Aaron Gordon walked into the Orlando Magic locker room Wednesday night with a cast covering his left foot and a crutch underneath each arm.
But he also had a smile on his face as he greeted some of his teammates.
Just five days earlier, he underwent surgery in Charlotte, N.C., to insert a screw into the fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot.
The pain in his foot has disappeared.
“It was a successful surgery,” Gordon said. “I’m on the road to recovery now.”
Gordon grew up in San Jose, Calif., and followed the Golden State Warriors as a youngster.
He would’ve loved to have been able to play for the Magic against the Warriors on Wednesday. Instead, he had to settle for watching from afar.
“It’s really not fun, but it’s OK,” Gordon said.
“It’s just what it is, and that’s how you’ve got to accept it. You can’t wish it to be anything that it’s not.”
Magic coach Jacque Vaughn, speaking before tipoff, praised Gordon.
“I love his game,” Vaughn said. “There’s different segments of the game that are being pushed forward, I think, and I think energy-and-effort guys who bring it every night [are one of them]. He fits into that category. That’s a skill these days now, where that used to be the 15th guy on the bench. That’s a skill. He brings that on an everyday basis, and we miss that. We miss his versatility of guarding multiple positions. . . .
“So I look forward to him coming back, and I’ve told him I miss him, too.”
Finding a balance
With all the talk about Victor Oladipo trying to shake off the rust that accumulated during his six-week layoff and trying to acclimate to eight new teammates, it’s easy to forget that Oladipo still is attempting to get used to playing point guard and running a team’s offense.
Oladipo only started playing the point-guard position last season, as a Magic rookie.
Oladipo, a natural shooting guard, is learning how to be aggressive and get his teammates involved simultaneously.
“It’s something that I’m getting used to doing,” Oladipo said. “It’s something I’ve got to get better at. But, at the end of the day, I’m just going to continue to keep working hard at it. It’s another challenge for me, and I’m looking forward to overcoming it. I’m just going to go out there and play hard. When I’m passive, it’s hard for me to play well.”
Oladipo entered Wednesday night’s game averaging 3.1 assists and 3.0 turnovers.
“I just think overall he’s got to find a balance,” Vaughn said. “He’s trying to find himself on the floor, and he wants to do the right thing for his teammates. So sometimes that thought process throughout the course of the game can be a hindrance. . . .
“So there’s a balance that he’s still working through, because he hasn’t been on the court with his teammates.”
Warriors’ guards
Oladipo expected to spend at least part of Wednesday night attempting to slow down the Warriors’ superb backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, who entered the game shooting a combined 79 for 184 (42.9 percent) from 3-point range.
Oladipo had the chance to watch Curry and Thompson when Oladipo’s USA Basketball select team spent part of July working with the national team.
“It was good for me to go against those guys for that week,” Oladipo said. “It definitely helped a lot with my mind, my confidence and stuff like that. It definitely did carry over till now.”
Thanksgiving traditions
Nik Vucevic, a native of Montenegro, has lived in the United States since he arrived here for his senior year of high school in 2007.
In the years since then, he’s gotten used to the American holiday of Thanksgiving.
“I like turkey,” Vucevic said. “One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving is the stuffing and the cranberry sauce.”
Vucevic also likes another Thanksgiving tradition: watching football.
During his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers, he became a fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Vucevic plans to follow the Eagles’ game on Thanksgiving afternoon against the Dallas Cowboys.
jbrobbins@tribune.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
