As he drifted back to sleep, he exhaled a loud, impassioned, sigh of relief.

“I was like, ‘God bless!’” Bitadze said. “Thank you!”

Truth be told, this outcome was never outside the realm of possibility. Bitadze had been more aware of that than he likely wanted to be. Having to beat out one or two other players at your position was one thing, but around five? Some of which were recent acquisitions? That didn’t seem likely. The Pacers didn’t think so, either. They didn’t even let him see the court all that often to begin with. 

This divorce was the happiest possible result for both teams. The Pacers wanted to invest in other players, and Bitadze wanted to invest in a team that wanted to play him.

Then a new question arose: Who was that team going to be? There never seemed to be a line of interested NBA teams waiting outside Bitadze’s door. Maybe there was an opportunity for him back in Europe. Wait, that sounded like a really good idea. He already thought about doing so after his days in Indiana were over. Why not go back to the same league that turned him into a star?

Those half-asleep thoughts were interrupted an hour later by the buzzing of his phone again. Bitadze again opened his eyes and read the name on his phone. And just like the call an hour before, that name put a chokehold on his attention. 

“‘Orlando can sign you,’” Bitadze said his agent told him. “[The Magic] were like, ‘How’s Goga? What is he thinking?’”

Sure, the Magic seemed to be allergic to winning at that time. Not exactly the place to go if you wanted to take home a championship trophy. But they were well-known across the league for their contagious energy and insatiable spirit. Few people knew that better than Bitadze’s agent.

“‘It’s a great place for you,’” Bitadze remembers his agent telling him.

In a way, those strong vibes made playing for Orlando much more attractive than some of the teams with better records. Any team can win a championship if they’re good enough. But few teams could ever achieve the level of chemistry that the young Magic seemed to master.

So without much thought, he gave his agent his answer.

“I was like, ‘Deal,’” Bitadze said. “I trust my agents, and I’ve been happy since then.”

He wasn’t kidding. From the very moment he put his phone down, the thoughts about starting a brand new life in Orlando began to fill his head. He couldn’t wait to feel the snug warmth of the Florida sun envelop his body every day. There wasn’t a chance he would ever feel that in Indiana. How fun it must be to play basketball in weather that nice.

Wait, that’s right…he might actually get to play.

He wasn’t going to have to beat out so many other bigs the way he had to in Indiana. In fact, they had just traded away Mo Bamba, which meant that there was an available roster spot. Could that be his? Or did they have that spot reserved for someone else?

It didn’t matter. Whatever role the Magic were going to give him, Bitadze decided to embrace. 

“It was so hard in Indy that I was like, ‘Okay, it can’t get worse than that,’” Bitadze said. “So I was like, ‘I’m going to work out, I can get in better shape easier in the sunny weather. At least that was good.”

And it was good. Central Florida’s world-famous warmth is not at its most apparent in February, but the upper-60s Bitadze experienced upon his arrival still felt better on his skin than any of Indiana’s snowstorms ever did.

Even still, he did end up experiencing the warmth he’d been hoping for right away. But not from the weather — from his brand new teammates and coaches, who greeted him as if he had been wearing pinstripes for years.

“[I had] played three and a half years and haven’t played any big basketball that put my name on the map or something,” Bitadze said. “But everybody was treating me like they cared and for the team I was important.”

Was there something special they saw in him? Or was that just the type of people they were? Regardless, there was just something different about this group of guys in the way that they worked and built each other up that was unlike anyone he had ever played with.

“Even though their record wasn’t good, they [had] trust for the team, trust for the system, for the players,” Bitadze said. “It was insane how highly they were talking about everybody.”

Maybe he was going to be more comfortable here than he thought. But he still had to earn his keep. Yeah, he was going to start off as the third-string center again. At least this time, sitting on the bench actually felt good. He even got to leave it on occasion. And every time he got that chance, he forced his coaches and opponents to notice how good that big man wearing No. 35 for the Magic was playing.

“I didn’t have high expectations, I’ll be honest with you,” Bitadze said. “All I could do was control my work ethic and I think I did that really well.”

He did. Well enough, at least, for the Magic to exercise their team option and welcome him back for the following season. He got the news while he was back home with his family in Georgia. He was happy. His family was happy. So much of the anxiety that took residence in his head for the last half-decade just disappeared. Like Magic. For the first time in his NBA career, Bitadze felt like he didn’t have to play for his next chance. 

