Joseph Takes Pride in Being a Wise 'Old' Vet. The Magic Benefit from It.

In year 14 of his career, Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph is a steadying voice in a youthful locker room. But he's not done learning lessons, either.

Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph (10) dribbles the ball against New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) in the third quarter at Kia Center. / Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – Coming out of halftime Sunday night, Orlando Magic players were a tad later than usual for second-half warmups. Well, most were.

Veteran guard Cory Joseph, however, was well into shooting jumpers – all the while sporting his usual smile. Before the Knicks game, Joseph had appeared in 13 games, but none with any significant minutes. That hasn't deterred Joseph.

"I'm ready for whatever, brother," Joseph said in the Magic locker room Sunday night. "I get my work in. I make sure that I'm ready, you know, for whatever is called ahead [and] I'll be prepared for it. So I'm just gonna make shots, stay in great shape, get my running [and] workouts in. If my name is called, I'm gonna give it 110 percent. You ain't gotta worry about that."

Before Sunday's Knicks matchup, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley and his staff had alerted Joseph to stay ready depending on game situation. Then, with Orlando trailing by 12 points nearly halfway through the third quarter and scouring for an offensive spark, the 14th-year guard checked in.

In a season-high nine-plus minutes that carried the team into the fourth quarter, Orlando was plus-4 under Joseph's orchestration.

"He's a pro, he's a vet," Mosley said postgame. "He understands the pace [and] speed of the game, how he needs to play [and] how to get guys involved. For us, just a little bit of settling. I think that's what he does.

"The guys are all supportive of who he is and what he's done and what he brings to this group. So again, that was the call in that situation to bring that level to us."

Since signing with the Magic this past summer, this was Joseph's first meaningful game situation.

Orlando has one of the youngest rotations in the NBA. Only two players who average more than 10 minutes a game are 30 years or older — Gary Harris and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. At 33, Joseph is the Magic's oldest rostered player.

As the number of players from his 2011 draft class dwindles year over year, Joseph has carved out a role as an experienced and approachable voice in the Magic locker room. Many of his contributions require no playing time at all.

"I take a lot of pride in that role," Joseph said. "I remember I was young and I had some great veterans around me. [They] allowed me to stay in the league for as long as [I have] and continue to do the things I do."

Selected 29th overall out of Texas by the San Antonio Spurs, Joseph found himself in a winning situation immediately. He and Kawhi Leonard were rookies on a Gregg Popovich-led team that featured Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Tim Duncan, TJ Ford, Boris Diaw, Stephen Jackson and Richard Jefferson — all established players.

"The whole team was like veterans, you know what I mean?" Joseph said. "What didn't I learn?"

He was an understudy to Parker's deep understanding of the point guard position. Duncan, or "Timmy," wasn't much of a talker but led with his professionalism. Ginobili's competitive fire was constantly on display. And Popovich's teaching came often.

Nearly a decade and a half later, Joseph is on his seventh NBA team and still applying those lessons. He still credits it all to his San Antonio origins.

"I'm so grateful that I got drafted there," Joseph said. "It allowed me, I think, to be where I am today because I learned a lot in those four years. I was a kid — I was 19, 20 years old when I got drafted — and from that time to 24 or whatever, which is a big span in your life as a man, you're growing, [I] learned a lot about professionalism [and] how to play the game, how to approach the game."

It's Joseph's turn now to impart wisdom on a Magic team with aspirations of replicating that Spurs team's run of success, which included three trips to the Western Conference Finals, two trips to the Finals and a ring in 2014.

Joseph is often working with the much younger players on the team. Throughout training camp, you often wouldn't see Anthony Black or Jett Howard without Joseph by their side. At Saturday's practice, Joseph, Howard and Trevelin Queen put up shots together after the session.

"He's a great guy," rookie wing Tristan da Silva said after a career-high 20 points on Sunday. "He's always taking care of everybody. He's been around the league for forever it seems, so he's got a huge amount of knowledge that he loves passing on to, especially, us younger guys — me, Jett, AB, Caleb (Houstan). He's a great leader for this team even though he's not on the court as much."

"He's a good dude to be around," said Houstan, a fellow Toronto native. "Real professional, but being able to keep it cool and bond with a guy, it's been great."

"When he speaks, his words carry a lot of value," guard Jalen Suggs said Tuesday. "CoJo, being on the court with him is amazing. We got to bump a little bit today, I got to play with him a bit in our unit, and his presence on the floor is just great, the energy that he brings. His calmness, he has so much intention in what he's doing. It's great for me to look at and learn from."

Suggs pointed to Joseph's appearance versus New York as a source of inspiration for him. Despite not playing much, Suggs said, Joseph came in with the mindset of how he could help Orlando — not himself.

"Seeing things like that is motivational, honestly," Suggs said. "It kind of makes you put your pride and ego to the side and the things that you have going on. It helps you look inward toward this team."

"I just try to give [those lessons] back," Joseph said. "Experiences, helping them with their game. Whatever questions they have, I try to help them with."

The give-and-take is a two-way street.

"The league's getting younger and they keep me young too," Joesph continued. "[The league] continues to change, and you have to continue to adapt, so I'm asking a lot of questions as well, trying to learn from them."

As the Magic collectively adjust to life without Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, Joseph could find himself growing into a larger presence on-court.

"Things like this happen. People have to step up," Joseph said. "I think we've done a pretty good job as of now, but there's always room for improvement."

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