A Decade Later, Magic's Cory Joseph Still Lives Up to 'Defibrillator' Moniker

Cory Joseph was a young, hungry guard when he first became "The Defibrillator" for the San Antonio Spurs over a decade ago. Now in the 14th season of his NBA career, the Orlando Magic veteran is still fulfilling the same role.

Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph, over a decade after the self-given nickname "The Defibrillator" nickname came to life, still fills the same role in the 14th year of his NBA career. / Derick E. Hingle, Getty Images

MILWAUKEE – As if he’s taken aback a bit, Cory Joseph’s face and posture readjust happily when he’s reminded of an old moniker.

“Ahhh, the Defib!” he says, suddenly being transported back in time by over a decade. The Orlando Magic’s 14th-year guard, now laughing, can see himself and Patty Mills as two eager young guards in a veteran-heavy San Antonio Spurs locker room. On those Spurs teams, Joseph and Mills took on the role of the "Defibrillator” – or "Defib” for short.

“We might have even gave it to ourselves,” Joseph recently admitted to Magic on SI. There was almost certainly never an instance where Gregg Popovich, the notoriously stone-faced figure that's manned San Antonio’s sideline for nearly 30 years, ever looked down his bench and referred to either "Defibrillator" as such.

But, their purpose was to act as one when their number was called.

“When it was dead out there, when we were flatlined, we had to go and be that shot,” Joseph said. “We had to go and make sure our energy was always right, so at any moment, Pop could have called us to go change, pick up full, make energy plays, XYZ. So we kind of had that little, let’s go, The Defibrillators.”

“Both of us could feel the tempo of the game,” Mills said in a 2018 profile by The Athletic. “We would inject ourselves defensively, and everyone else would follow. (Like a) defibrillator.

"Both of us would feed off each other in that you could feel everyone pick up after that.”

Flash forward to the present day, where he’s sharing the same message from a veteran’s perspective. The 33-year-old Toronto native has since been in five other NBA locker rooms before landing here with Orlando, but his role has always resembled his Defibrillator status in some ways.

He's started just over a fifth of the 853 career games he’s appeared in. And yet, part of Joseph’s ability to stay in the league for so long – he’s one of just 13 players from his 2011 draft class still on an active NBA contract – points directly to his ability to thrive in that role.

It just so happens that one of the NBA’s best available teachers of how to make the most of any moment resides in a corner of the Magic’s locker room. As the elder voice in a youthful room, Joseph has many pupils.

"I try to tell them that I would be ready, things can change quickly," Joseph said. "The game is 48 minutes, but you can impact it within a minute or two."

One of them is Jett Howard, who in January posted a picture of Joseph handling the ball during earlier this season with the caption, “Young CJ6 (The Defibrillator.)”

Jett Howard shared a photo of Joseph handling the ball in January once he learned of the veteran's old nickname. / via @jetthoward, Instagram

“S–t, he told me when he was a youngin’ in San Antonio, that’s what they used to call him, ‘The Defibrillator,’” Howard told Magic on SI, cracking up similarly to how Joseph did at the nickname’s first mention. “He used to come in and f— up the game, mess up the game, so yeah. That’s the nickname he told us.”

Joseph was originally unaware of the post’s existence, as he doesn’t use Instagram. But when shown a screenshot of the now months-old post, he couldn’t help but beam with pride.

“Oh yeah, I love that! I love that!” Joseph said while scanning the locker room for an absent Howard. “My guy! I like that a lot.”

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Joseph sauntered onto the Target Center court on an unseasonably warm Friday night in Minneapolis, ready to go through his usual pregame preparations. Before going through his on-court routine, however, he set down his electrolyte-infused water, laid out over a foam roller and began to get loose.

A contest versus the lengthy, physical Timberwolves on the second night of a cross-country back-to-back and the fourth game of a five-city road trip that began nearly a week before would ask a lot of any player – let alone the 33-year-old veteran. 

You feeling limber tonight?, he’s asked.

“Takes a little longer these days,” Joseph says.

A moment later, Magic director of strength and conditioning Todor Pandov greets Orlando’s oldest player with, “Hey young buck.” Instantly, grins flash over each of their faces.

