One of the things Aaron Gordon looked forward to during his rookie season was the opportunity to guard LeBron James.
He never made any pronouncements or offered any predictions about how he’d fare. But Gordon is a fierce competitor, and as a competitor, he wanted to test himself — and, hopefully, help his team — by defending the world’s premier player.
That will have to wait awhile. Gordon will miss his 21st consecutive game when the Magic host James’ Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night at Amway Center.
On Nov. 21, Gordon underwent surgery to place a screw in the fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot, and he’s done his best to fill the time while the bone heals. He’s had more spare time than he could ever want. Because he has had to rehab, it hasn’t made sense for him to join his teammates on road trips.
“I’ve been watching basketball, a whole lot of it,” Gordon said.
Gordon, by all accounts, has handled his convalescence as well as can be expected.
In addition to watching Magic games, other teams’ games on NBA League Pass and his beloved Arizona Wildcats, he has spent time shooting a basketball against the wall from a seated position to work on his form. He also has worked on dribbling a basketball while seated.
Now, he’s able to do a little bit more.
He recently received permission to stop wearing the walking boot that once protected his left foot, and now he’s able to stand and walk in sneakers.
He’s allowed to shoot set shots but not jumpers.
The last few weeks haven’t been easy.
This convalescence has been the longest time he’s been unable to play basketball.
“And my team needs me, and I can help my team,” Gordon said. “But I have two shoes on now. I’m not wearing a boot.”
Gordon turned 19 years old on Sept. 16, making him the NBA’s second-youngest current player, ahead of only the Toronto Raptors’ Bruno Caboclo.
It would’ve been easy for Gordon to go stir crazy.
But, unable to run or train, he found creative ways to keep himself busy.
During the Magic’s six-game road trip from Nov. 28-Dec. 6, Gordon posted a video on Instagram in which he attempted to dribble a basketball as many times as possible in one minute.
He dribbled the ball 367 times.
Gordon thinks he set a world record.
“The team was on the road, and I was sitting here in the Orlando facility,” Gordon said, a smile on his face. “I had to figure out a way to occupy my time. So I put the basketball in my hands, and I just figured how many people in the world can dribble as many times as I can? And I looked it up, and it wasn’t that many.”
He hasn’t contacted the folks at Guinness World Records.
“I should!” he said. “I definitely should. I looked on their website, and they were going through technical difficulties or something.”
The Magic have missed his defensive skills, his rebounding and his energy.
It’s unclear when he’ll return, but he’s expected to return sometime this season if he doesn’t experience any setbacks.
Still, it makes no sense to rush him back.
It helps, he explained, that many people have reached out to him as he tries to handle his time off.
“Everybody’s been my support,” he said. “Everyone’s been there, all the way from the top to Rob Hennigan and everybody in-between.”
Friday’s game against the Cavaliers probably will be tough because he’d prefer to play.
It’ll be the second time Orlando has played against Cleveland — and LeBron — since Gordon underwent surgery.
There’s just one bright spot: The Magic will play the Cavs once more this season, on March 15.
By then, if all goes well, Gordon should be fully healthy.
jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.