Orlando Magic

Will NBA free agents flee Western Conference for easy road in East?

With the NBA Draft in our rearview mirrors the focus for basketball fans throughout the remainder of the summer turns to the dealings of free agency.

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders joined Carnahan Chronicles on AM 740 The Game to discuss a handful of topics from around the National Basketball Association.

Among those is a story he wrote about marque players choosing to leave the Wester Conference in favor of teams in the East in hopes of an easier path to the NBA Finals.

“I think it’s very possible that we’ll see players that are out West coming to the Eastern Conference, or free agents that are in the Eastern Conference staying out East, because players understand that the Western Conference is brutal right now. It’s hard to make a Finals run. You can be on a loaded team in the West and still miss the playoffs,” Kennedy said.

( – Click here for J.C.’s interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders – )

Kennedy touches on a handful of NBA topics throughout the segment with a focus on players and teams from both central Florida and northeast Ohio.

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Cleveland Cavaliers return to top of NBA’s Eastern Conference

So much changes over the course of eight years. Just ask the Cleveland Cavaliers, who last played for an NBA title back when they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs following the 2006-07 season.

Three years later the Cavs decided it was time to move on from head coach Mike Brown, while all-star LeBron James decided to move on from Cleveland following semifinal setbacks to the Boston Celtics (2008, 2010) and an Eastern Conference final loss to the Orlando Magic in 2009.

And now, mercifully, Cleveland gets another shot at breaking a pro sports title drought that dates back to 1964 when the Browns last finished on top.

This time the Cavs’ hopes won’t hinge on the likes of overachievers such as Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Sasha Pavlovic, Daniel Gibson and, unfortunately, Anderson Varejao, who is one of two remaining players still on roster from 2007 but has been sidelined due to injury.

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Orlando Magic, Doc & Austin Rivers, Jameer Nelson, Orlando City Soccer Club, Cardale Jones, Pacquiao-Mayweather

The Orlando Magic beat a team with a winning record for just the fifth time this season when they knocked off Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. On Saturday’s show we talked about where the Magic currently stand while also touching on the recent L.A. reunion of Doc and Austin Rivers, who won two state basketball titles at Winter Park High School. Speaking of reunions, former Magic player Jameer Nelson has been making the rounds as of late in a bit of an unusual way as he’s now with his third team this season.

( – Click here to listen to more on Orlando Magic, Doc & Austin and Jameer Nelson – )

The Orlando City Soccer Club made it’s first-ever MLS SuperDraft selection Thursday when the Lions selected Connecticut forward Cyle Larin while UCF forward Romario Williams was taken third overall by the Montreal Impact. We opened the final segment of the show Saturday talking about Major League Soccer before touching on the decision of quarterback Cardale Jones to return to Ohio State. We also shared some thoughts on boxers Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao finally meeting in the ring.

( – Click here for more about MLS SuperDraft, Cardale Jones & Mayweather-Pacquiao – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders talks top teams and players in NBA

Basketball Insiders senior NBA editor Alex Kennedy returned to the show Saturday to share his thoughts on recent struggles in the 4th quarter for the Orlando Magic and to talk about the top teams and MVP candidates so far this season as we enter the new year.

( – Click here to listen to J.C.’s interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Cowboys Stadium engagement, speeding ticket, Thanksgiving shame, NBA news, and more

I took a road trip to the Fort Worth-Dallas area this past week. A few days before starting the journey I decided to buy an engagement ring and plan a proper way to propose to my girlfriend of many, many years.

That proposal took place in an end zone at Cowboys Stadium on the final day of our trip as our 2-year old son ran wild on the field. Our final day in the area proved much more rewarding than my first night in east Texas, which resulted in a hefty speeding ticket.

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Carnahan Chronicles Radio: Interview with Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders

Basketball Insiders senior NBA editor Alex Kennedy joined the show Saturday to discuss a number of topics from around the NBA.

Kennedy gave his thoughts on the Orlando Magic rebuilding process and offered his opinion on the standout teams so far through the first few weeks of the season. He also talked about the current state of the Cleveland Cavaliers and the tanking currently taking place by the winless Philadelphia 76ers.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. interview Alex Kennedy of BasketballInsiders.com – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: My son puked on me while watching playoff baseball & other Orlando sports happenings

As if being a first-time parent wasn’t tough enough, my 22-month old son greeted me with a new surprise in the world of parenting last week while we sat on the recliner together to watch afternoon postseason baseball. I’m still not sure if it was the actual act of puking, or the clean-up that followed, that nearly made me sick to my own stomach.

( – Click here for the story of J.C. being puked on and hear him talk about Orlando sports – )

The segment continues with talk about the pedestrian expectations of the Orlando Magic and the overwhelmingly huge payout for one Orlando City Soccer Club player.

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: College Football, Fantasy Football, Orlando Magic & Orlando City Soccer Club

On Saturday I was joined by producer Chris Vazquez to talk about Florida State vs. North Carolina State and Ohio State vs. Cincinnati before debating the Carnahan Chronicles College Football Rankings.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk college football on Saturday – )

Chris also broke down his top fantasy football options for this week.

We closed the show by talking about the Orlando Magic and upcoming NBA season and recognizing Orlando City Soccer Club’s Kevin Molino for being named most valuable player in USL Pro this season.

( – Click here to listen to J.C. and Chris talk fantasy football, Orlando Magic & Orlando City – )

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: August 16, 2014 Edition

On Saturday I took to the AM 740 The Game airwaves to talk about a number of topics for the past week alongside producer Chris Vazquez. Check out each segment listed below.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the sports movie Robin Williams appeared in and the dirt-track racing accident involving NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

– Click here to listen to us talk about Blake Bortles and pro football teams in Florida along with other NFL preseason topics.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the 2014-15 Orlando Magic schedule and the Team USA Basketball squad.

– Click here to listen to us talk about the Orlando City Soccer Club, Major League Baseball and other odds and ends to close out the show.

Carnahan Chronicles Radio: MLS Talk; Unbeaten Orlando City; Playoff-Bound Orlando Predators

The July 26, 2014 edition of Carnahan Chronicles closed out with a caller asking some interesting questions about Major League Soccer. I was then joined by producer Chris Vazquez to debate whether the Orlando City Soccer Club could and should finish the USL PRO regular season unbeaten before talking a bit about the final regular season game for the playoff-bound Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League. A special shoutout to former Orlando Magic player Jameer Nelson was also in order as he recently signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Dwight Howard-era.

( – Click here to listen to the final segment Carnahan Chronicles from July 26, 2014 – )

Also, earlier in the week I followed up on a developing story regarding Orlando City and their pursuit of Brazilian player Robinho for Major League Soccer. ( – Click here to read the story at MLSSoccer.com – )

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