Maybe after all of the work he put into attempting to get any NBA team to notice him, someone finally did.

“It made me … take a breath … I’m going back in there. ” Bitadze said. “It’s so good to be with my teammates again. I really got close to basically everyone on the team.”

It seemed as though they valuable him right back. Sure, he didn’t play all that much, but after almost four years in the league, he understood what it took to win. And that understanding was very important to have on a team with a bunch of young players yearning for a winning season. 

He had several older teammates help show him the way during his younger years. Why couldn’t he serve that role for his new teammates?

Bitadze didn’t see a reason why not. He carved a niche on the Magic as the savvy veteran who his teammates looked up to, growing comfortable in a role for the first time as an NBA player. But little did he know that this wasn’t just the end of his journey in finding his place. It was only the beginning of his brand new, unexpected role that would help turn this group of kids that just loved basketball and each other into a group of ruthless, merciless defenders. 

…

Fourteen seconds remained in the game. Kelly Olynyk walked over to the sideline, preparing to make the inbound pass that would determine the result of this match. Thousands of anxious eyes locked onto Olynyk, including the various players sitting on the Magic’s bench, who still couldn’t fathom the circus shot that Paolo Banchero had just made to put their team on top by one point. But the game was far from over. If they couldn’t stop the Jazz from scoring a single bucket in the next 14 seconds, Banchero’s incredible shot would have meant nothing.

The screech of the referee’s whistle captivated the attention of every single person in Delta Center. Nobody would dare focus on anything else until they heard the final buzzer.

Olynyk noticed Jordan Clarkson darting from the nail to the logo and carefully bounced the ball to him. The clock started ticking. The game was back on. Clarkson held onto the ball for about a second before tossing a pass to Talen Horton-Tucker at the opposite wing before receiving the ball back and bolting to the rim.

Jalen Suggs abandoned Horton-Tucker at the wing and killed Clarkson’s drive with a little help from Banchero. But without wasting a beat, Clarkson launched the ball to a now wide-open Horton-Tucker, who caught it and fired what could be the shot that would earn the Jazz the win.

And it clanged off the back of the rim.

A scrum of basketball players on both teams formed at the nail, where the ball seemed to be headed. And like a Pro Bowl wide receiver rising up to catch an overthrown ball, Wendell Carter Jr. leapt up, contorted his body in mid-air and snatched the ball, maintaining possession the entire time even while falling to the ground.

The Magic’s bench roared. A few seconds still remained, but the game was all but over. The outcome was completely in Orlando’s hands thanks to Carter’s rebound. Banchero and Jonathan Isaac went over to Carter to enjoy this seemingly-ensured victory with the man who gave it to them. Or at least, that’s what it appeared to be. It did seem a little odd that Carter would celebrate his game-altering rebound by running away from his teammates, crouching down and clutching his left hand.

The Magic quickly realized what was going on. There was no more celebration. In its place arose fear and dread over the health of their starting center.

“Dell is a tough guy,” Bitadze said. “He’s not just going to be in pain for no reason.”

He wasn’t. Shortly afterward, the team found out that Carter had fractured the third metacarpal in his left hand at some point during the rebound that gave the Magic a hand in their victory over their Jazz. They couldn’t anticipate that hand would be Carter’s own.

“[We] knew it was kind of bad,” Bitadze said. “And then we got the news, and it was bad.”

Carter would require surgery on his hand and be forced to miss the next three weeks of action. A tough break for a team that just started November with a 3-2 record. His absence left a very obvious hole at starting center. Even the other centers on the team knew that few people could truly replace what Carter brought at the position.

“It’s a huge hit,” Bitadze said. “Starting center, great player, the heart of the team on defense, offense, both ways.”

Practice the next day was tough. It’s hard for it not to be the day after one of your most important teammates goes down with injury. Questions about who on the team would fill Carter’s gigantic Nike sneakers persisted throughout the entire day. They did have a couple of candidates. Moe Wagner had been an admirable backup at the position up to that point. Banchero played center over the summer while representing Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, and he did a good job despite it not being his normal position. Maybe they could even turn to the third-string Bitadze, who, at that point, was only called upon when it was absolutely necessary.

All three could do it. But the Magic’s new starting center had to come as close to replicating Carter’s production as possible. Such a responsibility was one that neither of the three had much NBA experience in. So who would it be? That question had no clear answer until head coach Jamahl Mosley announced his decision.