Less than two hours later, Joseph made his third start of the season for a Magic team thin at the guard spot, playing his second-most minutes while scoring eight points, grabbing three rebounds and dishing three assists.

When signing with the Magic last summer, he rounded out a 15-man roster infused with young talent that was fresh off its first taste of playoff experience for most of its members.

Like fellow offseason signing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Joseph is a former NBA champion with a wealth of experience on his side – a valuable addition for a team entering the upcoming season with expectations for the first time in its new chapter’s existence, even if he wouldn’t often be relied upon to contribute in meaningful minutes.

Over time, mounting injuries derailed the Magic’s chances of meeting those high marks set in the preseason. Adversity and obstacles have come early and often, meaning the follow-up effort to the breakthrough campaign a season ago hasn’t gone to plan.

Last year’s success preceded his arrival. But Joseph’s presence and insight, like that of his fellow veterans on the team, helps Orlando navigate through uncertain waters behind the scenes.

“A lot of times as younger guys, we get a little too caught up in the overthinking part of the game,” Howard said. “They kind of just step in and settle everything for us. That vet stuff is definitely real, for sure.”

As available personnel has dwindled over the course of the season, the Magic have exhausted nearly all options to find production, and that’s included going to The Defibrillator more often as of late. 

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15) talks with Orlando Magic guard Cory Joseph (10) during the second half at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

In a normal year, he would most likely be utilized only in break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situations outside of garbage time. For the Magic, however, this has not been a normal year.

“You always have to have your energy and your spirit right when you’re in our position, because you never know when you might be needed or whenever you could go and change the game,” Joseph said. “Things like picking up full, trying to steal as many possessions that we can, whether it’s offensive or defensive rebounds, execution, getting guys in the right spots … picking up the other people, making sure everybody’s mentally sharp.

“Especially in the situation we’re in, you control what you can control,” Joseph continued. “And that’s one of the things we could control.”

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That in mind, it should come as no surprise that when inserted into the starting lineup Thursday at New Orleans for an injured Cole Anthony, Joseph logged 12 points, six rebounds (two offensive) and three assists on the heels of two straight DNPs.

It was just his second time scoring in double figures this season, and he played nine seconds shy of 30 minutes – a season-high as he averages only 9.1 per game. Joseph spent all of them channeling the youthful attitude that never once left him at any stop along the way.

He dove for loose balls and ran in transition. A spinning putback layup at the halftime buzzer capped off one of the Magic’s most complete halves to date this year.

CORY JOSEPH. PUTBACK. YESSIR pic.twitter.com/RnK1fCp6tR

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 14, 2025

While Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner stole the show in the Big Easy, Joseph was an impossible-to-ignore side plot.

“It’s no excuses,” Banchero, who’s 11 years younger than his impromptu starting point guard, said that evening. “Oldest guy on the team playing hard as hell. He’s grateful for every moment he has on the court. He lets us know that and it just shows you that we’re all blessed to play this game. That’s a guy that’s been with different teams, won a championship, just been everywhere throughout his career. It just shows that you can’t take the game for granted.

“You’ve got a guy like him, he may not play for five straight games and then he’s out there making a difference. It’s just a huge lift for everybody.”

Paolo Banchero celebrates with Cory Joseph during the Magic's win over the New Orleans Pelicans. / Derick E. Hingle, Getty Images

His measly season averages may be unassuming, and the sample size is small. 

But considering those factors, Orlando is 2.9 points per 100 possessions better than opponents when Joseph is on the floor.

Asked what it is about Joseph’s play that stands out to him, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said Friday: “His poise and his ability to get guys in the right spot, and then defensively picking up full court. The energy that he brings as a veteran, you can’t say enough about his positive spirit.”

It’s fitting, in a way, that a season where most of his value wasn’t slated to be measurable by box score is still carrying out that way.

“Those things go a long way,” Mosley said. “That’s what his veteran presence brings.”

“Aye, the role doesn’t change in the situation of being a vet or not,” Joseph said. “Whatever minutes I do get, I got to make sure my energy is good out there.”

True to form, Joseph has mostly been the reliable pace-changer in Orlando he's been for all of his career. 

As year 14 nears its close, the Magic's Defibrillator still needs no charge.

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