Even during preseason games, fans expect to see at least a couple of big-name players on the floor. But Orlando Magic fans who expected to see their normal starting lineup in Thursday night’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats were sorely disappointed.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy started bench players Ryan Anderson, Chris Duhon, Marcin Gortat, Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick. Each player went on to play over 27 minutes.
Van Gundy later apologized to the fans who came to Amway Center to see the game.
“I want to say I’m sorry and I was wrong,” Van Gundy told Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel. “I thought I reasoned it through, but I can’t justify it. If it was the first game that somebody came out to see, you bring your kids … I’d be upset, too.”
Van Gundy said that the reason he sat his normal starters is because he had wanted to see how his bench played together.
The only Magic starters who saw the floor were Jameer Nelson (18 minutes) and Quentin Richardson (24 minutes).
Regular starters Dwight Howard, Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis sat out the entire game.