The new starting center for the Magic would be Goga Bitadze.

“You’ve got to be ready for those kinds of things,” Bitadze said. “[Injuries] happen. It’s bad. We don’t want it to happen, but it happens and you got to step up when your name is called.”

How long would that call last?  He at first assumed this start would just be a one-time thing, especially if the Magic’s next game against the Lakers went as many experts predicted it would. What was Bitadze even supposed to do against Anthony Davis? Not even the best defenders in the world could stop the nine-time all-star from scoring at will. It wasn’t exactly an easy first assignment for the fledgling starting center.

But Bitadze didn’t care about what was easy. All that mattered was getting the Magic a victory by any means necessary. Once it came time for the game to begin, Bitadze made his way to the logo on Amway Center’s court, looked at Davis and leapt up to catch the opening tip.

Throughout the game, Davis hardly had any room to breathe. From well-timed boxouts to quick navigation off of screens, Bitadze made sure Davis had to earn every point he got. Sure, Davis did earn 28 of them. You can’t become a superstar if you can’t find a way to get shots out of nowhere. But the Magic outscored the Lakers by 27 points whenever Bitadze was on the court, in large part due to his 10 points on 3-for-6 shooting. Those contributions were enough to secure a convincing, 19-point victory for the Magic.

“I think it went well,” Bitadze said.

It went well enough for Mosley to start him at center for the next game. And the next game. And the game after that. And so on and so forth until it was all but assumed that Bitadze was the team’s permanent starting center until Carter was ready to return. And he proved himself very valuable to the Magic in Carter’s absence. Despite not having much experience as an NBA starter, he had one thing that most coaches look for: a clear understanding of his niche and how he can best contribute.

“If I want to be on the court and have my team win, I have to play defense,” Bitadze said. “I’m not that guy who’s going to take 20 shots, 10-15 shots a game. So how do I make an impact on the game? [Defense] is the first thing, so [I] just pay attention to that and put a lot of effort into that.”

Bitadze’s mindset is in lockstep with the rest of his team’s. He said that 95% of a typical Magic practice involves working on defensive drills and technique, and that the team pays special attention to that end of the floor. They’ve completely bought into Mosley’s vision of becoming a ballhandler’s worst nightmare, especially Bitadze.

“I think I can defend anybody at the highest level,” Bitadze said. “That’s all I gotta do.”

He was never a poor defender or anything. Bitadze always knew when to commit to the ball and had good timing when blocking shots. But he said that spending his first healthy summer in a long time playing for Team Georgia’s first-ever FIBA World Cup Team helped turn him into a much more instinctive, intuitive defender than he had been before. 

Mosley’s promotion allowed Bitadze to show the league how good he’d become on defense. People started to take notice. So did statisticians. Soon Bitadze garnered a reputation across the league as one of its best defenders, both subjectively and offensively, per estimated plus-minus (EPM). 

And Bitadze had no idea. 

“The only thing I know is that as a team, we are defending really well,” Bitadze said. “That’s all that really matters, not individual stats. But it’s good to know [I’m] doing well.”

Bitadze may have undersold how good his team has been defending. The Magic have been consistently putting together one of the NBA’s best defensive ratings for a while now, thanks in no small part to Bitadze’s efforts. But he’s certainly not alone. He said that perhaps the biggest catalyst for the Magic’s newfound defensive success is Jalen Suggs, who EPM ranks as the best individual defender in the NBA at the time of this article’s publication.

“I think that guy’s a dog,” Bitadze said. “People who don’t have him as All-NBA defensive first team, they’re wrong.”

Suggs possesses a contagious work ethic, especially on defense. His teammates see the way he hustles on the court, dives for loose balls and reads the most complex defenses as if they were children’s books. He can do all of that on the court and dominate his opponents each time. And if he can, his teammates understand, then so can they.

“You see him make those hustle plays [and think] you have to do the same,” Bitadze said. “He pushes you every single day.”

The Magic have elite defenders all over their roster, from rookies to veterans, from role players to superstars, from the smallest of guards to the largest of centers. They will not stop at stopping players, even if they’re burdened by injury or large offensive responsibility.

“Jonathan Isaac, when he’s healthy, is the best defender in the league by far,” Bitadze said. “And so many other guys, you have Paolo and Franz, they’re superstars and they play amazing defense. You don’t see a whole lot of superstars that play both ways on the floor.”

