Since the beginning of the 2009 calendar year and up until 2 weeks ago there was much anticipation for what seemed to be the inevitable NBA Finals. A meeting between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers seemed to be a foregone conclusion. The story lines surrounding this much anticipated and taken for granted series left some Hollywood scripts looking like an elementary student’s daily diary.

You had the two best players in the NBA that were going to be opposing each other in Kobe Bryant and Lebron James. One player was the 2009 MVP of the regular season and the other being arguably the best player in the world. These teams had the best records in the NBA during the regular season and were the overwhelming consensus of being the isolated elite pair due for a collision course in June.

Then along came the upstart Orlando Magic to spoil the party. This was a club that won 59 games during the regular season. Yet the pundits and experts still deemed them to be a year or two away and not ready for the big stage.

There was the unexpected struggle in the 1^st Round versus Philadelphia who entered the playoffs having lost 6 of their last 7 games to end the regular season. They proceeded to dispose of the Seventy-Sixers in 6 games. This series etched in stone the tag that has stuck with them throughout their playoff run and one that fits them like a glove. The Magic have defined resiliency in every sense of the word. It started in the close out Game 6 of this series when they won by 25 on the road without their suspended young superstar Dwight Howard.

Next up for the Magic was the defending World Champion Boston Celtics. Orlando held a 2-1 lead in the series with Game 4 being played at home. They were on the verge of taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series only to see a buzzer beating shot by Glen “Big Baby” Davis seemingly pull their heart right out of their chest to even the series at 2-2 and in the process relinquishing their home court advantage. The Celtics ran with that momentum winning Game 5 in Boston and seemingly took the will to win away from Orlando. The Magic was sure to fold the tent up and most likely in Game 6 was the popular opinion of many. Even the eternal optimists concluded that if they were able to salvage that game at home there was no way they were going to win Game 7 on the road versus the most historic franchise in NBA history. They proceeded to win Game 6 overcoming a 4^th quarter deficit and then hammered the Celtics by 20 in Game 7 on the road.

The Magic had now advanced to the Conference Finals with the monumental task of having to face the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland not only was the #1 overall seed in the NBA Playoffs, had lost only 2 games at home all season long, and had swept their first 2 playoff opponents winning by 10 points or more in all 8 contests. The popular opinion was Orlando might be able to crack through and win 1 game at home during the series and ride off into the sunset being complacent with the fact they had a successful 2008-2009 campaign. However the Orlando team and coaching staff never received that memo. Orlando ruined the party that the NBA Executives, media, and neutral observers had hoped to see. Orlando prevailed in 6 games and the dream series that many had anticipated between the Lakers and Cavaliers dissolved quicker than General Motors stock. If not for a miraculous 3-point shot at the buzzer in Game 2 by Lebron James you can make a legitimate case that Orlando should have swept the series. Orlando overcame a 16-point deficit in Game 1 to win. That was then followed in Game 2 by overcoming a 23-point deficit only to seemingly once again get their heart torn out on a buzzer beating shot. This series final story line was resiliency prevailed over invincibility.

At the time of this writing the Orlando Magic trail the Los Angeles Lakers 3-1 in the NBA Finals. The Magic’s resiliency has been put to a test and will continue to be put to a test for however long this series goes. Orlando dropped 2 of the 3 games in overtime. In Game 2 they rebounded with a great effort after being soundly beaten by 25 points in Game 1. They missed a golden opportunity to gain a split in the series when rookie Courtney Lee missed a lay-up at the end of regulation time. The Lakers then proceeded to prevail in overtime. Once again the pundits thought this would be too much heartbreak for the inexperienced Magic team to overcome versus a team with vast playoff experience. The resiliency continued in Game 3 with a Magic win. The Magic had Game 4 in the palm of their hands with their 23-year old superstar going to the foul line with 11 seconds to go and a 3-point lead. Dwight Howard proceeded to miss both free throws and leave the door ajar. The veteran Derek Fisher no stranger to hitting big shots at this time of year did exactly that. Fisher tied the game with 4 seconds to go by hitting a contested 3-pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime. The Lakers once again escaped from the brink of defeat to prevail in the extra session.

This resilient bunch looks like they finally may succumb. The overriding factor being that they are facing a team that is been on this big stage before. Their star player having won 3 NBA Championships already and was making his 7^th appearance in the NBA Finals. Their veteran guard who hit the 3-point tying shot to send the game to overtime in Game 4 also has 3 rings in his possession. Their head coach on the verge of winning an unprecedented 10^th World Championship.

Does the Magic have one more drop of resiliency left to continue on? Have they finally lost the will to fight back after another gut wrenching defeat? Has adversity finally slowed the heartbeat of a team that had the look of one that would survive for an infinite time? The answer to all of these questions might be yes but can you really blurt that response out confidently and emphatically? The story lives on for at least one more game. Good stories are always dominated by happy endings. This tale may be in the minority in regards to the last chapter. However that doesn’t take away from the quality of the book. You can rest assure of one thing. The next time you hear the word resiliency used to describe a sports team you can’t help but think of the 2008-2009 Orlando Magic. No matter win or lose that fitting description will be forever cast upon the memory of their remarkable ride.