Fresh off of winning the NBA G League championship, rookie Karim Mane recently re-joined the Orlando Magic as the team progresses through the second half of the regular season.
Of course, Mane, who is signed to a two-way contract, helped lead the Lakeland Magic to a win over the Delaware Blue Coats on March 11 to claim the team’s first championship. He averaged 5.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and two assists in 15 games played during the regular season.
The time spent with Lakeland helped Mane improve on his overall game after playing sparingly with Orlando prior to the G League season. Mane believes he is more comfortable on the court now and credited that to his stint with Lakeland.
“It got me learning a lot on and off the court, especially (talking to) the general managers and to the assistant coaches,” Mane said on Tuesday. “Just talking to them about everything about the game and just how to be a pro. I learned a lot on and off the court. It was really big for me. Playing those kinds of minutes, getting the experience and getting out there, getting comfortable and playing through mistakes and learning everything game. I think I got better every single game.”
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Mane returns to a Magic team that has dropped eight consecutive games and has dealt with several injuries to key players. The team expects to have players like Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier back soon but the addition of Mane will give the group some more depth in the meantime.
While not every organization opted to field a team in the G League bubble, the Magic certainly felt as though it was worth the financial cost and that resulted in a title and the development of several players.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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