That’s all part of Mosley’s plan. If you want to play Orlando Magic basketball, then you have to be a cold-blooded, ravenous defender willing to do whatever it takes to stop a bucket. No exceptions. That’s how the Magic have built their roster, and it’s how they’ll continue to play.

“Our coaches are so locked into it,” Bitadze said. “They’re paying so much attention to defense. That’s the type of team we’re going to be.”

Pretty soon, all of that time the Magic spent crafting their defensive identity would pay off in ways they never once thought possible — with Bitadze at the starting center of it all.

…

Paolo Banchero found himself in a very unfortunate position for any ballhandler to be in. His back faced the basket as he posted up Alex Caruso, looking for an opportunity to score. But as Nikola Vucevic ran to help Caruso with just under five seconds left in the tied game, Banchero realized that opportunity wasn’t going to come. Banchero had to let something off. Flanked by those two Bulls defenders, Banchero jumped, rotated a perfect 180-degrees in mid-air and fired a shot that somehow found the rim, putting the Magic on top by two.

A second and a half was all that was left. Caruso inbounded the ball to Patrick Williams, but the ball never left Williams’ hands before the final buzzer sounded. The game was over. The Magic had won.

It was a very ugly win. But a win is a win, and it was a win that Bitadze’s 15 points and 11 rebounds while starting at center helped make happen. It tipped the Magic’s perfectly-balanced, 5-5 record into a winning one, and the team was very eager to tip it even further in that direction.

They did just that at the end of that week with another victory against the Chicago Bulls. But this win didn’t feel so good either. The Magic began the second half of that game ahead by 15 points and ended up escaping a loss by the skin of their teeth: not the most ideal of circumstances.

Enough was enough. No more of these lucky wins. The Magic needed a victory that they could feel good about. But it didn’t seem like they’d get that type of win after their upcoming game against the Indiana Pacers. The league’s best offense. The very same team that casted Bitadze away last season. This was not going to be an easy win.

As soon as the Magic touched the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, everyone knew that this game was about to be a bloodbath between two teams eager to stake their claims as true threats. But what no one anticipated was how one-sided that bloodbath would be. Four quarters and 128 points of flawless Magic basketball later, the game was over. 

It’s hard not to feel good about thrashing one of the league’s better young teams the way the Magic just did.

How’d the Magic do it? How were the Magic able to win and keep winning? It doesn’t matter. They can’t keep winning forever. Before the defensively-challenged Pacers, they had just narrowly escaped the lowly Bulls twice. After that, they defeated the struggling Toronto Raptors and the Denver Nuggets without Jamal Murray. There’s no way their streak would continue. Certainly not against the Boston Celtics, the best team in the NBA. The Magic were all but dead men walking against those guys.

Amway Center erupted in applause after that game ended. The Magic won that game too. Convincingly. There were no more excuses anymore. The Magic had become a real threat in this league and were looking forward to winning their next game.

They won that game. And the game after that. And so on and so forth until they had amassed a nine-game winning streak. A nine-game winning streak. That’s unheard of. Not since 2011 have the Orlando Magic had a streak this massive. At no point in franchise history have they won more consecutive games. The league took notice of what was going on in Orlando. And so did the Magic.

“We don't see [us] losing to anybody,” Bitadze said. “We keep talking about [how] obviously, [losing is] going to happen. Hopefully not, but it's going to happen. But when we look at the matches [and] we're looking at the teams, we don't really see [us] losing to anybody.”

The streak ultimately snapped on Saturday with a loss to the Brooklyn Nets. But they didn’t lose the respect and attention they earned along the way. They’re still one of the best teams in the world. They haven’t received that epithet in years. They’re still close to the top of the Eastern Conference and would have home court advantage if the playoffs began today. The Magic have graduated from a group of teenagers to the envy of the league. And they don’t plan to stop making teams jealous of what they’re building in Orlando.

“[Winning] just makes you more hungry,” Bitadze said. “We’re not satisfied.”

Well, there is some satisfaction inside of Amway Center. Bitadze’s play has seemed to win over his coaches. Yes, the Magic’s real starting center is currently out with injury. But the Magic believe that Bitadze has done a good enough job in Carter’s place to keep him as a starter. Bitadze doesn’t take that trust for granted.

“[My coaches] have more confidence in me than I do in myself,” Bitadze said. “And that is amazing.”

