Magic's Franz Wagner Feels 'Pretty Good,' But Patience Is Pivotal in Recovery

A little over four weeks after Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner tore his right oblique, he told locker room reporters that his status is "a weird spot" to be in: feeling better but knowing he must be patient in his recovery process.

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) dribbles the ball against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of an NBA game at Footprint Center. / Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

ORLANDO, Fla. – Four weeks have come and gone since Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner suffered a torn right oblique.

Given the team's initial diagnosis, that amount of time is significant. His injury occurred Dec. 6, and he was listed out indefinitely – similar to how All-Star teammate Paolo Banchero was when he came down with the same injury 20 games before that.

With that initial period having passed, Wagner met with reporters in the Magic's locker room on Sunday night and detailed where he stands in his recovery.

"I feel good," Wagner said following Orlando's loss to Utah. "I think I've progressed really well. Yeah, now [I'm] just continuing to rehab it and make sure that we don't make any jumps too soon because you don't want to re-injure it, obviously, so it's a weird spot. But I feel pretty good."

The torn oblique-caused absence is the first extended one of Wagner's durable career. He's required rest and time away from the game – a challenge of his own self-restraint while letting his body heal.

"Just kinda staying patient even though I feel really good," Wagner said of the challenge he's facing now. "After the first couple of days, I felt totally normal. Normally when you have an injury and you're out – foot or knee or something – you have trouble walking or stuff like that. It's nothing like that.

"It's just, mentally, a little weird that nothing really hurts, but obviously, you know you can't really go yet."

Four weeks ago, Wagner's diagnosis was a little more than 24 hours old when he sat behind a microphone in the Kia Center's interview room and faced questions about the injury for the first time.

"You kind of go through stages, I think, when you get that bad news," he said Dec. 8 before the Magic's win over Phoenix. "I did that yesterday and was frustrated yesterday."

Wagner wasn't flying blind into the process given the similarities to Banchero's injury. Yet, the freshness of the injury hadn't yet completely worn off, and understandably so. That evening, he spoke of finding "relative" positives in light of the situation, and teammate Wendell Carter Jr. told Magic on SI that Wagner has "a really good head on his shoulders," assuring he'd be good in the long run.

Now, he maintains that his period of grievance was short.

"Mentally, I was fine," Wagner said Sunday. "Obviously, the first couple days are always tough, but I thought I had a good mindset."

At the Magic's last practice before their most recent two-game road trip, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley affirmed that, saying Wagner had been in "great" spirits around the team while "slowly moving into a little bit of movement" and some conditioning. As of now, there is no set timetable for his return.

But coping with his brother Moe's season-ending torn ACL in his left knee, however, was tough. Taking advantage of the Magic's three weeks at home during the holiday season, the Wagner brothers had several family and friends visiting them in Orlando. After suffering the injury Dec. 21 vs. Miami, having them around was a silver lining – allowing them to make the most of the time together. In that same breath, it also was an added element of its own to deal with.

Franz and Moe live together. While the visuals of Moe being unable to get up or struggling to walk are hard to witness in the public eye, Franz sees it up close and personal every day around the house.

"I would say that had more of an impact," Franz said. "It's always tough seeing anyone go down like that, but seeing it very close how that impacts one's life – I would say that was tougher."

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner (22) reacts as center Moritz Wagner (21) runs into the bench after a dunk over Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (not pictured) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Moe's injury was different than that of his teammates because won't make a return this season. That's not to diminish the absences of Banchero, Franz, Jalen Suggs or anyone else who's missed time this season and what that's meant for the team. Just Friday night, after Suggs went down with a back injury in Toronto, Cory Joseph began listing all the players Orlando is currently playing for then, after a pause, gathered himself: "Too many people, right?"

When news of Wagner's torn right oblique first broke, the Magic were finally finding their footing. In adjusting without Banchero they'd rattled off 13 wins in 15 games after an 0-4 beginning. Wagner's play in the No. 1 role helped continue Orlando's strong start.

Sans the frontcourt pair, Orlando is 5-7 and has struggled to generate consistent output. The aforementioned injuries accumulating elsewhere – most notably Suggs, Anthony Black and Gary Harris – doesn't help either.

Help could soon be on the way., though. Banchero has been listed with the designation "return to competition reconditioning" for a handful of games now, and when asked where he stands currently, Mosley said Sunday: "I think he's just building that cardio up, building his conditioning up. I think those are big pieces for him. Being able to be on the floor, do some contact things. But just slowly but surely, he's working his way up."

Banchero hasn't played since the end of October, and the process of getting back into game shape is one he recently told reporters is similar to a second training camp.

In a process full of first-time lessons, however, Wagner said he knew the Magic – still talented in their own right sans their star power – would always fight no matter the score or opponent. When first addressing the injury, he acknowledged his impending absence as both a challenge and a chance.

"These things happen, and all we can really do is go one possession at a time," Wagner said. "Like I said when I got hurt, I think there's a lot of opportunity that the other guys might have not gotten, and I think it's just about using that as best as you can and also being okay with making mistakes, knowing it's really the first time a lot of these guys are playing a lot of minutes."

Added Wagner: "From that standpoint, it's really beneficial for us as a group."

He isn't wrong.

But the Magic will reap the most benefits when Banchero and Wagner are back healthy. The experience garnered for Orlando's role players during their time away can prove invaluable when their role diminishes with their re-insertion. If all goes well, that will be a good problem for the team to have.

But until then – barring setbacks – the Magic, Franz and everyone else are in a constant exercise of patience.

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