Knowing that Bitadze’s coaches trust him helps him believe that he’s not out of place as a starter. If they think he’s worth it, then maybe he really is. It’s not like he’s gotten many chances to feel that way during the three-and-a-half years he rode the Pacers’ bench.

“I’ve learned that I’m actually a good basketball player,” Bitadze said. “I haven't played in so long that [I] kind of forget that [I’m] able to do some good things on the basketball court.”

But Bitadze’s confidence in himself as an NBA starter is no longer up in the air. He’s known he was good at basketball ever since he started using it to feed his family. Now he has confirmation that he can devour some of the best players in the world on the defensive end.

“Maybe this sounds arrogant, but I didn't feel like I cannot compete with these guys on other teams,” Bitadze said. “I do not [believe] I don’t belong here.”

To Bitadze, being named a starter is one of the biggest blessings he’s ever received in the league. Not because of the honor that comes with it, but because of the clarity. For the last four years, Bitadze would warm up before games not knowing if he would even see the court. Now the only thing he doesn’t know is whether or not he’ll win the opening tip-off.

“This is easy to be honest,” Bitadze said. “It’s easier than not knowing when you’re going to go in and you have to be always ready, and now you know you’re starting. There’s no pressure. You know you’re going to play, and I’m happy I know I’m going to play.”

Plenty of people can’t stand knowing ahead of time that everything they do will directly impact the outcome of a given game. Not Bitadze. It actually makes him more excited to play and makes heading to Amway Center so much more fun.

“I'm going in every single day in the arena and I'm like, ‘Okay, today was an amazing drive to the arena,’” Bitadze said. “Like, I'm gonna play basketball, NBA basketball, like, an NBA basketball game.”

It’s one thing to start an NBA basketball game. It’s another thing entirely to start a game on a team as impressive and as fun to play for as the Magic.

“And then you get to win too,” Bitadze said, “to have amazing teammates and have amazing coaches.”

But he didn’t receive that starting spot for free. He kept it through hard work and effort, and that’s how he plans on keeping it going forward. That’s just what he’s done for his entire basketball career and that’s why his coaches keep playing him.

“I don't think somebody's gonna say that in one of the games I wasn’t ready, or I didn’t give it my all,” Bitadze said. “I try to give 100% every [time] I step on the floor, trying to do everything I can to help the team win. I don’t think I can embrace [being a starter] more than that.”

Magic fans have also noticed Bitadze’s effort on the court. They’ve done so from the very beginning. He’s become somewhat of a fan-favorite ever since he first came to Orlando, and their love has only grown ever since he became a starter. 

“I can’t let the people down,” Bitadze said. “They believe in me, they appreciate me, it’s amazing.”

Bitadze loves them all right back.

“The city has really embraced me and shown me love,” Bitadze said. “[I’m] just trying to give it back.”

One thing Bitadze loves about Magic fans is how well they know basketball. He’s noticed the way some Magic fans understand the game by how they talk about the little things he does that don’t show up on the stats sheet. And he’s impressed with their knowledge of the game every single time.

“I have people telling me, ‘Oh, you just hit a great screen there,’ or ‘That was a great rebound,’ or ‘That was great help-side defense,’” Bitadze said. “Not a lot of fans know about this.”

Great teammates. Great coaches. Great fans. That’s who Bitadze said he’s surrounded himself with over the last year, and he’s gotten to do so in a city that’s lived up to every one of his expectations. Whether it’s a quick bite at The Salty Donut or a drive to Amway Center, Bitadze enjoys Orlando and keeps finding new reasons to never want to leave it.

“I wish I could stay here as long as I can walk, but I don't think that's how he works every single time,” Bitadze said. “But I hope I stay here as long as I can and it's always gonna stay a bright spot in my life for sure.”

As bright as the Central Florida sun. And it’s been especially bright considering where he was before. It wasn’t even too long ago when Bitadze just a little kid in Sagarejo who disliked basketball until he learned it could help give his family the money they needed to survive. Somehow along that journey, he found himself starting at center for the best basketball league in the world.

“I get to start an NBA game,” Bitadze said. “I don't think you get better than that.”

Bitadze would cherish any opportunity to start on an NBA roster. But he’s definitely thankful it was the Magic who gave him that call during that afternoon nap he took in February.

“What can I say?” Bitadze said. “It’s all love to the city of Orlando.”